Minnesota Twins 2026 MLB Draft Picks: Rounds 6-10

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The first few rounds of the MLB Draft always command the spotlight. That's where the future stars and top-100 prospects come off the board, making headlines across baseball. But championship organizations separate themselves in the middle and late rounds by consistently identifying overlooked talent that can be developed into major league contributors.

The Twins have done exactly that in recent years. Zebby Matthews arrived as an eighth-round pick before quickly becoming one of baseball's fastest-rising pitching prospects. Bailey Ober was selected in the 12th round and developed into a reliable major league starter. Minnesota's player development staff has built a reputation for finding pitchers with specific traits they believe they can maximize, and this year's class continues that trend. From experienced college starters to power relievers with elite stuff, here's a look at the Twins' selections in rounds six through 10.

6th Round, 168th Overall: RHP Ethan Lay, Sacramento State

Lay fits the profile of a potential bonus pool savings pick as a fourth-year college senior, but he's also a pitcher who has steadily improved throughout his college career. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound right-hander struggled during his freshman season at Chico State, posting a 6.10 ERA and 1.72 WHIP while battling inconsistent command and allowing too much hard contact.

Everything changed during his sophomore season. Lay cut his ERA to 3.74 and issued only eight walks in 55 1/3 innings, showing the type of strike-throwing ability that has become a hallmark of many Twins pitching prospects. That breakout prompted a transfer to Sacramento State, where he became the Saturday starter in 2025. He logged 76 innings with a 3.55 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 66 strikeouts and only 16 walks. While he still surrendered more than a hit per inning and uncorked eight wild pitches, the overall trend was encouraging enough to return for his senior season after going undrafted.

Promoted to the Friday night role in 2026, Lay took another step forward. His strikeout rate climbed from 20.6% to 24.7% while lowering his walk rate from 5.0% to 4.3%. He attacks hitters with a four-pitch mix, relying more on pitchability than overpowering velocity. The Twins have had success developing college pitchers with command and feel for multiple offerings, making Lay another intriguing arm for their pitching development staff.

7th Round, 197th Overall: RHP Max Bayles, Santa Clara

Bayles has been on scouts' radars for several years. Baseball America labeled him one of college baseball's "most underrated draft prospects" entering the 2026 season after he steadily climbed from freshman reliever to Friday night ace at Santa Clara.

Bayles immediately contributed as a reliever at Santa Clara, collecting five saves and earning West Coast Conference All-Freshman honors before transitioning into the rotation. After earning Second Team All-WCC recognition in 2025, he became one of the conference's best starters this spring, posting a 2.54 ERA while holding opponents to a .185 batting average.

His calling card is a devastating high-spin slider. The low-80s breaking ball generated an incredible 50% whiff rate and is thrown even more frequently than his fastball. Sitting around 91 mph and touching 94, his fastball plays up because it tunnels effectively with the slider, although inconsistent command limits its effectiveness. If the Twins can clean up his delivery and improve his strike throwing, his plus slider gives him a chance to move quickly through the system.

8th Round, 227th Overall: RHP Thomas Burns, Texas

Burns might possess the loudest raw stuff of any pitcher Minnesota selected on Day 2. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Wisconsin native has one of the draft's biggest fastballs, routinely sitting between 95-98 mph while touching triple digits. His riding life from a high arm slot allows the pitch to miss bats even when hitters know it's coming.

His college career has taken an unconventional path. Burns opened at Arizona State as a weekend starter before shoulder tendinitis cut short his freshman campaign after six starts. He later transferred to Texas, where he spent the past two seasons pitching out of the bullpen. Despite posting a 5.64 ERA this year, he struck out 42% of opposing hitters, highlighting just how overpowering his arsenal can be.

Burns complements his fastball with an upper-80s cutter that flashes plus potential, though he struggles to consistently throw it for strikes. He also mixes in a mid-80s changeup, but it remains well behind his other offerings and frequently misses the strike zone.

The biggest obstacle is command. Burns has posted a 16% walk rate during his college career, making it difficult to trust him in leverage situations despite his elite swing-and-miss ability. Minnesota will undoubtedly see an arm with premium traits worth developing. If the Twins can help him throw more consistent strikes, Burns has the ceiling of a late-inning power reliever.

9th Round, 257th Overall: RHP JT Raab, Georgetown

Raab gives the Twins another experienced college arm who may come with some bonus pool flexibility as a fourth-year senior. Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 225 pounds, he has the size teams covet and enough raw stuff to intrigue evaluators.

