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Over the past few years the Red Soxs approach to the MLB Draft has taken some big shifts.
For a while the club locked on to high school shortstops, investing heavily in guys like Nick Yorke, Marcelo Mayer and Mikey Romero at the top of the draft.
Since Craig Breslow took over as chief baseball officer the club has instead emphasized college pitchers, particularly big-bodied flamethrowers out of the SEC.
Will that trend continue when the Red Sox pick No.
20 overall in next weekends MLB Draft? The club will have no shortage of options despite the somewhat later pick, including one prospect who has already made a big splash locally.
Here are some names to watch ahead of the draft.
Brody Bumila, LHP, Bishop Feehan HS (Mass.) Guys like Bumila dont come along in New England often , and if the Red Sox draft the 6-foot-9 left-hander from Raynham it will go down as one of the most fascinating selections in the clubs history.
Bumila is a real-deal blue chipper who has compiled a resume few from the Boston area have ever matched.
The University of Texas commit boasts a fastball that hits 101 mph with great extension along with some promising secondary pitches, and this past spring he earned Mass Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year honors after posting a 1.10 ERA with 106 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings for Bishop Feehan.
Along the way he enjoyed a preposterously dominant outing in which he struck out 20 batters in a seven-inning, complete-game no-hitter, and over the winter he averaged more than 40 points per game to lead Bishop Feehan boys basketball to a Division 1 state title.
Bumila has drawn tons of attention from scouts across the sport, and Red Sox amateur scouting director Jake Bruml was among the horde of top decision-makers who watched him in person this past spring.
But Bumila is also a realistic possibility for the Red Sox at No.
20.
He is ranked as the drafts No.
19 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No.
34 by Baseball America.
Hes definitely deserving of the hype hes gotten thus far, Bruml said in May.
I think he stacks up, when I mentioned the five or six high school lefties, hes in that mix.
It wouldnt shock me if his name was called around our pick, before our pick, after that pick, hes in that crop of top high school lefties.
..
Hes unique in all the good ways.
Guys like that that are that big, throw that hard, and are that coordinated dont come around very often.
Brody Bumila's starts drew huge crowds this past spring, including numerous high-level MLB decision-makers.
(Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald) All of that being said, drafting Bumila would carry some risk.
Bumila has already undergone major elbow surgery, having internal brace surgery on his left elbow in 2025.
He obviously made a full recovery, but when youre dealing with someone who throws this hard this young, durability is always a concern.
Beyond that, high school pitchers are inherently unpredictable.
Some guys realize their immense potential and develop into future aces like Justin Verlander.
Others stall out for one reason or another and never make it.
Whether its the Red Sox or another team, Bumila will have an opportunity to join a highly exclusive club.
According to MLB Pipeline, there have only been two high school lefties from Massachusetts to sign out of high school and reach the big leagues: Bill Travers in 1970 and future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 1984.
Former Phillips Andover star Thomas White, currently a top prospect in the Miami Marlins system, will likely become the third within the next year.
If the Red Sox do draft Bumila and he reaches the majors at some point down the road, hed immediately join Tony Conigliaro on the top tier of Boston-bred athletes to debut for their hometown team.
Its not often the best story and the best player available line up to such a degree, so if Bumila is still on the board when the Red Sox pick, the club will have a unique opportunity that may not come around again for many years.
Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, Huntington Beach HS (Calif.) As fun as Bumila would be, he is not the only talented high school prospect the Red Sox could target.
Grindlinger is a two-way standout from Southern California who Baseball America had going to Boston in its latest mock draft.
One of the youngest players in the draft at 17 years old, Grindlinger isnt as physically imposing as Bumila but is viewed as someone with lots of room to grow.
His present stuff doesnt jump off the page, but its very easy to dream on a lot more to come as he fills out his 6-foot-3 frame, writes MLB Pipeline.
His fastball has been clocked up to 95 mph at times touching 96 mph last summer but he typically sits around 90-93 mph, with good arm speed and strength that some scouts think points to a future plus heater.
Offensively Grindlingers game is more contact-oriented, but if he fills out the belief is he could add additional power and develop into a quality option as a corner outfielder or first baseman.
Grindlinger is committed to Tennessee, where his older brother Trent is a rising sophomore.
Florida pitcher Liam Peterson is among the top college pitchers who might be available to the Red Sox at pick No.
20.
(AP Photo/Gary McCullough) Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida If the Red Sox were to open Baseball Americas current draft rankings and take whoever they had ranked at No.
20, theyd land on Florida right-hander Liam Peterson, who perfectly fits the organizations recent type as a big college pitcher.
Standing at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Peterson was a former two-way high school star who has anchored Floridas rotation for the last three years.
He boasts a fastball that averages roughly 96 mph and has touched 100 along with some swing-and-miss secondaries, but command has been an issue at times.
Hes an effectively wild right-hander who has some of the best pure stuff in the class, but his errant strike-throwing makes him unpredictable from inning to inning, writes Baseball America.
Peterson is coming off a junior season where he posted a 3.86 ERA over 79 1/3 innings in 15 starts.
At 21 hes on the older side and if selected would likely debut at High-A Greenville next spring.
Kentucky's Tyler Bell is a switch-hitting shortstop who's coming off a terrific sophomore season.
(AP Photo/Mike Buscher) Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky Having leaned so heavily on pitchers the past two drafts, the Red Sox system could use an infusion of new position player talent.
Bell, who is ranked No.
20 on MLB Pipelines draft rankings , is one who could rise through the ranks quickly.
A 6-foot-1 switch-hitting shortstop, Bell was drafted No.
66 overall by the Tampa Bay Rays out of high school but opted to play college ball at Kentucky instead.
Bell immediately became one of the Wildcats best players upon his arrival and is coming off a 2026 season in which he batted .343 with nine home runs, 29 RBI, 10 stolen bases and registered a 1.119 OPS in 41 games despite missing a month due to an early-season shoulder injury.
Bell is proficient from both sides of the plate, writes MLB Pipeline.
He has the bat speed and strength to generate 20 homers per season once he learns to lift balls in the air more consistently.
He has a decent approach at the plate but can get too passive at times and has trouble staying back on changeups.
One of a small handful of sophomore-eligible draft prospects, Bell has the athletic tools to play shortstop and the versatility to take the field anywhere in the infield if needed in a utility role.
Arizona State pitcher Cole Carlon during an NCAA baseball game against West Virginia on Friday, March 27, 2026, in Tempe, Ariz.
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State He might not have pitched in the SEC, but Carlon has all the other tools the Red Sox have coveted in recent drafts.
Standing at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Carlon is a big-bodied, hard-throwing lefty with a fastball that sits mid-to-high 90s and has touched 101 mph.
He also enjoyed a successful transition to Arizona States starting rotation this spring after two years as a reliever, posting a 3.87 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings.
Carlon is ranked No.
25 in MLB Pipelines draft prospects list and No.
26 by Baseball America, and he was recently mocked to the Red Sox by ESPNs Kiley McDaniel.
In addition to his fastball, Carlon possesses a devastating slider, which Baseball America described as one of the best breaking balls in the class.
He threw the pitch more than half the time this spring and still managed to generate a 56% miss rate, Baseball America writes.
Carlons slider is a devastating breaking ball with excellent power and sharp biting action that is equally effective against both lefties and righties.
The downside to Carlon is his other secondary pitches arent as advanced, so he carries some reliever risk.
But even if he doesnt reach his full potential, guys who can hit 101 mph with a wipeout slider can help just about any pitching staff, and at 21 years old its not crazy to imagine he could fly through the ranks and be pitching important innings out of Bostons bullpen as early as next summer.