Rangers 'ecstatic' to get top lefty pitching prospect in Rojas at No. 16

ARLINGTON -- Gio Rojas, MLB Pipeline’s No. 8 Draft prospect, is considered both the best high school pitcher and the best left-handed pitcher in this year’s class. MLB Pipeline ranked Rojas the second-best pitching prospect in the Draft, behind only UC Santa Barbara’s Jackson Flora.

All that to say, it’s shocking he was available when the Rangers picked at No. 16 in the 2026 MLB Draft. They weren’t going to question it, selecting Rojas with their first pick of the Draft on Saturday afternoon.

“I can't speak for the teams up ahead of us that passed, but when doing all our preparation, we thought that there was a limited chance that Gio was going to be there,” said Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg. “We’re very ecstatic that he was. … You don't really game plan it. You take things as they come. We're prepared for every scenario going into this, so it wasn't like something all that shocking. We prepared for Gio being there. We prepared and we were ready.”

Rojas, who just turned 19 years old in June, touts a hoppy fastball that has plenty of life, not to mention velocity – he can touch 98 mph. The high-spin heater pairs well with his low-80s sweeping slider, which generates plenty of horizontal movement thanks to his three-quarters arm slot. Both pitches grade out as a 60 on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale. Rojas’ third pitch, a changeup, profiles as an effective offering, too.

Rojas, speaking via Zoom, said it didn’t really hit him until his junior year that the Draft was a possibility out of high school. And he proved it the following season.

The 6-foot-4 lefty just capped off a sensational senior season at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Rojas pitched to a 0.58 ERA across 72 innings with 124 strikeouts last year, fueling the program’s sixth consecutive Florida Class 7A State championship. He tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 12-strikeout gem in the decisive championship game.

“This was just all so surreal,” Rojas said via Zoom. “Everything was a blur. I was just living in the moment at the time. The nerves are pumping, heart’s pounding hard, but dang. Just glad to be a Ranger.”

That’s not the first time that Rojas has shined on a big stage. Last year, he steered Team USA to a gold medal at the WBSC U-18 World Cup. He did not allow a run across 11 innings of work, headlined by a complete game shutout in a Super Round victory over Korea. Rojas earned All-World Starting Pitcher honors for his performance.

With Team USA, he played alongside Brody Schumaker, the son of Rangers manager Skip Schumaker who is committed to play baseball at TCU. Rojas called Brody a “good friend.”

"He's one of the -- I thought -- best prep pitchers in the Draft,” Skip Schumaker said. “He was one of the best personalities on that team when I was in Japan with them, watching him, getting to know him throughout the year. He's a hard worker, he's high character, got great makeup, and then he's got a real edge on the mound. He wants the stage, he wants the moment. We lucked into that one. I think it is a very, very good pick."

While Rojas has an offer to play collegiately at the University of Miami, he’s expected to bypass that opportunity after becoming the first first-round Draft pick out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS. It is, though, a program with plenty of prominent baseball alumni, including longtime Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo (2007), Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo (2017) and Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony (2022).

The Rangers have now selected three Stoneman Douglas products in the last eight seasons dating back to 2019. The most recent was 2024 fifth-rounder Devin Fitz-Gerald, whose father Todd is the head coach of the Eagles high school baseball program.

“There was a lot of dedication,” Rojas said of Stoneman Douglas. “I feel like we’re all dedicated to being there. The program itself is an everyday thing. There’s no days off, really, unless it’s deserved. Even that day, still no day off -- we’re at the field. It’s a lot of hard work and a grind. You could say it’s much more advanced than a high school. It’s above high school level of practices and how we go about things. But I feel like without those practices, I wouldn’t be the ballplayer I am today.”