The 2026 MLB Draft gets going this weekend in Philadelphia, and Arkansas fans have plenty of reason to tune in.
The event runs alongside MLB’s All-Star festivities, with the first four rounds set for Saturday and rounds five through 20 following on Sunday.
Two Razorbacks stand out above the rest of the Hogs’ draft class.
Catcher Ryder Helfrick and left-hander Hunter Dietz both landed inside the top 25 prospects on MLB Pipeline’s board, and both players spent this spring turning heads across the SEC.
Helfrick wrapped up his junior season hitting .283 with an on-base mark of .417 and a .562 slugging percentage.
He launched 18 home runs and drove in 53 runs while drawing 55 walks, a total that ranks fourth on the Razorbacks’ single-season list.
He earned third-team All-American honors and became the 42nd All-American to play for coach Dave Van Horn since he took over the program back in 2003.
Helfrick’s defense sets him apart
Scouts point to Helfrick’s glove as much as his bat. He led the country in defensive runs saved with a mark of 27.00 and topped all catchers in framing runs saved at 24.49.
Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs said Helfrick’s baseball mind puts him in rare company among Razorbacks backstops.
“Ryder is a first-rounder from the head down,” Hobbs said.
Van Horn compared Helfrick to former big leaguer James McCann, another standout Arkansas catcher from years past.
“Ryder’s arm strength is probably a little better than James at this time, but the accuracy and the release of James was really good,” Van Horn said.
Most mock drafts have Helfrick coming off the board somewhere around the 12th or 13th overall pick.
Dietz turned health into a fastball
Dietz took a much different road to the draft. Injuries wiped out most of his first two seasons in Fayetteville, including a stress fracture in his elbow that needed surgery.
Once healthy in 2026, the 6-foot-6 lefty became the Hogs’ Friday night starter and posted a 7-4 record with a 3.57 ERA and 131 strikeouts across 16 starts, a total that ranks fourth in program history for a single season.
Dietz’s fastball has touched the upper 90s this year, and his height gives hitters an unusual look out of the SEC.
He earned All-SEC recognition and a spot as a semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
Teams looking for pitching depth in the middle of the first round have connected his name to several clubs, including Boston and Philadelphia.
More Hogs could hear their names
Helfrick and Dietz headline a group of seven Razorbacks who landed on MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 draft prospects list this year.
That kind of depth keeps building on Arkansas’ reputation as one of the sport’s top producers of pro talent under Van Horn.
Saturday’s early rounds run on NBC, Peacock and MLB Network before coverage shifts fully to MLB.com and MLB.TV for the later picks.
Key takeaways
- Ryder Helfrick projects as a first-round pick thanks to elite defense and a power bat that produced 18 home runs this season
- Hunter Dietz overcame a serious elbow injury to become one of the SEC’s top strikeout arms and a projected first-round lefty
- Seven total Razorbacks made MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 list, showing continued strength in Arkansas’ pro pipeline under Dave Van Horn
