Ahead of the 2026 MLB Draft, several notable Texas baseball standouts from the recent season prepared to find out what their futures held and where they would be headed to start their professional baseball journeys.
And on Saturday, the first day of the draft, three Longhorns heard their names called, making 2026 the first time in 22 years that Texas had three top-100 picks.
The first Longhorn off the board was junior catcher Carson Tinney, who is headed up to the Twin Cities after being selected in the second round by the Minnesota Twins. Selected No. 43 overall, Tinney became the highest-drafted Texas catcher since 1988 and the fourth Texas catcher selected in the last five drafts.
A new face on the Forty Acres ahead of the 2026 season after transferring from Notre Dame, Tinney made an impact in his single season with the program. He ended the season with a .326 batting average, 22 home runs and 58 RBIs, which earned him an American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Gold Glove.
The second Texas player to hear his name called on Saturday was junior outfielder Aiden Robbins, who will be making his way to the Big Apple after being selected by the New York Mets in the third round.
The No. 92 overall draft pick also made an impact after transferring in for the 2026 season, as Robbins etched his name into the Texas record books. The outfielder ended the season tied for third-most homers by a Longhorn in a single campaign with 24 and totaled 64 RBIs on a .333 batting average.
The junior earned First Team All-American selections by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, as well as being named the Southeastern Conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
Soon after Robbins was off the board, senior pitcher Ruger Riojas was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies at No. 100 overall in the third round.
In his second and final year in Austin, Riojas cemented himself as one of the top pitchers in the SEC, ending the year with a 6–2 ledger and a 3.97 ERA across a team-high 17 starts. The pitcher also earned an ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Region nod for his 2026 season.
When the dust settled after day one of the 2026 MLB Draft, three players from the Longhorns’ College World Series team were selected.
