Eight MLB draft prospects to watch in 2026 NCAA baseball super regionals
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With MLB's 2026 draft five weeks away, the NCAA tournament has narrowed to 16 teams competing in super regionals, the final stretch where scouts and front offices identify their next prospects. Eight standout players have emerged as ones to monitor, each bringing different skill sets and draft appeal to what shapes up as a deep talent pool. The super regional stage offers the last extended look at these players before they transition to professional baseball, making these games critical auditions for teams evaluating their first-round and early-round targets.
With Major League Baseball’s draft just five weeks away and the NCAA field winnowed to 16 teams, the window to dream on players’ pro careers has narrowed.
Yet this weekend’s eight NCAA super regional matchups will still provide a nice glance at an intriguing crop of players on the cusp of their professional careers.
While Omaha may be front of mind, draft boards and bonus pools will increasingly vie for the attention of players and fans alike. With that, USA TODAY Sports examines eight players competing in the super regionals whose stock may still be volatile ahead of MLB’s July 11-13 draft:
Tuscaloosa super regional: SS Justin Lebron, Alabama
While it’s hardly calcified, a strong consensus has emerged around the top six players in this draft.
Lebron is no longer one of them. But at least he’s still playing.
The same can’t be said for UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the expected No. 1 overall pick, nor Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey; with the top-seeded Bruins and No. 2 Yellow Jackets both upset in their regionals, the stage is open for others to improve their stock.
And perhaps Lebron can finally make enough noise to fight his way near the top of the next wave of players.
It’s been a disappointing season for Lebron, who struggled in SEC play, batting .229 with 10 extra-base hits in 28 games. He endured a 23-game stretch with just two homers. But he showed signs of snapping out of it in regional play, with six hits in 16 at-bats, including a three-run homer.
While Lebron’s stock has certainly fallen, he’s definitely a “just-takes-one-team” guy to ensure his actual draft day drop isn’t too far.
Athens super regional: RHP Joey Volchko, Georgia
It’s an interesting time of year for the Stuff vs. Stats quandary and Volchko is perhaps the most intriguing case study.
His transfer from Stanford to Georgia, where he’d work under the tutelage of head coach and pitching guru Wes Johnson, indeed paid some dividends: Volchko pruned his ERA from 6.01 to 3.87 and his WHIP from 1.61 to 1.40, all while jumping from the ACC to the SEC.
Yet his walks per nine innings hiccuped, from 4.4 to 4.8, a rate that he could not get away with in pro ball. Still, Volchko’s best attribute is the ability to maintain his mid-90s fastball deeper into games, and he’ll likely hear his name called on the draft’s second day.
He pitched six no-hit innings against Long Island in his regional assignment, striking out 10 but also walking four. While Mississippi State poses a stronger challenge, Volchko did beat them May 21 in a rare one-strikeout, one-walk five-inning appearance. If he can turn back the Bulldogs again, odds are good he’ll get to showcase his wares in Omaha.
Athens super regional: INF Ace Reese, Mississippi State
Reese is, in a sense, the anti-Lebron, with a perceived lower pro ceiling yet the comfort of reaching expectations in 2026. He earned All-SEC first team honors at third base after hitting 22 home runs (one more than last season), with 12 coming in conference play.
That’s a solid floor for a lefty swinger who is expected to produce similar or superior power as a professional. Reese, 21, may eventually outgrow third base but his bat speed will be his calling card, anyway.
Chapel Hill super regional: LHP Mason Edwards, USC
Talk about intriguing: A southpaw who ran off 26 consecutive scoreless innings, struck out 164 in 92 2/3 innings and comes at hitters with a high arm angle out of a 6-2 frame. Edwards led the Big Ten in strikeouts and ERA (1.85), though he struggled (4 ⅓ innings, five earned runs, four strikeouts) in his regional assignment against Lamar.
Edwards’ fastball won’t remind anyone of former Trojan Randy Johnson, it creeps into the mid-90s on a good day, and that’s likely why he’s ticketed to land toward the end of the first round. Yet his heater somehow has a knack for missing bats, which will make him a fun watch against the Tar Heels.
Austin super regional: OF Aiden Robbins, Texas
The Seton Hall transfer earned SEC newcomer of the year honors after batting .339 with 11 homers in conference play; he hit 23 overall, nearly quadrupling his career highs of six at Seton Hall.
Trading cold weather and a little batting average (he hit .422 his sophomore season in South Orange) for warmer climes and a lot more power was a fantastic look, and Robbins finds himself in Edwards’ rent district near the back of the first round. Whoever picks him will get a 6-2, 205-pound frame that should add enough power to justify moving Robbins to a corner outfield spot as a pro.
Lawrence super regional: INF Jaxon Willits, Oklahoma
He’s the Original Willits, three years older than Eli yet draft-eligible this season since Eli reclassified as a high school junior to become the No. 1 overall pick one year ago. And while Jaxon won’t get popped nearly that high, he’ll likely be a Day 2 pick, his future should nonetheless include a stint in the big leagues.
In his third year with the Sooners, Willits will benefit from a greater emphasis on contact at the highest level; he struck out just 44 times and walked 35 times in 242 plate appearances this season. His father Reggie, the Sooners’ associate head coach, carved a six-year major league career out of being a dependable outfielder. Jaxon, a switch-hitter, is similarly heady yet can stick in the middle infield.
And perhaps father and son can book their first trip to Omaha in his final days as a Sooner.
Lawrence super regional: SS Tyson LeBlanc, Kansas
This Sooners-Jayhawks renewal of old Big 12 acquaintances could feature the Spider-Man pointing meme at shortstop: LeBlanc and Willits, both 6-foot, 200-pounders, should come off the draft board at roughly the same time.
And while both may project as big league utility types, and LeBlanc also features elite contact skills (49 strikeouts to 38 walks), many of the similarities end there. LeBlanc, a right-handed hitter, cranked 24 home runs this season for Kansas, his first year at the game’s highest level after leading LSU-Eunice to the 2025 Division II championship.
Morgantown super regional: RHP Dawson Montesa, West Virginia
A rash of upsets means the No. 16 seeded Mountaineers get one more chance to sing Country Roads in the supers. And getting to Omaha will depend on Montesa coming up big, regardless of role.
Montesa pitched into the eighth inning to register a crucial win against Wake Forest, then came back two days later to record the final two outs of the 10th inning and earn another win when the Mountaineers walked off Kentucky to capture the regional. Hopefully, he won’t have to endure such rigors in the supers.
What he will have is an opportunity to boost his stock after control problems, he walked 40 in 71 ⅔ innings, 5.0 per nine innings, bumped him from the Mountaineer rotation. Yet his big arm, he tops out at 98 mph with his fastball should get him into the first four rounds after the junior college transfer’s one season in Morgantown.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2026 NCAA super regionals: MLB draft prospects to know