2026 MLB Draft Preview: Brett Renfrow scouting report.
The 2026 draft is less than a week 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 Virginia Tech righthander Brett Renfrow.
Brett Renfrow is a 6’3”, 220 lb. righthanded pitcher who just finished his junior season at Virginia Tech. Undrafted out of high school in Manassas, Virginia, Renfrow has been in the rotation for VaTech all three seasons. He turned 21 in January.
Renfrow has a mid-90s fastball that grades out around average and that works well up in the zone, but that isn’t a bat-missing pitch. He’s reportedly been able to touch 97 mph with it. Renfrow also throws a cutter, a slider, a curve and a changeup, though there appears to be a lot of similarity between his cutter and his slider. As with his fastball, the secondaries all grade out as more or less average, though Keith Law gives his curve a plus grade.
Renfrow has the size and build of a workhorse starting pitcher, as well as the repertoire. He improved his walk rate in 2026, and the grades on his control all come in around average. However, MLB Pipeline notes that he’s currently a control-over-command guy, and has gotten punished at times due to not locating his fastball in the zone where it needs to be.
Renfrow made 15 starts in each of his three seasons with the Hokies, and logged between 73.2 and 75 innings in all three seasons. After putting up a 4.92 ERA with 78 Ks against 32 walks as a freshman, he improved to a 3.89 ERA in 2025 despite the K and walk rates being very similar, primarily due to cutting his home run rate in half. This year, he improved to 88 strikeouts and 25 walks, though his home runs increased from 7 to 11, resulting in a 4.64 ERA.
Baseball America has Renfrow at #68 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Renfrow at #123 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Gracia at #27 on his top 150 list. Keith Law has Renfrow at #40 on his board. Fangraphs does not have Renfrow on their board. Baseball Prospectus does not have Renfrow on their top 30 draft board.
Renfrow is not a particularly sexy draft candidate, with grades coming in at around average across the board. He does have a track record of durability, though, and has the build and pitch mix that you want to see in a potential starting pitcher.
To avoid being an up-and-down guy, Renfrow is probably going to need to improve one or two pitches by a grade, and tighten up his command. He seems to offer the upside of a mid-rotation starter, and you could see the Rangers taking him in the second or third round.
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