With the 2026 MLB Draft in the books, it is never too early to look ahead to the 2027 MLB Draft. Here are three pitchers in college baseball you need to know for next year’s draft.
Tomas Valincius, LHP, Mississippi State Bulldogs
After spending his freshman season with the Virginia Cavaliers, left-hander Tomas Valincius followed his head coach, Brian O’Connor, to Mississippi State for his sophomore season in 2026.
It was a great 2026 college baseball season for the sophomore. In 97 2/3 innings of work, he had a 3.50 ERA and 134 strikeouts. Valincius was top five in the country in strikeouts this past season. His large number of strikeouts with the Bulldogs led to him averaging 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Valincius made 17 starts for Mississippi State in 2026. He played a pivotal role in a successful first season for O’Connor as the head coach in Starkville. The Bulldogs finished with 43 total wins and made a super regional for the first time since their national championship-winning season in 2021.
In Jonathan Mayo’s Way-Too-Early 2027 Mock Draft, Valincius is going third overall to the Colorado Rockies.
Dax Whitney, RHP, Oregon State Beavers
Dax Whitney’s 2026 college baseball season was cut short. The right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery after experiencing arm tightness during a weekend series against Hawaii in April.
Despite that, Whitney put up some outstanding numbers during his sophomore season in Corvallis. In 63 innings of work and 11 starts, he had a 2.00 ERA with 104 strikeouts. This leads to an average of nearly 15 strikeouts per nine innings.
Before the 2026 season, Whitney was a part of an Oregon State team that made the College World Series in 2025. That was his freshman season, and he posted a 3.40 ERA over 76 2/3 innings.
In Mayo’s Way-Too-Early 2027 Mock Draft, Whitney is going fifth overall to the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels have a recent, successful development story with a college pitcher in Tyler Bremner. The former UC Santa Barbara pitcher was the second overall pick in 2025 and is now the number one prospect in the Angels’ farm system.
According to the initial reports of his injury this season, the Oregon State ace will be fully healthy by the time the 2027 MLB Draft rolls around.
Chris Levonas, RHP, Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Chris Levonas is set up to be the best pitcher in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) next season and one of the best pitchers in college baseball.
In 2026, the right-hander had a breakout year, posting a 3.11 ERA over 37 2/3 innings. Over that same stretch, he had 57 strikeouts and allowed an opposing batting average of .179.
Levonas was a D1 Baseball third-team All-American and a first-team All-ACC player.
The Wake Forest pitcher was selected 67th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. If he continues to develop even more in Winston-Salem with the Demon Deacons, he will improve his draft stock tenfold.
According to Mayo’s Way-Too-Early 2027 Mock Draft, Levonas is going seventh overall to the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds have drafted plenty of elite Wake Forest pitchers in the past, like Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Wake Forest pitcher Chris Levonas (18) in action during an NCAA regional baseball game against Kentucky on Friday, May 29, 2026, in Morgantown,W.Va. Kentucky won 6-5. (AP Photo/Mike Buscher)
