2026 MLB Draft Preview: Justin Lebron scouting report.
The 2026 is about a month away — the first round kicks off on July 11, 2026 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #16, their second round pick is at #54, and their third round pick is at #89.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three
picks. Today we are looking at University of Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron.
Justin Lebron is a 6’2”, 180 lb. righthanded hitting shortstop at the University of Alabama, where he has been a three year starter. Lebron was undrafted and largely off of folks’ radars out of high school in Florida. He turns 22 in November.
Lebron is a toolshed who Keith Law says would probably be the “obvious 1-1 pick” 30 years ago. The reports praise his bat speed and his ability to handle velocity. He also has impressive power, with his raw power grade projecting at 60 to 70. Unfortunately, he also has major contact issues, and struggles with pitch recognition. The result is a hit tool that lags behind everything else — if his hit tool profiled even as average, he’d be a top 3 pick.
Defensively, he’s a true shortstop who should have no problems sticking at the position, and who could be an above-average defender. He also has very good speed. MLB Pipeline says that all his tools other than his hit tool are plus, and Lebron gets good marks for his makeup and athleticism as well.
As a freshman, Lebron slashed .338/.429/.546, with 20 walks against 53 Ks in 254 plate appearances. He improved as a sophomore, slashing .316/.421/.636, with 18 homers, 68 Ks and 35 walks in 281 plate appearances while going 17 for 18 on the basepaths. His junior season has been more difficult, however — his slash line dropped to .277/.384/.536, with 27 walks against 56 Ks in 281 plate appearances, though he was an eye-popping 41 for 42 in stolen base attempts.
Baseball America has Lebron at #19 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Lebron at #9 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Lebron at #10 on his top 150 list. Keith Law’s rankings have Lebron at #14 on his board. Fangraphs has Lebron at #9 on their board. Baseball Prospectus has Lebron at #25 on their top 30 draft board.
In the June 8 Baseball America mock draft, Carlos Collazo has Lebron going to the Angels at #12, though he’s mentioned as a possibility with a number of teams, including as high as the Pirates at #5. The BA staff draft on June 15 has Lebron going to the Rangers at #16. Jim Callis’s June 4 mock draft has Lebron going to the Astros at #17, but also mentions him in connection with several other teams, including the Rangers. Jonathan Mayo’s June 11 mock draft has Lebron going to the Nationals at #11, and mentions him in connection with the Rangers. Keith Law’s May mock draft has Lebron going to the Rangers. Law’s June 10 mock draft has Lebron going to the Astros at #17. Kiley McDaniel’s May 29 mock draft has Lebron going to the Astros at #17.
I’ve seen Lebron described as a big wild card in this draft, due to his extreme upside/extreme risk profile. He has arguably the most upside of anyone in the draft, but the pitch recognition issues and difficult against non-fastballs means that there’s big bust potential there that could scare teams in the top half of the first round off.
Lebron’s disappointing junior season would appear to have hurt his draft stock, although he picked things up late in the year, and impressed early on in the College World Series, though Alabama was eliminated yesterday. I saw multiple write-ups discuss him as fitting the profile that the Orioles, who pick 7th, like. He doesn’t seem to fit the profile of what the Rangers have gone after in the draft in recent years, though the upside may be high enough that Texas would roll the dice on him at #16.
Previously:
