Three Razorbacks in first round of initial 2026 MLB Mock Draft

Arkansas Baseball is fresh off of making history in the 2025 MLB Draft, becoming the second school in college baseball history to have four players taken in the first round and competitive balance picks, moments after Tennessee became the first school to do it.

Gage Wood, Wehiwa Aloy, Zach Root and Charles Davalan all went within the first 50 picks of the draft, and the Razorbacks could be well on their way to making more history in the 2026 Draft. Three more Razorbacks were tabbed as potential Top 40 picks. Catcher Ryder Helfrick, right-handed pitcher Gabe Gaeckle and lefty Hunter Dietz were all projected to be picked in the first round in MLB.com’s first full mock draft after the draft lottery.

It would be the first time in school history that Arkansas had back-to-back seasons with multiple first-round pick and the third straight year that a Hog has been picked in the first round after Hagen Smith went fifth overall in 2024 and signed a school-record $8 million bonus with the Chicago White Sox.

Breakdown of the potential Razorback first round draft picks

Gaeckle, projected to go No. 24 to the Seattle Mariners, is coming off of a season that saw him start in the rotation as the Friday ace before finishing out the year as a strong bullpen piece. Across 71 1/3 innings, Gaeckle posted a 4.42 ERA with 92 strikeouts. He found his stride in the postseason, pitching to a 1.93 ERA in three appearances across 14 innings of work. He’ll likely get another chance to start in the rotation.

Helfrick, projected to go No. 27 to the New York Mets, is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he slashed .305/.420/.616 with 15 home runs and became the team’s every day starting catcher while steadily move up the lineup, finishing the year as the team’s cleanup hitter in the College World Series. Helfrick caught 56 of the 65 games behind the plate, including all 30 SEC contests.

Dietz, projected to go No. 36 to the Philadelphia Phillies, is purely here because of the potential upside that he possesses. Rated as a Top 100 recruit coming out of high school, Dietz made just four appearances and recorded five outs in his first two seasons with the Razorbacks due to a litany of injuries that included a forearm injury that required surgery. Going into his draft year, Dietz looks to finally be healthy and ready to put a full season together, potentially as the No. 2 starter behind Gaeckle.

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