The Toronto Blue Jays select Cole Carlon at #39 in the 2026 MLB Draft

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Cole Carlon at #39 in the 2026 MLB Draft. Cole Carlon is a starting pitcher at Arizona State University. The slot value for the pick is $2,571,700. Cole Carlon was ranked #20 on our MLB Draft Consensus Board. 

Here’s what our write-up of Cole Carlon by Jamie Cameron from our MLB Draft Consensus Board said of Cole Carlon.

Carlon is one of the fastest-rising college arms in 2026 in a demographic that has suffered from injuries and inconsistent performance. After contributing to the Sun Devils immediately as a freshman bullpen arm, Carlon improved his sophomore season significantly, cutting his ERA in half and flashing far more dominant stuff. It's a good-looking delivery from Carlon. While there aren't outlier release traits, he hides the ball well during his delivery and has an ideal pitcher's frame at 6'5, 220 pounds. He's moved from the bullpen to a starting role in 2026. The results have been spectacular. Carlon had a 4.30 FIP through 83.2 innings of work this season while striking out 38% of hitters. The stuff is as explosive as ever, his fastball sits 94-96 mph, but he's run it up to 100 mph. His slider is one of the best in the class, a mid-80s gyro offering that generates a ton of swing and miss. Carlon mixes in a curveball and a changeup, too. There's still some refinement needed to the strike throwing, but Carlon's walk rate has improved from 11.3% in 2025 to 8.9% in 2026. Carlon is looking like a first-round prospect with starter traits who should move quickly as a pro.

Analysis: 

Cole Carlon is an arm that will fit in nicely with the group of players the Toronto Blue Jays have selected over the last couple of drafts. He has great stuff, but will need to develop a third pitch. The fastball/slider combo will let him succeed while he is moving through the system. At Arizona State University, the strikeouts were the big draw, taking a big leap his Junior season, striking out 133 in 83.2 IP. The pick looks good as Carlon appears to be a future workhorse starter that can eat innings and go deep into games, while striking out a lot of batters. At this stage, he appears to be a college version of Johnny King. The stuff is there, but the finer command is a work in progress and shows there is still a ton of potential in the projection down the road. Expect Carlon to slot into the top five of the Blue Jays prospects when he signs. 

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