Major League Baseball franchises can find talent in every nook and cranny of the country.

The most talented players at every amateur level of the sport, from high school to all levels of college baseball, are snapped up across the two-day, 20-round MLB First-Year Players Draft, held annually during the league’s All-Star Break. Some of those talented players are from junior colleges.

Last year, 25 players from the juco ranks were selected by 16 franchises. Double-digit juco players are projected to come off the draft board again this season, including several that could go in the first three rounds.

Before this year’s draft gets underway on Sunday in Atlanta, let’s take a look at a few current and some former junior college standouts who could hear their name called on day one.

RYAN WIDEMAN, CF, GEORGIA HIGHLANDS COLLEGE

Wideman capped off a first-team All-American sophomore season at Georgia Highlands with a third-place finish in the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series in 2024. In five games at Suplizio Field, the center fielder went 8 for 20 with two home runs and five stolen bases. Wideman transferred to Western Kentucky and produced a great season.

The 2025 Conference USA Player of the Year was a first-team All-American selection by multiple publications after hitting .398 with 10 home runs and 45 stolen bases in his junior season. Wideman was listed as the 74th-best draft prospect from the Division I collegiate ranks by D1Baseball, and he’s the 146th best prospect in the class by MLB Pipeline’s rankings.

Matt Barr, RHP, Niagara County Community College

Widely considered the best junior college prospect in this draft, the right-hander sported a 1.75 ERA in 57 innings of work for the SUNY Niagra Thunder Wolves in his freshman campaign. Barr, who does not turn 20 years old until next January, recorded a win in all 10 games he started this spring.

At 6-foot-6, Barr sports an above-average frame and uses his natural extension to his advantage. The righty routinely touches 98 miles per hour on his fastball, and he’s got two other elite pitches, a slider and a curveball, to pair with his heater.

Barr is committed to Tennessee for next season, should he opt to remain in college, but the flame-thrower may garner a hefty enough signing bonus to forgo those plans. Barr is ranked as the 136th-best prospect in this draft class by MLB Pipeline and 166th by ESPN.

Richie Bonomolo Jr, CF, Wabash Valley College

At just 5-foot-11, Bonomolo doesn’t exactly profile as a traditional center field prospect, but he can produce, and he has done that since his freshman season with 2023 JUCO World Series runners up Wabash Valley.

As a freshman, Bonomolo hit .449 with 19 doubles, seven home runs, and 43 stolen bases, and he was red-hot in Grand Junction to finish the season. In six games at Suplizio Field, he hit .429 and had seven RBI and was selected to the 2023 JUCO World Series all-tournament team for his efforts.

After two seasons with the Warriors, Bonomolo transferred to Alabama where he won the starting center field job. The junior hit a respectable .311 with eight home runs and went 16 of 17 on stolen base attempts. Bonomolo lands at the 191st overall in this draft class by ESPN.

Brendan Brock, C, Southwestern Illinois College

Perhaps the top hitting prospect in the junior college ranks in this draft class, Brock hit .462 with a .565 on-base percentage and slugged .870 with 20 home runs for the Blue Storm in his sophomore campaign. The St. Louis native set a program record for career home runs in 2025 with 35; even more impressive than his power numbers, though, is his top speed.

Brock swiped 27 bases last season, which was actually a tick down from the 39 steals he had in his redshirt freshman campaign. That speed and base running ability is rare in a catching prospect, which has helped Brock shoot up draft boards since the beginning of the spring.

The 2025 first-team All American and Region 24 Player of the Year is ranked as the 185th-best prospect in the draft by ESPN, which would put him on the cusp of the fifth round in the draft.

Brent Iredale, 3B, New Mexico Junior College

Iredale is the latest in a wave of Australian baseball prospects who have made waves in college baseball in recent years. Iredale has legitimate tools across two seasons in junior college and one at the Division 1 level to cement himself as a major draft prospect this season.

The 6-foot, 200-pound third baseman slashed .437/.543/.925 with 42 home runs and 40 steals in two seasons with New Mexico Junior College, and became the first player in the history of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference to win player of the year in back-to-back seasons.

Iredale parlayed his juco success with a strong junior season with Arkansas, appearing in 65 games for the Razorbacks en route to a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, slashing a respectable .286/.450/.544 and compiling 14 home runs in his lone season in Fayetteville. Iredale is ranked as the 174th-best draft prospect in this class by ESPN, and 177th overall by MLB Pipeline.

