The last time that the Padres took a college player in the first round was 2016, when the club grabbed Eric Lauer & Cal Quantrill. So, it’s not much of a shock to see San Diego go with the tried-and-true method, even if it doesn’t always yield perfect results. While the club did go with plenty of college players, the top two picks from their 2026 haul were projectable high schoolers.
The picks
| Round | Player | School | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coleman Borthwick | South Walton HS | Y |
| 2 | Elliot Lascelles | Upper Canada College HS | Y |
| 3 | Ryan Lynch | North Carolina | Y |
| 4 | Robbie Lavey | George Washington | Y |
| 4 | Alex Conover | Oklahoma State | Y |
| 5 | James Guyette | Kansas State | Y |
| 6 | Nu’u Contrades | Arizona State | Y |
| 7 | Joe Tiroly | Virginia | Y |
| 8 | Sean Fitzpatrick | Arizona State | Y |
| 9 | Benjamin Stubbs | Troy | Y |
| 10 | Augie Lopez | USC | Y |
| 11 | Chris McHugh | NC State | Y |
| 12 | Rob Evans | Miami (FL) | Y |
| 13 | Michael Smith Jr. | Dayton | Y |
| 14 | Ty Brachbill | High Point | Y |
| 15 | Ryan Kucherak | Northwestern | Y |
| 16 | Albert Roblez | Oregon State | Y |
| 17 | Denton Lord | South Walton HS | N |
| 18 | Mark Quatrani | Notre Dame | Y |
| 19 | Chris Downs | Cal Poly | Y |
| 20 | Ezekiel Zion | Campo Verde HS | Y |
The players
Dating back to his days with the Rangers, AJ Preller’s teams have made it a habit of targeting athletic high schoolers with high raw upside. So in terms of what the club did with their draft in 2026, it was more of the same.
One year after the club selected Kruz Schoolcraft, the Padres took 6’6” right-hander Coleman Borthwick. A member of the 2025 USA U18 team, Borthwick was one of the best high school pitchers available, armed with a mid-90s fastball, slider, and a little bit of deception as well.
The Padres’ second pick was used on Canadian shortstop Elliot Lascelles. From Toronto, Lascelles is an incredibly fast runner, along with a strong arm and some room to grow. San Diego spent nearly $3MM to forego Yale University.
San Diego grabbed Ryan Lynch with their third-round pick, the first of what was a run on college players by the Padres. Lynch wasn’t a big strikeout pitcher at UNC, as the right-hander was a significant groundball pitcher. Heavy sinkerballer with mid-90s velocity, along with a slider and curveball.
The Padres grabbed several catchers this past July. Augie Lopez from USC was grabbed in the 10th round, while the club spent over $200,000 on Notre Dame backstop Mark Quatrani. Quatrani was a quietly good performer both in the Cape Cod League and with the Fighting Irish, where he cracked 15 hits and a team-high 80 hits last season.
Robbie Lavey, the club’s fourth-round pick, was another one of those catchers. Lavey hit well in the A-10, as he batted .339 overall with eight home runs and 20 extra-base hits.
Kansas State pitcher James Guyette was a strikeout machine for the Wildcats. As the co-ace of the club, Guyette struck out a team-high 105 batters over 79.1 IP, despite an ERA well over 5.00. More of a groundball lean, which isn’t much of a shock. He leaned often on a sinker that ran into the mid-90s, plus a changeup, slider, and sweeper.
Two Arizona State Wildcats were grabbed later on in the top 10 rounds. Nu’u Contrades was a steady performer for ASU. But this year was a big one for him, as he cracked a career-best 21 home runs on a deep club. Contrades batted over .300 in all three years he was a regular starter.
Sean Fitzpatrick was a very good reliever for ASU. Fitzpatrick struck out 45 over 26 innings. Not the hardest fastball, only sitting in the low-90s. That worked off his sweeper slider.
Sandwiched in between those two was Joe Tiroly of UVA. After two seasons with Rider, Tiroly’s game translated well in the ACC. The junior wound up being the home run leader for the Cavaliers, with 16 this past season.
Other notables from this year’s draft included two other ACC products: Chris McHugh and Rob Evans.
McHugh hit .362 back in 2025 with the NC State Wolfpack. However, the numbers dipped in 2026, as his average (.320) and on-base percentage (.409) both went down. But he can hit, as McHugh performed at a high level.
Evans has a fastball that ran up to 96 MPH during the ACC tourney, although he sat more in the low-to-mid-90s. Also has a changeup and slider in his back pocket.
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