Scouting Carson Bailey, Ethan Kleinschmit & More 2026 MLB Draft Gems

Tyler Albanese, RHP, San Jose State

In the wake of a rather modest freshman season, Albanese has been on a steady upward trend since the summer of 2024. As a primary starter in the Northwoods League, Albanese notched 54 strikeouts across 50.2 innings. This past spring, he transitioned to the bullpen full time and flourished as San Jose State’s closer to the tune of a 2.97 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. He then rode that spring momentum into a summer in the Cape Cod League, where he compiled a 2.45 ERA with 20 strikeouts across 22 innings.

At 6-foot-6 and 237 pounds, Albanese is plenty physical with a workhorse frame. He works exclusively out of the stretch, features a somewhat abbreviated arm stroke and attacks out of a three-quarters slot. There’s a degree of explosiveness and effort in Albanese’s operation, and he’ll sometimes overthrow his fastball, which leads to yanked, armside misses.

From a sheer velocity standpoint, Albanese’s heater doesn’t jump off the page. It averaged 92.1 mph last spring and topped out at 95, but there’s plenty to like when you take a look under the hood. For starters, the pitch plays above its velocity band thanks to over seven feet of extension Albanese generates. When you combine that with its above-average spin rate of over 2,400 rpm to go along with an average of nearly 19 inches of carry and some gloveside life, it’s not too difficult to see why Albanese generated respective miss and chase rates of 28% and 31% last spring.

Albanese pairs his fastball with a mid-to-upper-70s curveball. It has an 11-to-5 shape and will sometimes pop out of his hand with a bigger, more downer look, but it can also get slurvy and will need to take a step forward in the sharpness department as Albanese enters pro ball.

A two-pitch arm who at times struggles to get lefthanded hitters out, Albanese appears destined for a bullpen role in pro ball. However, his fastball-curveball combo plays well against righthanded hitters, and he’s enjoyed plenty of success in his current one-trip-through-the-order role. He figures to be selected somewhere inside the first 6-8 rounds this July.

Carson Bailey, LHP, McLennan CC (Texas)

Bailey’s draft year was initially set to be 2027, but he will now be eligible in 2026 after transferring to junior college powerhouse McLennan College (Texas). Bailey this spring was a stalwart within Baylor’s rotation—an impressive feat for any freshman at a Power Four program—and he worked a 4.89 ERA with 56 strikeouts to 21 walks across 53.1 innings. 

Bailey has a high-waisted, athletic frame with some present thickness in his lower half, though he has room to fill out further. He works exclusively out of the stretch and attacks out of a three-quarters slot with present arm speed. He features a fastball that averaged 93.4 mph, a low-to-mid-80s slider and a mid-80s changeup. 

Bailey’s bread-and-butter pitches are his secondaries. He has demonstrated the ability to manipulate the shape of his slider, and it’s effective against both righthanded and lefthanded hitters. Against righties, it takes on more of a gyro look, though he has also shown the ability to back-foot it for whiffs. Against lefties, it has two-plane tilt with more length than depth. Bailey’s changeup has also flashed above-average with late tumble. His slider and “cambio” generated miss rates of 39% and 35%, respectively. 

I’ll be curious to see how the fastball quality progresses, as right now, it’s below-average due to its dead zone profile and Bailey’s sub-six feet of extension.

Bailey has top-five round upside and a chance to be the first junior college player off the board.

Zach Edwards, RHP, Oregon State

A draft-eligible sophomore, Edwards last spring got better with time and pitched his way into a more prominent role as the season progressed. While he allowed 12 earned runs across 18.1 innings, it’s important to note that 10 of them were surrendered across a rough three-appearance stretch in the middle of the season. Outside of those games, he allowed just two runs across 16.2 innings. Edwards’ summer performance on the Cape was far more indicative of the kind of pitcher he is, as across 16.1 innings he compiled a 1.65 ERA (three earned runs) with 16 strikeouts to five walks.

