MLB Draft: MCC's Bailey, Baylor's Sanders lead Central Texas hopefuls

The 2026 MLB Draft is less than 24 hours away, and several athletes connected to Central Texas stand a strong chance of hearing their names called.

Carson Bailey is the top name to know entering the first four rounds, which will be announced starting with the top 10 picks of the first round at noon Saturday on NBC and the Peacock app. Picks 11-40 will be announced on MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB TV and MLB+ beginning at 1:30 p.m., followed by picks 41-135 on all of those except MLB Network, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

The second and final day of the MLB Draft, which consists of the fifth through 20th rounds, begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday on MLB.com, MLB TV and MLB+.

As mentioned, Bailey stands the best chance to hear his name called on Day 1. The left-handed pitcher from McLennan Community College enters this week's draft as the No. 70 overall prospect, according to MLB.com.

Bailey spent one season, his true sophomore campaign, at MCC after starring as a freshman at Baylor. Despite missing roughly the final 10 weeks of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee on March 4, Bailey showed why he entered the 2026 season as the No. 1-rated JUCO product, according to Perfect Game and other national outlets.

The Richardson native posted a 2-1 record with a 1.90 ERA in five starts for the Highlanders' 46-13 squad. Bailey struck out 24 batters in 23⅔ innings and held opponents to a .193 batting average. He also threw a complete-game (seven innings), two-hit shutout against Howard College on Feb. 19.

First-year MCC coach James Leverton told the Tribune-Herald that Bailey's fastball touched 99 mph throughout the fall, which carried into the spring.

MLB.com wrote that Bailey affirmed his status as the top junior college prospect in the 2026 Draft despite his knee injury, noting he could be drafted as high as the second round.

"Bailey works with a 93-96 mph fastball that touches 98 with sink that elicits more grounders than swings and misses," MLB.com wrote in Bailey's bio/breakdown. "His 82-85 mph breaking ball can fluctuate between a curveball and slider and is most effective when it has tighter break. Both are solid offerings with the potential to get better, as is his mid-80s changeup with fade and tumble.

"A quality athlete who gets down the mound well, Bailey has some effort in his delivery but improved his strike throwing before he got hurt. There's projection remaining in his 6-foot-3 frame, so he could add some more power to his pitches. If he turns pro, he should be ready to return to the mound around the start of next season. He missed his junior year in high school while recovering from Tommy John surgery."

Before transferring to MCC, Bailey made 12 starts as a true freshman at Baylor, posting a 3-3 record and a 4.89 ERA over 52⅓ innings. He became a key part of coach Mitch Thompson's weekend rotation before being deemed unavailable for the final two weekends of Big 12 play and the Bears' Big 12 Tournament loss. After entering the transfer portal, Bailey initially committed to Texas A&M before flipping to MCC.

He has signed with Texas Tech, so he has a fallback option if he doesn't sign professionally.

A couple of other MCC Highlanders who have a chance to hear their names called on Day 2 are freshman outfielder Brennon Seigler (.411/.504/.812; 66 RBIs, 23 SBs, 21 HRs), a Dallas Baptist commit who redshirted his true freshman season at Tennessee, and sophomore middle infielder Peyton Firgens (.353/.515/.490; 33 RBIs, 21 SBs, 15 XBHs), a Mississippi State commit who spent his true freshman season at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

There are also a couple of players at Baylor who likely played themselves into a draft selection this spring.

The name that jumps off the page most is smooth star shortstop Travis Sanders, who shined as a redshirt junior with the Bears. Sanders is not listed as a Top 250 overall draft prospect by MLB.com or a Top 250 college prospect by D1Baseball.com, but he still projects as a viable draft option due to his agile 6-foot-2 frame and elite production at the Div. I level.

An All-Big 12 second-team selection, Sanders slashed .369 - eighth-best in the conference - with 15 doubles, nine home runs, 44 RBIs and a 1.043 OPS, primarily out of Baylor's leadoff spot. That followed a redshirt sophomore season in 2025 in which Sanders hit .335 with nine doubles, eight home runs, 25 RBIs and a .974 OPS while starting mostly at second base.