He began his career at Stony Brook, where he pitched primarily out of the bullpen before transferring to Georgetown ahead of the 2025 season. During his first year, Raab started 14 games and threw 74 1/3 innings with a 3.63 ERA, earning All-Big East Second Team honors. His walk rate increased from 4.9% to 10.6%, however, and opponents hit .280 against him.

After going undrafted, Raab returned for his senior season looking to improve his stock. His strikeout rate jumped to an impressive 31.4%, but inconsistent command and poor luck limited the results. He surrendered 12 home runs in only 45 2/3 innings while allowing opponents to hit .308, though a .410 BABIP suggests some unfortunate batted-ball results.

Raab's fastball reaches the mid-90s, and he showed what he could look like at his best during the Cape Cod League last summer, posting a 1.80 ERA across 20 innings. The Twins will hope that version becomes the norm as they continue refining another high-strikeout college arm.

10th Round, 287th Overall: RHP Kole Klecker, Arizona State

Klecker closes Minnesota's run of college pitchers after spending his final season at Arizona State following three years at TCU. His career has been defined by steady adjustments and improving strikeout ability despite moving between the rotation and bullpen.

He burst onto the scene as a freshman, making 17 starts while posting a 3.72 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. His 10 victories made him the first TCU freshman since 2014 to reach double-digit wins. During his sophomore campaign, his K-BB rate improved from 10.4% to 17.3%, although opponents continued to square him up, hitting .300 with a 5.82 FIP.

His junior season was interrupted by injuries and inconsistency, but he still struck out 20 batters in just 19 1/3 innings, while the Horned Frogs went 10-0 in games he appeared in. After transferring to Arizona State, Klecker produced arguably his most complete collegiate season. He posted a career-best 26.5% strikeout rate, trimmed his walk rate from 11.9% to 8.2%, and limited hitters to a .247 batting average, his best mark since his freshman year.

Like several of Minnesota's Day 2 pitching selections, Klecker offers a solid blend of strike-throwing ability, improving swing-and-miss stuff, and a track record of development that fits the type of pitcher the Twins have targeted successfully in recent drafts.

The Twins clearly leaned into pitching throughout rounds six through 10, selecting five consecutive college right-handers with varying levels of polish and upside. Some, like Lay and Raab, provide experienced depth and potential bonus pool savings. Others, like Burns and Bayles, possess swing-and-miss stuff that could play in high-leverage bullpen roles if their command improves. Minnesota has shown it doesn't need a first-round pedigree to develop quality pitching, and history suggests at least one of these names could emerge as the next hidden gem in the organization's system.

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[saviking]

I love it! 9 pitchers in a row so far. They took in in a row about 5 or so years ago with good results. 

Guess they realized what I did. Their minor league pitching staff as a whole is horrible .  

[rdehring]

With a couple of these guys, Cody, you mentioned being a fourth-year senior gives the Twins the potential to pay under slot, perhaps well under. 

Have a question.  The NCAA just changed their rules to what I understand everyone gets five years to play five years.  If that is an accurate understanding of the change, and if the change makes it thru whatever lawsuits will follow, doesn't that give these fourth-year seniors the option of returning for a fifth-year should the Twins be offering $10k-$25k?

[DataNerd]

13 minutes ago, rdehring said:

With a couple of these guys, Cody, you mentioned being a fourth-year senior gives the Twins the potential to pay under slot, perhaps well under. 

Have a question.  The NCAA just changed their rules to what I understand everyone gets five years to play five years.  If that is an accurate understanding of the change, and if the change makes it thru whatever lawsuits will follow, doesn't that give these fourth-year seniors the option of returning for a fifth-year should the Twins be offering $10k-$25k?

I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case.  However, Raab was a R-SR so he is done.

[DJL44]

You can never have enough pitching 

[old nurse]

34 minutes ago, rdehring said:

With a couple of these guys, Cody, you mentioned being a fourth-year senior gives the Twins the potential to pay under slot, perhaps well under. 

Have a question.  The NCAA just changed their rules to what I understand everyone gets five years to play five years.  If that is an accurate understanding of the change, and if the change makes it thru whatever lawsuits will follow, doesn't that give these fourth-year seniors the option of returning for a fifth-year should the Twins be offering $10k-$25k?

The 5 year rule starts with the incoming class of 2027 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Has there been a review on the fifth round pick?

