Twins Select RHP Steele Murdock with 5th Round Pick

[Cory Moen]

The Minnesota Twins have selected RHP Steele Murdock with their 5th round pick at 139th overall in the 2026 MLB Draft. The slot value for the pick is $536,900. Murdock is a right-handed pitcher out of UC San Diego. He had 104 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched this past season with the Tritons.

Murdock was ranked #140 on MLB Pipeline’s pre-draft rankings. He throws a three-pitch mix including a fastball, slider, and changeup. His fastball grades as above average, and his slider grades as a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale. He’s touched as high as 99 mph on his fastball while his slider and changeup sit in the mid-80s. 

He’s had a high walk rate in college, so this is something he will need to work on at the professional level. 

 

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[DocBauer]

Good size and frame. Mid 90's velocity and has cranked it higher on occasion. Gets squared up hard at times. Maybe they need to work on it's shape? A grade 60 slider is his out pitch. Below average CHANGE that he doesn't use a lot.

Has problems with BB at times. Apparently had a really good Cape Cod offseason as a RP. Certainly has some potential. 

[Cory Moen]

9 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Good size and frame. Mid 90's velocity and has cranked it higher on occasion. Gets squared up hard at times. Maybe they need to work on it's shape? A grade 60 slider is his out pitch. Below average CHANGE that he doesn't use a lot.

Has problems with BB at times. Apparently had a really good Cape Cod offseason as a RP. Certainly has some potential. 

Agreed. My guess would be they try him out as a starter early on and if that doesn't work, the fall back of being a one inning guy who is a fastball/slider reliever is a real possibility. If he develops a third pitch, whether that be the change or they try something different might be the key to sticking as a starter versus moving to the bullpen. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

He has a great name. What would be a good walkup song for a reliever with the first name of "Steele" (not "steal"). Devo's "Gates of Steel" or Hank Williams' "Man of Steel"?

[gman]

Looks like a future (and not to distant future) late inning reliever. Set that as a target for this guy and he may be the 8th/9th inning reliever they need.

[AlwaysinModeration]

10 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

He has a great name. What would be a good walkup song for a reliever with the first name of "Steele" (not "steal"). Devo's "Gates of Steel" or Hank Williams' "Man of Steel"?

Do It Again, by Steely Dan

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

On 7/13/2026 at 7:22 AM, tarheeltwinsfan said:

He has a great name. What would be a good walkup song for a reliever with the first name of "Steele" (not "steal"). Devo's "Gates of Steel" or Hank Williams' "Man of Steel"?

Agree, A wonderful baseball name. I hope he has the skills to back it up!

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Twins appear willing to lean into high upside pitchers with reliever risk - Lapour, Murdock, Burns.  To me it appears they have an intention to try and draft more reliever prospects, rather than just converting starters to relievers.  If either of these 3 develop a 3rd pitch and gain some control you have high a high upside starter prospect.