If Sanders is not selected, or chooses not to enter the professional ranks, he has at least one more year of collegiate eligibility. The graduate transfer entered the transfer portal in early June and has since committed to Tennessee.

Sanders was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 14th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Copperas Cove but chose to play collegiately. He spent his first two collegiate seasons at Texas Tech before transferring to Baylor ahead of the 2025 season.

Another Baylor Bear from this past spring expected to be drafted on Day 2 is right-handed starting pitcher Lucas Davenport. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound hurler served as Baylor's Friday night starter this season, making 13 starts. Davenport went 5-4 with a 6.25 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He struck out 69 batters against just 16 walks and seven hit-by-pitches in 63⅓ innings.

The highlight of his career came down the stretch of the 2026 season when, on May 2, he hurled a complete-game four-hitter, allowing just one run while striking out 11 and walking none in an 8-1 series-opening win over Texas Tech in Waco.

Davenport's tall frame and mid-90s fastball, along with a hard-cutting slider and breaking ball, will make him an appealing draft prospect on Sunday. He also pitched well in 16 bullpen appearances for the Bears in 2025, going 4-2 with a 4.25 ERA and 34 strikeouts to 12 walks in 42⅓ innings.

The Prosper High School graduate began his collegiate career at Texas A&M, where he redshirted, before serving as Blinn College's ace during the 2024 season.

Baylor's only other probable draft prospect is redshirt senior first baseman Tyce Armstrong, who has perhaps done more than anyone else mentioned to boost his draft stock this season.

Armstrong showed the nation his Big League power this spring, as the 6-foot-4, 228-pound corner infielder rewrote Baylor's record book. He hit .338 with a .757 slugging percentage and a 1.210 OPS while launching a program-record 24 home runs - a total that ranked among the nation's top 10. He also led the team in runs (50) and RBIs (64), the latter the highest single-season mark by a Bear in more than a decade.

The Magnolia native's 39 extra-base hits and .757 slugging percentage both rank among the best single-season marks in program history, and his power surge carried into Big 12 play, where he set school records with 13 home runs and a .770 slugging percentage in conference games.

Thompson said the UT Arlington transfer's power can't be overlooked since he produced those numbers primarily at Baylor Ballpark, which is not a home-run-friendly park.

"This ballpark plays big," Thompson told reporters on April 30. "It's not even close to the rest of our conference, as far as how the ball plays. It's just not. And that's not to say anything about any place else. Our ballpark is definitely a pitcher's ballpark. It's a doubles and triples hitter's ballpark, (a) ‘You-better-be-able-to defend' ballpark.

"But here's what is is for a guy with power, and I always tell this to hitter's, too. If you have power, it will show up here. You won't be able to fake it. You won't be able to trick somebody into thinking you have power here. It won't happen. But if you have it, it'll show up, and you'll hit them and everybody watching will know you have power. And I think that that's for Tyce the same way it goes with professional scouts. Hopefully they're all taking notice - ‘Hey man, this guy has hit 18 of them playing at Baylor.' Well, that's different than hitting 18 at most places in our conference."

On top of Armstrong's power display, he sent shockwaves through the nation on Opening Day when he hit three grand slams and totaled 12 RBIs in Baylor's win over New Mexico State, matching an NCAA record that had stood for 50 years. In doing so, he has since been nominated to win an ESPY award.

Later in the spring, Armstrong became the first player in program history to homer in five consecutive games.

Armstrong, an All-Big 12 first teamer, earned second-team All-American honors from the ABCA/Rawlings and Perfect Game. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year finished with 18 multi-hit games, 15 multi-RBI efforts and a 28-game on-base streak.

Two players who previously competed in Central Texas and could hear their names called on Day 1 or 2 are Oklahoma's Deiten Lachance, formerly of MCC, and Georgia's Kolby Branch, formerly of Baylor. Lachance, who helped lead the Sooners to the national championship, is MLB.com's No. 103 overall prospect. Branch is the No. 155 overall college prospect, according to D1Baseball.com.

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