The Rangers' Best Value Pick from Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft

Leading into the MLB Draft this weekend in Philadelphia, left-handed pitcher Brody Bumila was a name that was popping up in mock drafts as a late first-round pick. However, his name began to be missing the closer it got to Saturday's first round in Philadelphia.

There was a reason for that. The 6-foot-9 Massachusetts native had informed teams that he was going to need surgery on a UCL injury after his senior season in 2026 at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, Mass. If a team were willing to take a chance on him, it would be a risk worth taking given the talent he has.

That ended up being the Texas Rangers and after not getting picked in the first round, the 18-year-old got a phone call from Arlington, Texas. The message was clear, he told Matt Porter of the Boston Globe (subscription required) early Saturday night.

“Sit tight. The number you want, you’ll get with us,” Bumila said. “I sat tight and that’s what happened.”

Rangers Have Tremendous Upside in Selecting Brody Bumila in MLB Draft

Bishop Feehan's Brody Bumila — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Texas ended up selecting Bumila in the third round with the 89th pick on Saturday. Bumila told Porter that he will likely undergo Tommy John surgery in the coming days in Arlington. He will then begin the long road back to working his way to throwing a baseball and eventually getting a chance to prove the talent was too good to pass up for Texas, despite having to wait a while to see the southpaw throw in person.

Bumila was the 23rd-ranked prospect leading into the draft, according to MLB.com. He was committed to the University of Texas, but will be forgoing his college career to have surgery and begin his MLB journey. The Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year this past spring led Bishop Feehan to the MIAA Division 1 basketball state championship. In the spring, he led Feehan to the state final before they fell to Catholic Memorial.

In his senior season, Bumila, who always had dozens of scouts with radar guns behind home plate at each of his starts at Bishop Feehan, went 6-0 with a 1.10 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched. He threw a 20-strikeout no-hitter against Moses Brown out of Rhode Island in May. He routinely hit 100 mph with his fastball, while mixing in a slider and changeup.

Texas made pitching a priority on Day 1 of the MLB Draft, also taking lefty Gio Rojas from Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.) with the 16th overall pick in the first round. However, there is tremendous value in Bumila, as if things go well with his surgery and he can make a recovery and showcase his stuff, this could be a move that works out very well.

Once seen as a first-round pick, it was understandable why he fell, but this is without a doubt a low-risk, high-reward move by the Rangers that was too good to pass up and is the best value pick for Texas in the 2026 MLB Draft.

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