MLB Draft Insider

Tyler Bell has top-5 pick potential in the 2026 draft. One of the youngest in the class, switch-hitting shortstop with high-end athleticism. Posted elite pulled fly ball rates, oppo EVs, and strong contact rates from both sides. Handling spin will be key moving forward.

Stuff isn’t everything. But you’re not winning without it.

Best breaking ball in the '26 draft might belong to WVU’s Chase Meyer. This pitch is 89 MPH with -15 IVB, that shouldn't exist. Command remains a question, but pure stuff like this is rare.

@BishBaseball Yes, Florida trackman operator has to step up his game.

@MLBDraftRep Those cutters actually misclassified changeups?

@JCBaseballStats @reillocity I can almost promise it’s a sign of trackman as a whole rather than a single ballpark. Trackman movement is inflated relative to Hawkeye, and 20 IVB isn’t uncommon. See my earlier posts on Matt Scott, Chase Burns and JD Thompson.

@reillocity @MLBDraftRep Especially on a D-1 level, how difficult do you believe consistency is across the league?

Top Returning P4 Arms by Stuff+ 1. Gabe Gaeckle- Arkansas (129.6) 2. James Tallon- Duke (129.5) 3. Matt Scott- Stanford (125.4) 4. Jamie Arnold- FSU (124.5) 5. Bradley Stewart- UGA (123.7) 6. Matthew Matthijs- UNC (123) 7. Reed Garris- Clemson (122.8) 8. Eric Lin- Kansas (122.4)

@DaWink33 On the circuit: Elite whiff rate (14%), good discipline (67% Zone/14% Chase), plus top-end bat speed, 105 EV with wood, plus run times, 70 defense, 80 arm. He's elite across the board.

@MLBDraftRep What do you got on Billy Carlson? I haven’t seen him ranked this high anywhere

Christmas comes early! Here's the top 30 on my board as of now. If you have data-related questions about anyone in the class I'm happy to answer.

@bledaytruther Secondaries for days.

@MLBDraftRep any shot you could drop kolten smith’s shape data ?

@TatisMVPszn @StanfordBSB It’s definitely similar

@MLBDraftRep @StanfordBSB Yesavage fastball comp?

@BishBaseball Yes. It’s very common for trackman to observe breaking balls being released closer to the mound. Not quite sure why!

@MLBDraftRep Question... Is that massive extension jump on the fastball vs all his secondaries common at this level? Don't think I recall seeing that big of a gap before.

Some cool data on the top catchers in the MLB Draft. Framing+ (100 is average) Ike Irish: 93.9 Caden Bodine: 98.5 Cannon Peebles: 103.8 Luke Stevenson: 100.7 Easton Carmichael: 104.4 Lucas Steele: 95.6 Brady Neal: 93.5 Brooks Bryan: 99.8 Matt Graveline: 96.2

@RalstonPete8 Being inefficient from his slot requires velo or a lot of creativity. Wheeler is a pretty similar arm and he gets by just throwing hard and having elite command.

@MLBDraftRep Leiter seems to have very good Stuff+ metrics for every pitch but his fastball. I’d be interested to see if and org may try and tweak something or just leave it as is Can’t wait to see how Florida State performs next season. That pitching staff is a force to be reckoned with

@solosymposium @OSUBaseball Trained on 2 seasons worth of power 5 data

@gabe_appelbaum @UCSB_Baseball I went with 3%, this is a great idea.

@MLBDraftRep @UCSB_Baseball have you considered removing pitches that occur less than a certain amount, say 10%, that way you could get rid of mistags

@ethanmchugh63 It's too close to the fastball movement and speed to generate a ton of whiffs. He will drop in an elite changeup with -5 VB every now and then but its difficult to generate a ton of separation as a sinker guy.

@MLBDraftRep Interesting that his changeup only has 97 stuff+. A nearly 0 VB changeup is an absolute hammer

@Matt_OConor4 It’s likely two pitches, just large variance in movement. Trackman operators are also poor at tagging which is to be expected.

@MLBDraftRep What’s with the crazy variance between 4 seam and sinker movement? Some classifications wrong?

@TatisMVPszn Slider misread

@MLBDraftRep Love these, do we think that cutter is a trackman error or is it a real thing?

@MP1TheGoat He'll be next

@MLBDraftRep Can you make one of these for Tyler Bremner or is his data impossible to get?

Landon Harmon is a name to watch. Fastball is up 98 (avg 93.0) with cut/ride and he had a 34% whiff on the summer. Lanky 6’5 build with size to add. Great feel for spin on both the fastball and a power curve that averaged 77.2 in 2024.