The JUCO ranks have always been the draft's best-kept secret. It's the place where late bloomers, bounce-backs, and big-frame projection arms stack up before the rest of the industry catches on. The 2026 class is no different. There's a wave of stuff coming out of two-year programs from Texas to Florida to Tennessee, and a handful of these arms are going to hear their names called this July.

These are nine names to know.

1) Luke Ekdall, RHP — Blinn College

Luke Ekdall has waited a long time to throw a pitch that mattered. He missed nearly two full seasons after arriving at Blinn, including a season-ending injury in the Buccaneers' 2025 opener. So when he finally got the ball this spring as a redshirt freshman, the question wasn't whether the stuff would play, it was whether he'd still be in there at all.