theathleticuk
ATTLEBORO, Mass.
Massachusetts is not generally considered a hotbed for top-end high school baseball talent.
The unforgiving New England winters and wet springs make it hard for draftees to stand out that is, unless youre a 6-foot-9 left-handed pitcher who throws 100 mph.
Brody Bumila is just that.
The alum of Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, a town roughly 50 miles south of Boston, is attempting to join a very select group.
Just two Massachusetts left-handers in MLB Draft history have signed out of high school and made it to the majors.
One of them is Hall-of-Famer Tom Glavine (1984 draft) and the other is Bill Travers (1970 draft).
Miami Marlins prospect Thomas White, a 2023 first-rounder, is hoping to become the third.
Bumila would like to be the fourth.
Advertisement Bumilas 255-pound frame already looks major-league ready, but he has a long road before he can reach the major leagues, a journey that could start with the draft later this week.
Consistently ranked by all outlets as a top 60 draft prospect (he ranks No.
54 on Keith Laws top 100) and one of the top high school pitchers in this class, Bumila has been consistently mentioned as a potential top-two round pick.
Baseball America ranks Bumilas fastball among the best for high school pitchers.
A two-sport star in high school, the Texas commit led Feehan to a basketball state title this winter, averaging 40 points and 20 rebounds.
His Shamrocks were runners-up for the Div.
1 baseball state title this spring.
All of that success came for Bumila less than a year after he had an internal brace procedure on his left elbow.
If his name is called on Saturday, the draft will be merely the first step in getting a professional career underway for a confident player eager to refine his potential.
I dont think too much about (the draft) because thats been the expectation my whole life, the 18-year-old said recently.
The expectation was Id be drafted so why would I put it on a pedestal if I already knew it was going to happen when I was younger? Bumila always loved baseball.
His earliest childhood memories include hours of throwing and hitting a tennis ball against his garage.
His family had Boston Red Sox season tickets and he loved watching lefty pitchers Chris Sale and David Price.
He still wears No.
34 for David Ortiz.
His love for baseball grew about as quickly as he did.
In eighth grade, he was already 5-10, by freshman year he was 6-3 and by sophomore year he was up 6-7.
Bumila started to get more serious about baseball in middle school.
He realized he was a bit different by freshman year and decided to hone in his nutrition and training to take advantage of his size.
He had already hit 85 mph on the radar gun by age 14, but knew there was more in there given his massive but lanky frame.
He began working with Julie Nicoletti at Kinetic Fuel and shortly thereafter added a dedicated strength program through a private pitching coach at 508 Evo.
Advertisement I was skin and bones at the time, so the goal was just adding weight, Bumila said.
It was hard because I wasnt a big eater, but Id be full and have to keep force-feeding myself.
The surplus of calories coupled with creatine to push harder in the gym and focused workout plans helped Bumila transform his body rapidly.
He added 40 pounds heading into his sophomore year and his fastball jumped from 85 to 94 mph.
Sometimes guys like him you almost have to back them off after a while because like they become a machine, Feehan head coach Joe Breen said.
That was kind of Brody for a while because he was seeing all the improvements from it.
He was almost too locked in.
And it was like, Hey, you can still go to Wendys with your buddies, you know? As Bumila grew into his body, he worked on his command as velocity crept up.
The summer after his freshman year, Breen prescribed Bumila to only throw middle-middle fastballs.
The velocity was already overpowering hitters, but he needed to work more in the zone.
His stuff moves so much too and it was like, Hey if youre throwing middle and you miss by eight and a half to 10 inches youre still in the strike zone, Breen said.
So it was just trying to get him to box in on that.
He was making such quick gains it was just hard.
Every time hed adjust then he would make more gains, whether it be physically or the velocity.
So then youd have to adjust again.
The rapid growth came with costs.
Bumila started to gain attention at national showcases when he was throwing 96 the summer after his sophomore season.
It was at a USA Baseball development camp during the summer of 2024 in Cary, N.C., that he first felt a twinge in his elbow.
It was hard to fill into my body, Bumila said of his quick physical development.
Thats part of the reason I think I got hurt, because my body wasnt used to having that long of levers.
Advertisement At the time, the elbow pain was diagnosed as a partial tear and he was prescribed rest and physical therapy.
A standout basketball player, he took the court that winter for Feehan, but as he ramped up for baseball again that February, he injured his elbow further.
In the midst of his junior season, having already committed to Texas and gaining more attention with a fastball now hitting triple digits, he wanted to push through it, but knew he couldnt.
In May 2025, he had an internal brace procedure.
Three days a week, he made the hour and a half trek north to Champion Physical Therapy and Performance in Waltham, a suburb west of Boston.
The drive alone humbled him, but the tedious therapy did, too.
He worked out alongside Mike Reinhold, a former Red Sox head athletic trainer, who had trained under top elbow surgeon Dr.
James Andrews.
Reinolds background in professional sports helped Bumila mature as an athlete and understand how to elevate his game and what was needed on the training and rehab sides to get stronger.
He learned when to push it and when to back off and ultimately how to listen to his body.
It helped me develop a lot of professional mindset toward baseball and the more pro aspect of the game, like this is what youre going to be doing, Bumila said of his physical therapy.
The recovery process also allowed Bumila to focus on refining his delivery and mechanics under a professional eye.
