Twins land Georgia Tech catcher Lackey with No. 3 overall pick

MINNEAPOLIS – In Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, the Twins believe they have gotten not only a special baseball player, but a special person. But make no mistake, he is a special baseball player.

Minnesota selected Lackey third overall in the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday, their highest pick since taking Royce Lewis No. 1 in 2017.

“Just a great fit for our organization, on every front,” said Twins scouting director Sean Johnson. “Fantastic player, fantastic human being, great character. The more work we did on Vahn over the last few months going back to last summer, the glowing reviews – he has raving fans wherever he’s been – just a fantastic teammate, beyond the skills.”

Lackey is a right-handed hitter with impressive athleticism for a catcher. He’s listed at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, and he turned 21 earlier this week. He’s played some third base as well as catcher, but the belief is that he has the skills to stick behind the plate.

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Lackey, MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 Draft prospect, is the latest in a long line of decorated catching prospects to come out of Georgia Tech. He is the fifth Yellow Jackets backstop to be taken in the first round in the past 35 years, joining Jason Varitek, Matt Wieters, Joey Bart and Kevin Parada.

And the last time Minnesota selected a catcher with its first pick? That would be Hall of Famer Joe Mauer, who went first overall in 2001.

While teams don’t always draft for need, it can’t be ignored that Lackey could have a wide open path to the Major Leagues if he comes along quickly. Current starter Ryan Jeffers, who just came back from the injured list, is eligible for free agency at the end of the season. And there’s a dearth of catching depth in the top levels of the organization, with the club’s top catching prospect, Eduardo Tait, currently at High-A Cedar Rapids.

Johnson was emphatic, though, that Lackey was simply the best player available – a view that aligns with industry consensus.

“The more we went in to scout Georgia Tech, our guys kept coming out of there going, ‘I thought he was the best player on the field,’” Johnson said. “More than half of our staff saw Georgia Tech this spring. … Every time we sent someone in there to see him that hadn’t seen him before – and we had people that hadn’t seen him for a while now – they all came out with the same answer. He’s hard to take your eyes off when you see him play.”

Lackey, 21, was a deserving recipient of the 2026 Johnny Bench Award as the best male catcher in NCAA Division I. He hit .397 with 20 homers and 78 RBIs across 61 games, steering Georgia Tech to ACC regular-season and tournament titles. Lackey’s 1.291 OPS was a top 10 mark in the country, among qualified hitters.

But his ascent to a top-3 pick was not linear. Lackey did not receive his first collegiate offer until his senior year of high school -- on the other side of a growth spurt -- and was not considered much of a prospect out of Collins Hill HS in Suwanee, Ga. As a freshman at Georgia Tech, Lackey hit just .214 with a .711 OPS in 36 games.

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Lackey made a tremendous leap in his sophomore year, transforming into one of the best backstops in the country. He hit .347 with a .921 OPS and started all 60 games, whether at catcher or third base. As a junior, Lackey elevated his game to yet another level. For one, he drastically improved his power output, swatting 20 home runs -- double his total from his first two seasons, combined. Lackey raised his slugging percentage by more than 250 points between his sophomore and junior campaigns.

Lackey’s bat does not tell the whole story, either. He is a skilled defensive catcher, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors as a junior this past season. Lackey uses a strong and accurate arm to his advantage, throwing out six baserunners on steal attempts and nabbing five more via back picks in 2026. Beyond the arm, Lackey is athletic: He played 13 games at third base for the Yellow Jackets last season, and even stole 33 bases himself across the past two years. That’s a rare profile for a catcher to have, and it’s certainly part of what makes Lackey so unique.