Jake Munroe, 3B, John A. Logan College

Munroe had a breakout season for the College World Series participant Louisville Cardinals in 2025 after cutting his teeth in the juco ranks for the first two years.

Munroe collected a program-record 35 home runs in two seasons at John A. Logan College. In his 2024 sophomore season, Munroe was selected a third-team All-American and took home Region 24 Player of the Year honors after slashing .415/.510/.881 with 23 home runs, also the top mark in program history. With Louisville, he hit .346 with 13 home runs.

He’s listed as the 182nd best prospect in this class overall by ESPN.

Cade Crossland, LHP, Weatherford College

After being considered the top junior college prospect in the state of Texas last season, it was a bit of a surprise to see Crossland land in Norman and suit up for Oklahoma this year instead of beginning his journey in pro baseball.

His junior season was stunted by a nagging back injury that inflated his ERA to over 6.00 on the season. But the flashes of brilliance that Crossland showed, like his final start of the year, a seven-inning, nine-strikeout performance against Nebraska in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, were undeniable.

The left-hander has a fastball that can touch 98 and a low-80’s change-up that generates a lot of swings and misses. Opinions on the 21-year-old’s control vary heavily from organization to organization, however, and his prospect rankings do reflect that. ESPN is more optimistic on the lefty, ranking him the number 90 overall draft prospect, while MLB Pipeline is a little less bullish, and ranks him at 207.

MASON PETERS, LHP, TEMPLE COLLEGE

After cutting his teeth at the junior college level, Peters emerged as one of the top left-handed relief prospects in this year’s draft class in his first season at Dallas Baptist.

Peters saw decent results in his sophomore campaign with Temple College in 2024, going 6-4 with a 4.92 ERA in 15 starts and 64 innings and he allowed only one home run all season. His ability to limit the long ball made him a target for DBU, which primarily utilized him as a closer in 2025, with one notable exception.

On May 17, Peters earned the start on the road at Liberty, and he settled in for six dominant no-hit innings before giving way to his bullpen, which finished off the historic feat; the junior left hander, who struck out 10 and allowed just one base runner via hit-by-pitch, was named Conference USA pitcher of the week after the no-hitter.

Peters features a fastball in the low 90s and a 75 mph curveball that he can consistently land in the strike zone, but his lack of a quality third pitch limits his ceiling. The Waco, Texas native is ranked as the 225th best prospect in this draft class by ESPN.

Riley Nelson, 1B, Yavapai College

At Yavapai College, Nelson was selected the Region 5 Player of the Year in 2024 after leading the Roughriders in batting average (.412), hits (70), doubles (21), home runs (13), RBI (55), walks (29), on-base percentage (.495) and slugging percentage (.788).

His successes continued at Vanderbilt in 2025, where he his .355 with 13 doubles, eight home runs and 47 RBI while playing premium corner-infield defense for a Commodore squad that was the top seed overall in this year’s NCAA tournament.

Both of Nelson’s parents played sports at the collegiate level, as did the first baseman’s uncle and first cousin, so it should come as no surprise that at 6-3, 220, Nelson has real big league makeup. Nelson is projected as the 218th-best prospect in the class by ESPN.

Chris Arroyo, 1B, Pasco-Hernando State College

After starting his career at Florida and before ending it at Virginia, Arroyo cut his teeth in the DII Junior College ranks at Pasco-Hernando State. At that point in his career, Arroyo was a two-way prospect, and after hitting .403 in 159 at bats and posting a 3.53 ERA in 63 2/3 innings, he was named a first-team All American for his impressive sophomore campaign.

Arroyo saw less time on the mound with Virginia, throwing just 12 2/3 innings while sporting a 4.97 ERA, but his hit tool was enough to make him an intriguing prospect for this year’s draft. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas graduate hit 11 home runs and drove in 42 runs across 49 games for the Cavaliers in 2025.

Some scouts still consider Arroyo’s arm to be his best tool, but well below average sprint speed limits his defensive range and could force the junior into a full-time first base or DH role in the pros. ESPN ranks Arroyo as the number 180 prospect in this draft class, while MLB Pipeline has him ranked at 193.