White, the most recent left-handed high school pitcher drafted out of Massachusetts, worked out at Champion and Bumila got a chance to talk with him briefly.
It was good to talk to him knowing everyone compared me and him because he was in the same spot as me, learning from his thoughts on the draft and not going to college, Bumila said.
Despite missing most of his junior baseball season, Bumila was determined not just to return for his senior season in baseball but to be on the basketball court, too.
By late summer, about eight weeks after surgery and shortly after hed gotten out of his brace, he was swimming and playing ping pong with friends and realized he was pain free.
Advertisement I was like, Wow my arm feels fine.
I was doing athletic movements, feeling fine swimming and everything felt good so thats when I knew I could push myself a little bit more athletically, he said.
I felt perfectly fine doing non-baseball athletic stuff.
The tedious work at Champion had paid off and strengthened the tendons and ligaments enough to start pushing again.
The progression to plyometric work led to his first light mound session in September.
The first throws were tentative, but he was confident about the work hed put in over the previous four months.
By November, he was throwing at full effort.
I didnt really know what it was going to look like, but it felt fine so I just trusted it, he said.
As spring practices commenced, Breen wanted to protect Bumila from himself, knowing there would be a lot of attention on his return to the mound.
Breen e-mailed scouts he knew would be eager to see Bumila and asked them to hold off until his first regular season game.
Breen wanted Bumila to get his feet wet on the mound without the pressure of trying to show the scouts he was back.
Somehow, Bumila met the sky-high expectations in his first start back on April 2 in 40-degree frigid New England weather with nearly 30 scouts on hand.
He was on a pitch-count, but threw three innings, striking out nine batters, with a few passed balls and wild pitches, but hit 100 mph without surrendering a hit.
It felt good to be on the mound again (in a game), but I knew that was only start one and Id have another six days later, Bumila said.
So there was no time to be like, This is cool, its like no, theres another game coming in six days.
As his prescribed pitch count per start climbed, he mowed down opponents thanks to a deceptive low arm slot and massive extension that created 20 inches of induced vertical break.
His high octane fastball is his main offering, but he mixed in his changeup and breaking ball more as the season progressed.
He didnt allow a hit in his first 16 2/3 innings of the season.
99 mph today from 6-foot-9 LHP Brody Bumila (2026) and dominant in Rhode Island.
10 batters faced: 1.
SO swinging 2.
SO swinging 3.
SO swinging 4.
SO swinging 5.
HBP 6.
SO swinging 7.
SO swinging 8.
SO looking 9.
SO swinging 10.
SO swinging pic.twitter.com/5whcqTWEYK Ben Badler (@BenBadler) April 9, 2026 By mid April, he threw four perfect innings on 55 pitches, striking out nine in a start against St.
Johns (Shrewsbury).
Advertisement In early May, Bumila dazzled with a 20-strikeout performance in a seven-inning, no-hitter against Moses Brown (R.I.), his longest start of the season.
He hit the first batter he faced, who stole second and third before scoring on a passed ball, but then Bumila locked in, allowing just one ball in play the entire game and retiring the final 16 batters via strikeout.
20-strikeout!! no-hitter and up to 100 mph from 6-foot-9 Brody Bumila.
2026 high school LHP was overpowering tonight for Bishop Feehan in Massachusetts.
Heavy fastball attack and mixed in a quality changeup.
Baseball America projected first-round pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.
pic.twitter.com/Y5NDvqS4xQ Ben Badler (@BenBadler) May 9, 2026 Most high school baseball games have 30 parents at the game and thats about it, maybe a few of the students, Breen said.
But, when Brody pitches, the place is packed.
The whole bleachers are filled.
Everythings filled.
So anytime Brodys pitched its almost been like a playoff game atmosphere the entire season.
Even on the road, Bumilas starts drew a crowd.
Brody Bumila dominated again today in Taunton against one of the top teams in the state.
Went five perfect innings, struck out 12, 21 total whiffs.
He's up to 39 Ks to 0 Bbs over 15 hitless frames this spring.
Sat 95-98 mph T99 on FB, mixed a few CT at 93 mph, flashed CHG & CB.
pic.twitter.com/sJX2nmO32e Geoff Pontes (@GeoffPontesBA) April 23, 2026 Other schools students come out because in the age of social media everybody knows about him, Breen said.
Theres dads bringing their sons just to see what its all about.
That definitely might add a level of pressure to him.
Bumila finished the season 6-0 with a 1.36 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 46 innings, helping the Shamrocks to the Div.
1 state championship game at Triple-A Worcesters Polar Park.
But by that point, after his first full season back on the mound, he ran out of steam, pitching just two innings, allowing two runs as Feehan lost to Catholic Memorial, heart-breaker for the Shamrocks.
After the season, Bumila was among a select group of Massachusetts high school athletes honored by the Boston Globe in a ceremony at Fenway Park, where he met Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
Then two weeks ago, he made his final push in front of scouts at the MLB Draft Combine.
No matter how the draft unfolds, Breen is confident that Bumila has a bright future.
Ive coached plenty of high school baseball and middle school ages and theres always those kids that are tall, hes lanky, he throws hard, Breen said.
Youre hoping over time they fill out and get more comfortable with their body and are able to rein things in.
No one Ive been around has done it to the level hes done it.