[ashbury]

16 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You can never have enough pitching 

At some point they'll need to acquire a shortstop and a center fielder for Ft Myers next season, just in case these pitching aces fail to strike out the side every time.

/ edit - I didn't refresh my draft update page - I see they've started this process.  😁

[HerbieFan]

I think it's safe to say the Twins have a "type"....

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, ashbury said:

At some point they'll need to acquire a shortstop and a center fielder for Ft Myers next season, just in case these pitching aces fail to strike out the side every time.

/ edit - I didn't refresh my draft update page - I see they've started this process.  😁

That’s all they sign for international free agents

[Dman]

I really like this draft as a whole so far.  taking some high octane arms in this 6-10 range will hopefully help them get more power relievers in the system.  It seems like our pen has very few hard throwers and most other teams pens are primarily hard throwers with a few control\junk ball artists. 

They'll find some bats further down as well as more arms.  AA and AAA are crying for more arms,  Not that these guys will get there that quick but the systems just needs more arms in it.  Arms just seem to get injured at a higher rate so you need to double down on them IMO.

I like this 5-10 grouping and the Twins have done better picking arms than bats so hoping they get more value out of this draft than past ones.

[rdehring]

29 minutes ago, old nurse said:

The 5 year rule starts with the incoming class of 2027 

Thanks for the clarification, Old Nurse.  Will be interesting to see how, if this changes how team's draft?

[Russ]

Do they even look for lefthanders?

[JADBP]

This draft appears to be near failure!  Other than Lackey and Burns, EVERY PICK THAT THE TWINS HAVE MADE IS BELOW THE RANKING!  There are still many ranked players on the board, and the Twins moved into unranked territory early, in Round 6!  Lackey was picked exactly as expected, at #3.  Otehr than that, there is only one player that the Twins picked at below the ranked value, and that was in the 8th round, with Burns.  Every other player picked was either UNRANKED or the Twins picked him well above his ranked value.  For example, Tinney was Ranked 73 and the Twins picked him at 43.  The only close one was Murdock, ranked at 140 and picked at 139.  Other than that, that, every pick was well earlier than ranked. 

I don't know how the Twins evaluate talent, but something seems amiss if everyone else has these players ranked well below where the Twins have them.  Pick #2, Tinney, seems totally inane, with the Twins enamored with a big bat (and nothing else).  He can't play 1B or OF and he can't hit much beyond fastballs.  How is this guy a 2nd rounder?  He's a total flyer.  

After taking two catchers, the Twins took 9 pitchers in a row!  I agree they should have starting taking Pitchers in round 2, but nearly all of them were ranked at least 40 places below the Twins pick and 3 of them were not even ranked (below a rank of 250!).  WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THE TWINS DRAFT OFFICE????

I guess the Twins, after the first 2 rounds, are taking SP's no matter where they are ranked.  I agree with this philosophy but wowza, it makes the picks look awkward.  Are they missing out on some stellar 1Bman with this blinded selection process?  

But Tinney, that was an absolutely wasted pick.  I would have been happy if the Twins Took Renfrow at that point!  Just a total waste.  My opinion.  

 

[BSLinPA]

JADBP........you do understand that those "rankings" to which you refer are not the gospel, right??  No MLB team had a ranking list that matched the MLB.com draft team's list.  MLB teams, including our Minesota Twins, spend thousands of hours scouting these players; watching them play the game, going about their daily preparations, interacting with teamates and coaches, learning of their reputation on and off the field, etc., etc.

Of the twelve ballplayers on your graphic, which have you interacted with and seen play the most (games, innings, hours)??  Please share details.

[h2oface]

1 hour ago, BSLinPA said:

JADBP........you do understand that those "rankings" to which you refer are not the gospel, right??  No MLB team had a ranking list that matched the MLB.com draft team's list.  MLB teams, including our Minesota Twins, spend thousands of hours scouting these players; watching them play the game, going about their daily preparations, interacting with teamates and coaches, learning of their reputation on and off the field, etc., etc.

Of the twelve ballplayers on your graphic, which have you interacted with and seen play the most (games, innings, hours)??  Please share details.

I guess, if you look at the overall success of the actual results of this crack team's thousands of hours scouting (as well as other teams' crews)..... well, they sure aren't the gospel, either. Not even close. I found his research and info quite interesting, and thoughtfully compiled, especially since other than Lackey and Burns, it was 100% always in disagreement with the rankings and their collective thousands of hours. If results have been more like the Dodgers, it could be more admired for all their disagreement. It is a low success group. A low success job, in general.