Edwards has a strong, physical build with strength throughout his frame. He features an abbreviated, stabby arm stroke and attacks out of a high three-quarters slot. His fastball sits in the mid 90s and has been up to 98 mph with an intriguing cut-ride profile. It routinely flashes vicious gloveside bite and will get in and under the hands of lefthanded hitters while cutting away from righties.

Edwards supplements his fastball with a mid-to-upper-80s sweeper that flashes two-plane tilt with a bit of sharpness. It was virtually untouchable between the spring and summer—albeit across a somewhat small sample size of 34.2 innings—and held opposing hitters to a minuscule .065/.102/.109 slash line to go along with an impressive 45% miss rate and 36% chase rate. Edwards throws his slider with conviction—and for strikes. His feel for the pitch is on par with—if not slightly better—than his feel for his fastball.

Edwards’ mid-to-upper-80s changeup is a distant third offering, and he threw just 40 of them—good for a usage rate of just 7%—between the spring and summer. Despite that limited usage, the pitch appeared to take a step forward between the spring and summer. On top of Edwards throwing it more, it flashed more consistent tumbling life on the Cape and proved to be effective against lefthanded hitters. Edwards carrying over the strides he made with his changeup into the spring would certainly be a positive sign.

Edwards projects as a reliever long term and figures to be selected somewhere inside the top 10 rounds in this year’s draft.

Ethan Kleinschmit, LHP, Oregon State

Kleinschmit spent one season at Linn-Benton Community College (Oregon) where he posted a tidy 1.03 ERA with 120 strikeouts to just 16 walks across 78.1 innings. It’s safe to say that Kleinschmit assimilated just fine to the step up in competition after transferring to Oregon State, as this spring he pitched to a 3.56 ERA with 113 strikeouts to 36 walks in 91 innings en route to earning a Team USA invitation. 

Kleinschmit stands at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds with a high-waisted frame and some thickness in his lower half. He attacks from a high three-quarters slot and features a low-90s fastball that’s been up to 95 mph with run and ride through the zone. His best pitch is undoubtedly his high-70s-to-low-80s slider. It’s a high-spin offering that’s effective against both lefthanded and righthanded hitters, but especially against the former. Against righties, it flashes two-plane bite with both depth and sweep, while against lefties it shows long and sharp lateral life. It averaged over 18 inches of sweep and generated a 32% whiff rate while holding opposing hitters to a .202 average. 

Kleinschmit rounds out his arsenal with a changeup he threw just 9% of the time in 2025. It flashes both tumble and fade at times and projects as a potentially-average third pitch.

Kleinschmit is an above-average strike-thrower who looks every bit the part of a starter professionally.

Carson Lane, RHP, UNLV

Like Albanese, Lane is another West Coast arm who took a sizable step forward between his freshman and sophomore seasons. After splitting time between the bullpen and the rotation as a freshman, Lane was a full-time starter last spring and compiled a 4.23 ERA with 85 strikeouts to 38 walks across 78.2 innings.

Standing 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Lane has an athletic frame and is also an athletic mover on the bump. He has a simple, repeatable and under-control delivery in which he features a “free and easy” arm stroke from out of a high three-quarters slot.

Lane’s fastball sits in the low 90s and has been up to 97 mph with solid carry in the upper portions of the zone, which is where it generates the vast majority of its swing-and-miss. Lane’s six-and-a-half feet of extension also plays in his favor.

Lane’s low-to-mid-80s gyro slider lacks teeth, which is something he’ll need to address in pro ball. It’s shorter in shape and will sometimes flash effective late depth, but it’s not a real bat-misser at the moment.

Lane rounds out his arsenal with a low-80s changeup he deploys exclusively against lefthanded hitters. He threw it just 6% of the time last spring, but he turned over a few good ones that flashed fade to the arm side with some late tumble.

Lane’s entire three-pitch mix will need to take a step forward professionally, but there’s an appealing foundation in place for whichever team drafts him in July.