Breaking down the high school arms 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 high school pitchers available in July.

Top 6

Gio Rojas, LHP, No. 8 -- Stoneman Douglas, Fla.
Super athletic, 6-foot-4 lefty, committed to Miami with two plus pitches in his fastball and slider and has a very usable changeup, and he's also super competitive and throws lots of strikes. -- Mayo

Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, No. 16 -- Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS
Legitimate two-way player who reclassified so he's only 17; on the mound, has the chance to have three plus pitches in his fastball, slider, and changeup. -- Mayo

Brody Bumila, LHP, No. 23 -- Bishop Feehan, Mass.
The injury puts a cloud over his draft status, but he's still a 6-foot-9 lefty who throws 100 mph with excellent characteristics to his fastball and good feel to spin. -- Mayo

Carson Bolemon, LHP, No. 24 -- Southside Christian, S.C.
His combination of stuff, polish, and performance made him our top rated prospect coming into the year, and while he didn't quite live up to that, he could be a steal for somebody in the twenties or thirties. -- Callis

Coleman Borthwick, RHP, No. 43 -- South Walton, Fla.
Surprisingly the only right-hander in this group, Borthwick was huge for Team USA during the summer and fall as a two-way player with a future on the mound thanks to a plus fastball and slider. -- Mayo

Logan Schmidt, LHP, No. 45 -- Ganesha, Calif.
Another athletic high school lefty with a three pitch mix in a fastball, slider, and changeup, and the ability to throw all three of them for strikes. -- Mayo

Could any go 1-1?

There is not anyone remotely in the conversation. -- Mayo
I'm not sure we're going to see any of them taken in the top 10 picks. -- Callis

How many first-rounders?

Mayo: I probably was generous setting it at 3.5 thinking Rojas and Grindlinger but other than that, there's no guarantee that any other high school arms go in the first round.

Callis: I'd take the under. I feel like whoever drafts Grindlinger is going to draft him primarily as a hitter, so if we count him as a half, I think it's going to be 1.5 max. I don't think we're going to get a second full-fledged high school pitcher taken in the first round.

Biggest wild card of group

Mayo: Brody Bumila, LHP, No. 23 -- Bishop Feehan, Mass.
Callis: Jared Grindlinger, OF/LHP, No. 18 -- Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS

Most helium

Callis: Jack Slightom, RHP, No. 89 -- Lyons Township, (IL)
Mayo: Kaiden McCarthy, RHP, No. 61 -- Vermont Academy (VT)

I'm starting to hear Lyons Township right-hander Jack Slightom as a potential top 40 or top 50 pick. People know about him. He hasn't been as hyped. He wasn't a big showcase guy, he was a star quarterback in high school... But he's a super athletic and projectable 6-foot-5 righty who keeps adding velocity, he's up to 98 mph. He's got an advanced changeup, the slider's adding more power. He crushed the interviews at the combine and I think he's rocketing up charts. -- Callis

I'm not 100% sure how much helium Kaiden McCarthy has, but I do feel like he deserves a little more attention. A combination of things kept him a little more under-the-radar. The first is that he reclassified, so he's 17 years old still, and he's from Vermont. So I think the combination of those two things had people sleeping on him to an extent. I had some scouts in the Northeast say that if this had been a normal year, he would have blown up more because the stuff and athleticism is so good. -- Mayo

Guy we like outside of first round

Mayo: Sean Duncan, LHP, No. 66 -- Terry Fox, BC, Canada
Callis: Kolby Stringer, RHP, No. 110 -- West Marion, Miss.

You guys know my obsession with Kolby Stringer, the Mississippi high school pitcher who has 570 career strikeouts, second highest total that's been recorded in this century. He had 202 this year to lead the nation. This was a guy, because he was a two-way guy, and he was banged up a little bit because he got used a lot as a junior, he wasn't really high on follow lists. He came out all of a sudden and he's 92-97 mph, I think there's more velocity in there...He's got a chance to go in the second round if he's signable away from LSU, but he fascinates me. -- Callis

Sean Duncan, from British Columbia in Canada, he was really moving up charts. He went with Team Canada and he was pitching Arizona and Florida. And then he walked off the mound with an elbow injury pitching in the Dominican Republic, and then it was confirmed in June that he needed Tommy John surgery. But he's going to sign, the industry still really likes him. It's a 6-foot-3 projectable body with three good pitches and the ability to throw strikes... If he hadn't gotten hurt, he might have floated up into that comp round, first round area. -- Mayo

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Overall grade

Callis: 45
Mayo: 40

I'm going to give it a 45, although I really think it's more like 55 for the left-handers and 40-ish on the right-handers. So I came up with a 45, but even if it was 55 overall, this group scares teams and they don't like to take these guys with early picks. -- Callis

I went 40 for that reason, high school arms have not gone in the first round much over the last several years. And yes, the left-handed group is very good, especially in the top 40 or so, but now there's so many question marks with the injury to Bumila. And no one is talking about any of the right-handers at all. I think there's some depth there, but I feel like in the past there were guys who belonged in the first round conversation who weren't going to go, and there just aren't that many names that belong in that conversation this time around. -- Mayo