2026 MLB Draft Preview: Wes Mendes 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 Florida State lefty Wes Mendes.
Wes Mendes is a 6’1”, 198 lb. lefthanded pitcher for Florida State. Mendes was ranked in the 200s on the BA draft board coming out of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, in 2023, but went undrafted. He pitched out of the bullpen for Mississippi as a freshman, transferred to Florida State, and has spent the past two seasons as a starter for the Seminoles. Mendes turns 22 in October.
Mendes throws his fastball in the low-90s, touching 96 mph, with Baseball America saying it averages 92.5 mph. Mendes has decent movement with his fastball, but it doesn’t grade out as more than an average pitch. He has a five pitch repertoire, with his changeup being his best pitch, getting plus grades. If your best pitch is going to be a changeup, its probably best for you to be a lefthander. He throws a slider, a cutter and a curveball, with the curve being his weakest pitch, and none of those three being particularly strong pitches for him.
Mendes is praised as a good athlete, and his improvement in his ability to repeat his delivery has resulted in him significantly reducing his walk total as a junior. He throws all of his pitches for strikes, and commands his fastball fairly well.
As a freshman at Mississippi, Mendes put up a 6.82 ERA in 31.2 innings over 17 appearances, walking 19 and striking out 43. He started 16 games for Florida State as a sophomore, logging 78 innings, with 39 walks and 90 strikeouts, along with 10 hit batters and 11 wild pitches, underscoring his control issues. He also allowed 11 homers as a sophomore. He improved across the board as a junior, with a 2.81 ERA in 93 innings over 16 starts, cutting his walks to 25, increasing his strikeouts to 125, and giving up 6 homers, though he still hit 9 batters.
Baseball America has Mendes at #65 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Mendes at #51 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Mendes at #83 on his top 150 list. Keith Law has Mendes at #70 on his board. Fangraphs does not have Mendes on their board. Baseball Prospectus does not have Mendes on their top 30 draft board.
Mendes is the type of college starter who will go somewhere between round 2 and round 4 and will either make strides with his pitches and establish himself as a viable mid-rotation starting pitching prospect, or else won’t and will end up as a AAA arm who is a potential up-and-down guy. His athleticism and pitch mix makes him a potential major league starter, but his lack of an above-average pitch besides his changeup means he doesn’t profile as a reliever if he can’t make it as a starter.
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