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MLB Draft Buzz: Florida Arms Race

February 9, 2026

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Bradenton, FL – If the 2026 draft ultimately becomes synonymous with a premium wave of prep right handed pitching, Florida’s fingerprints will be all over it. The Sunshine State is not just participating in this arms race. It is helping define it. Six Florida right handers currently reside inside Prep Baseball’s Top 100 overall rankings for the class, with another wave of high octane arms crowding the periphery and pressing the issue as the spring calendar turns.

With that kind of ceiling density, and with prep pitching forever sitting among the most volatile yet most alluring demographics in the draft, the margin for error narrows quickly. For evaluators, one look simply does not cut it. Multiple exposures, varied contexts, and live competition against comparable peers become essential inputs in the decision making process. Separating tiers among teenage arms is rarely linear and never comfortable, but it is precisely where clubs can create real value, reshaping draft boards and, in time, farm systems.

That calculus was on full display at IMG Academy for the 9th annual Prep Baseball Florida Preseason Classic, where nearly 50 MLB scouts ringed the backstops of the pristine Bradenton complex, notebooks open and radar guns drawn. The event has evolved into the unofficial starting gun for spring scouting coverage in Florida, a controlled environment that still allows the raw ingredients of competition, stuff, and projection to surface organically.

The 2025 iteration delivered on that reputation. While the roster was flush with talent across multiple age groups, it was the right-handed pitching that set the tone, drawing sustained attention inning after inning. Below, a look at the impact MLB Draft arms (& a couple ‘27s!) who made the biggest impression on Prep Baseball VP of Scouting, Shooter Hunt.



Shooter’s Impact Looks:

1. RHP Kaden Waechter (Jesuit HS)
2. RHP Samir Mohammed (Jesuit HS)
3. RHP Jake Carbaugh (Plant City HS)
4. LHP Kyler Meccage (IMG Academy)
5. RHP Joey Lawson (Bishop Verot HS)
6. RHP Wilson Andersen (Jesuit HS)
7. LHP Carter Cox (Venice HS)
8. RHP Brady Snow (American Heritage HS)


+ 2026 RHP Kaden Waechter (Jesuit HS, FL Florida State recruit)
The Prep Baseball All-American got his spring off to a strong start with a quick, two-inning relief appearance (piggy-backing Andersen) that saw him hit 96 mph three times while striking out four without allowing a hit (4 whiffs on 11 swings). The lone base runner was a HBP to the first batter on an 0-2 pitch that the right-hander tried to go inside late with. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder looked lean and athletic with noticeable strength throughout, and featured the makings of two distinct fastballs including a higher spin four seam that featured some sizzle up over 2700 rpm (mostly mid-2500s) while flashing a devastating sinker, at times. His low ¾ slot had semi-sporadic hand placement in this look, and while he was more “effectively wild” in the first inning of work, the second inning provided a glimpse at the stuff that has positioned Waechter for a potential late first round selection. An exceptional mover with a polished delivery, he ripped off a couple of the vicious sliders that saw him emerge as a must-see arm in the class throughout the summer. Almost cutter-like at a firm 85-88, the pitch was a weapon with short, late-breaking action. While the changeup backed up (87-88), it likely profiles well against the arm side life of the fastball. On a breezy day, Waechter comfortably churned in 93-96 while throwing 21 of his 32 pitches for strikes. It was a quality first look, and one that hinted at so much more to come throughout the spring. Should the slider continue to evolve into a honed offering, and it will, this first outing is likely to serve as the foundation of Wachter’s big spring.


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