PHILADELPHIA — Five Clemson baseball players heard their names called over two days of the 2026 MLB Draft.
Right-handed pitcher Aidan Knaak went first, and the scouting reports that followed him into the Brewers’ fifth-round pick at No. 163 overall on Sunday all pointed to the same thing: strikeouts. He became the first Clemson pitcher drafted by Milwaukee since Weston Wilson a decade earlier.
The totals tell the story.
Knaak finished his career 16-8 with a 4.29 ERA and 306 strikeouts across 231 innings, seventh most in school history. As a freshman, 108 strikeouts in 83.1 innings put him second nationally among freshmen in ERA, strikeouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio and WHIP. He topped 100 again as a sophomore. Two first-team All-ACC selections in his first two seasons made him the first Clemson pitcher to earn that honor in each of his first two years.
The strikeout climb never slowed down.
Junior year threw a different look. He went 2-6 with a 5.81 ERA in 57.1 innings. Opponents hit .295. The velocity didn’t drop off. His 88 strikeouts in 57.1 innings produced a 13.81 K/9 clip that set a school record and ranked seventh nationally. The Brewers saw enough to invest a fifth-round pick, and this preseason first-team nod from D1Baseball told you the national evaluators agreed on the ceiling.
Didn’t have his best season. Still went Day 2.
Left-hander Justin LeGuernic came off the board shortly after. Kansas City Royals took him in the sixth round at No. 180 overall.
The Dix Hills, N.Y., native ranked No. 151 on ESPN’s draft board and No. 7 among ACC prospects per Perfect Game. He spent most of 2026 in the bullpen with a 4-2 record and 50 strikeouts in 40.1 innings. A high-spin slider was the calling card.
Eighth round.
Atlanta Braves selected catcher Jacob Jarrell at No. 232 overall. Jarrell led Clemson with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs in his senior season, hitting .269 with a .579 slugging percentage. A second-team All-ACC pick, a Buster Posey Award Watch List name, and four years building the kind of resume that makes professional organizations comfortable writing checks to catchers who can hit.
Two more arms came in the eleventh.
Chicago Cubs selected junior right-hander Ariston Veasey at No. 337 overall. Veasey spent one season in Tigertown, posted a 3.29 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 27.1 innings, and held opponents to .143 across 20 relief appearances with two saves. The most unhittable piece in a bullpen that needed every bridge it could find.
Two picks later, the Philadelphia Phillies grabbed Drew Titsworth at No. 339 overall. The Frankenmuth, Mich., native went 4-3 with 43 strikeouts in 35.1 innings over three seasons, mixing starts and relief work. Day 3 selection, but the bat-missing stuff was never in question.
Five picks across a weekend where the pitching tradition did the talking. A program that opened the season with Omaha aspirations watched its 26-19 finish and ACC Tournament exit in Charlotte, but the draft weekend gave Erik Bakich something concrete for the next recruiting cycle. You can point to a fifth-round arm, an eighth-round slugger and a first-round high school signee without having to dress it up.
