Breaking down the college bats in this year's Draft class

On the four episodes of the MLB Pipeline Podcast preceding the 2026 Draft, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo are analyzing each demographic in the class: College pitchers, college hitters, high school pitchers and high school hitters. Here's a look at the top college hitters available in July.

Top 5

Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA. (No. 1):
Really good player, huge spotlight as the top guy, didn’t run away and hide, still really good with a very high floor. -- Mayo

Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech (No. 3):
Best prospect in a deep Georgia Tech lineup, most athletic catcher the Yellowjackets have ever had. -- Callis

Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech (No. 7)
Solid tools across the board, safe bet with a high ceiling as well. -- Callis

Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama (No. 9)
Arguably has the highest ceiling in the draft, but also may be the biggest enigma. -- Callis

Chris Hacopian, 2B, Texas A&M (No. 10)
Based on metrics, several teams think he’s the best hitter in the draft. -- Callis

Could any go 1-1?

Callis/Mayo: Definitely Roch Cholowsky, 5% Vahn Lackey

If I were to put percentages on the three players still in the mix, I’d put Roch Cholowsky at 50%, Grady Emerson the high school shortstop at 45%, and Vahn Lackey at 5%. He’s (Lackey) on the outside looking in, I think [the White Sox are] doing due diligence and keeping him in the conversation in case something blows up. But Roch is really the player from this bucket who still has a very strong chance of going No. 1 overall. -- Mayo

I would go 48% Roch, 47% Grady Emerson, and 5% Lackey. I’m pretty much on the same page. -- Callis

How many first-rounders?

Mayo: I set the over/under high on this one at 11.5. We have five guys in the top 10. Derek Curiel, Ryder Helfrick, Sawyer Strosnider, AJ Gracia, Tyler Bell, Ace Reese, Caden Sorrell, Aiden Robbins, Zion Rose, Daniel Jackson, all these guys could be in the mix. With all those names, I decided to set it high at 11.5.

Callis: I’m going to go slightly under… All of those guys are in the mix to become first round picks. The last time I did a solo first round projection I had 10 college hitters. When we did our combo effort last week on this very podcast we had 11. I think you’re going to see 10 or so guys go in the top 18 or 20 picks, but then I think you’re going to see a run of high school hitters and college arms go in the last five to seven picks. So I don’t think we’re going to go over 11.5.

Biggest wild card of group

Callis: Sawyer Strosnider, OF, Texas Christian (No. 16)
Mayo: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama (No. 9)

One of the best athletes in the college class. It’s at least plus raw power. It’s plus speed. Strong arm. The question with Sawyer Strosnider is he slumped pretty badly the last five or six weeks of the season. He has not done a lot of damage against lefties so there’s some questions. Could he wind up being a platoon player? Does he chase too many pitches? He’s gone from being a guy who was probably going to go in the top 10 or right around the top 10 to now teams in the twenties are wondering: Is there a chance we could look up and Sawyer Strosnider could be on the board? -- Callis

We've talked about Justin Lebron quite a bit on this podcast. From a pure tools standpoint, this was a guy we were talking about potentially being in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick because of those tools. We’re talking four sixes. The one that is not is the one that holds him back the most and that is his hit tool. He still hit 16 homers and stole 42 bases this year, but he hit .277 overall with a .920 OPS. I think the thing that really made teams pause is that he hit .229 in SEC play, he really really struggled. He chases too much. If he can address that, then whoever ends up getting him, wherever he lands, could end up with an all-star player. -- Mayo

Most helium

Mayo: Jaxon Willits, SS, Oklahoma (No. 146)
Callis: Carson Kerce, SS, Georgia Tech (No. 131)

I’m going to talk about Jaxon Willits, the older brother of Eli Willits, who not only won a championship with Oklahoma but was the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series. He hit .500 in the World Series, and he’s a good college performer. He had a .922 OPS. He’s a solid player who probably helped himself with his postseason performance. Moved into the third round, I could see someone taking him in the second. He probably plays second base, has a super high floor, high work ethic, IQ, all of those things, and those guys end up doing pretty well. -- Mayo

I was starting to hear rumblings that Carson Kerce could go in the top 40 or 50 picks...It's good bat to ball skills, doubles power, he was among the D1 leaders in doubles this year. He's got average speed, played more third base his first couple of seasons, he's got the arm for the left side of the infield. Instincts, high baseball IQ, intangibles, work ethic, and makeup. People love that about Carson Kerce too. Top 40 still feels rich to me but I feel pretty confident that that guy's going to go in the second round based on the buzz we're hearing. -- Callis

Guy we like outside of first round

Callis: Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech (No. 47)
Mayo: Mulivai Levu, 1B, UCLA (No. 79)

I'm going to go with a guy who's getting no first round buzz, and that's Logan Hughes from Texas Tech. The thing he gets knocked for a bit is he's mainly a bat. He's a below average runner, below average arm, he's going to be a left fielder. But, Logan Hughes can really hit. He hit at Stetson as a freshman. He's hit at Texas Tech for the last two years, and he does everything you want to see a hitter do. He makes good swing decisions, he makes a lot of contact, he hits the ball hard, he hits for power. I think he's not going to be a first rounder but if he went in that 30 to 40 range, it wouldn't surprise me at all. -- Callis

I never want to miss an opportunity to talk about Mulivai Levu. This is another guy who really really hits. Not hearing his name at all first round, or even comp round, although that wouldn't shock me. Unbelievable bat to ball skills and hand-eye coordination. Got to his power even more this year and had 18 homers, had an OPS over 1.000. Roch Cholowsky will tell anyone that listens that he (Levu) is the best hitter in the country. He needs to cut down on the chase, he's one of those guys who can make contact with everything. He's a really good defensive first baseman...he's very intent on showing teams he can play third. I just like Levu's attitude about it that he wants to go out and show he's not just a first baseman only. -- Mayo

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Overall grade

Mayo: 50
Callis: 45

I like the depth, I think the fact that there is a large quantity of first round potential hitters is interesting. But, so many of them have question marks with them that it tempers the enthusiasm a little bit. That's why I ended up giving them a 50. -- Mayo

These guys have obvious hickeys so I went 45... I think a bunch of these guys are going to get drafted because there have to be 25 first round picks but just talking to teams, they're just shrugging and trying to figure out what to make of all these guys. So I was harsh and went 45. -- Callis