Updated MLB Draft Rankings: Where NC State Prospects Stand After the MLB Draft Combine<\/p>\n
The 2026 MLB Draft is quickly approaching, with the first round set for July 11.<\/p>\n
Following the MLB Draft Combine, both D1Baseball and MLB Pipeline have updated their draft prospect rankings, giving a clearer picture of where several NC State players stand heading into draft weekend.<\/p>\n
While some Wolfpack players saw their stock slip slightly, one player is trending in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
Projected draft range: Late first round \u2192 early\/mid second round (roughly picks 35-65). He’s viewed as a polished college bat with good contact, speed, and center field defense.<\/p>\n
D1Baseball: No. 53 (previously No. 43)<\/p>\n
MLB Pipeline: No. 60 (previously No. 58)<\/p>\n
Despite the modest drop, Head still projects as an early Day 2 selection and remains one of the top defensive outfielders available in this year’s draft after winning a national Gold Glove.<\/p>\n
Even after undergoing Tommy John surgery this spring, Jacob Dudan continues to be viewed as one of the better pitching prospects in the draft.<\/p>\n
D1Baseball: No. 50 (previously No. 48)<\/p>\n
MLB Pipeline: No. 58 (previously No. 50)<\/p>\n
Projected draft range: Mid-to-late second round (or a bit later if medicals are a concern). He had Tommy John surgery in April, which has caused him to slide some, but his pre-injury stuff (heavy sinker, strike-throwing) still has teams interested in the 2nd-3rd round area.<\/p>\n
Ryan Marohn experienced the 2nd biggest drop among NC State’s top draft prospects.<\/p>\n
D1Baseball: No. 107 (previously No. 98)<\/p>\n
MLB Pipeline: No. 149 (previously No. 147)<\/p>\n
Projected draft range: Mid 4th round to 6th round (roughly picks 120-200).
Solid left-handed college arm with command and a good three-pitch mix. Injuries limited him this spring, so his final spot will depend on medicals and how teams view his stuff post-recovery.<\/p>\n
Third baseman Sherman Johnson was the only Wolfpack player whose stock improved following the latest updates.<\/p>\n
D1Baseball: No. 138 (previously No. 148)<\/p>\n
Projected draft range: 5th round to 8th round (roughly picks 150-250).
JUCO transfer who had a breakout year with good power and hitting ability. Toolsy infielder who gained momentum late; could climb into Day 2 if a team loves his bat or versatility.<\/p>\n
Second baseman Luke Nixon also remains on MLB teams’ radar.<\/p>\n
D1Baseball: No. 185 (previously No. 175)<\/p>\n
Projected draft range: 6th-10th round or senior sign (roughly picks 200+ or undrafted).
Contact-oriented infielder (son of Trot Nixon) with solid college production. More of a depth\/safety pick or strong senior-sign candidate rather than a high-upside selection.<\/p>\n
The post-combine updates didn’t dramatically alter the outlook for NC State’s draft class.<\/p>\n
Ty Head and Jacob Dudan remain the Wolfpack’s top projected selections, while Ryan Marohn continues to receive Day 2 consideration despite a slight slide.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is Sherman Johnson’s rise, making him the lone NC State player to improve his standing after the latest rankings were released.<\/p>\n
With the MLB Draft only days away, it’ll be interesting to see how closely the final selections mirror these updated projections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Updated MLB Draft Rankings: Where NC State Prospects Stand After the MLB Draft Combine The 2026 MLB Draft is quickly approaching, with the first round…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1891359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-n-c-state-wolfpack","wpcat-81-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1891359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1891360,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891359\/revisions\/1891360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1891359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1891359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1891359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}