Kansas baseball’s Mathis Nayral picked by Toronto in 2026 MLB Draft
· Yahoo Sports
LAWRENCE — Kansas baseball just saw Mathis Nayral be selected No. 402 overall in the 2026 MLB Draft, with him becoming the fourth player from the program to be picked this year.
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The Toronto Blue Jays picked Nayral, a junior right-handed pitcher for the Jayhawks this past season, in the 13th round. Nayral arrived as a transfer from Cochise College, and became another junior college addition that’s played well for coach Dan Fitzgerald at KU. With the Jayhawks, Nayral enjoyed a season that saw the program win the Big 12 Conference’s regular season and tournament titles before going on to win the Lawrence Regional in the NCAA tournament.
Nayral, whose season with Kansas ended in a NCAA Super Regional in Lawrence, finished with a 4.96 ERA across 17 starts and 18 appearances. He had a 4-3 record. He also had 71 strikeouts across 69 innings pitched.
Nayral follows junior infielder/outfielder Tyson LeBlanc being drafted by Detroit in the second round, junior right-handed pitcher Dominic Voegele being drafted by Baltimore in the third round and junior infielder/outfielder Brady Ballinger being drafted by Detroit in the seventh round. It’s an impressive run for a Kansas team that’s raised the level of expectations in Lawrence quite a bit in recent years. Now, Nayral has the chance to pursue a professional career.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas baseball’s Mathis Nayral picked by Toronto in 2026 MLB Draft