MLB Pipeline’s Draft Top 150 list is now out and we could spend days slicing it up and breaking it down. We’ll continue to analyze the Class of 2026 right up until the White Sox make the first pick in Philadelphia in July.
On this week’s MLB Pipeline Podcast, we dove into the new list by breaking it into four quadrants: college hitters, college pitchers, high school hitters and high school pitchers. We used the 20-to-80 scouting scale to give a grade for each group and discussed some intriguing players in each bucket. Our grades aren’t in full lock-step with everyone in the scouting industry. Here’s our take on the four groups, along with a scouting director’s analysis.
College hitters: 55
We thought it might be close to a 60, but a lot of the guys at the top -- five in the top 11 -- come with some question marks attached. The pool is pretty deep, but the water is a little murky, especially after Roch Cholowsky and Vahn Lackey at the top of the overall list. The scouting industry doesn’t seem quite as bullish as we were.
2026 MLB Draft presented by Nippon Express
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Scout take: 50
“I’d say it’s probably about average,” a National League scouting director said. “It’s typical that there are a few guys who are complete players and then there are those with some trade-offs with the bat, power, or defense. There are some interesting depth college bats that will be there in the second-third round that I like.”
College pitchers: 40
Simply put: it’s not a strong group. There’s been basically one pitcher, Santa Barbara’s Jackson Flora, who has done what you want to see from a top college arm in terms of separating himself due to his performance, though he’s done it in a smaller conference. After that, there are a lot of question marks, injury-related and otherwise, from Cameron Flukey missing a large chunk of the season with a rib stress fracture to fast-riser Logan Reddemann being shut down recently with arm fatigue. There might not be many college pitchers who go in the first round.
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Scout take: 40
"It’s probably the weakest demographic relative to a 'normal' year," the NL scouting director said. "Guys we expected to take steps here just didn’t do it. Of course, this probably guarantees we take a college pitcher early."
High school hitters: 45
It’s not a great class, but it’s better than the college pitchers. We’ve had some really good high school hitting crops the last couple of years, so maybe it pales by comparison, but there might be only three prep bats who’ll go in the first round. All three are in the top 10, then it thins out. But the industry sees some talent a little further down which helps balance things out.
Scout take: 50
“I would say it’s thinner at the top than most years but with decent depth in this dynamic,” the NL scouting director said. “It probably grades out at about average accounting for those factors.”
High school pitchers: 50
While there aren’t that many high school arms who are going to go at the top of the Draft, this is a pretty solid group overall. There are several interesting arms, but some haven’t quite lived up to expectations coming into the spring. The grade might belong somewhere between a 50 and 55, with the industry leaning toward the higher number, with the southpaws leading the charge.
Scout take: 55
“This is probably the best group, especially left-handers,” the NL scouting director said. “That group of lefties at the top is pretty good relative to normal. It’s strongly above-average this year.”