Baseball America's latest mock lands Rangers intriguing college arm that carries a ton of risk

The 2026 MLB Draft is quickly approaching, and the Texas Rangers have been linked to several players as they are slotted to pick 16th in the first round. The latest mock from Baseball America has Texas choosing the high-octane right-hander Liam Peterson, who just completed his junior year at the University of Florida. This is the most recent mock draft since the college season ended and following the combine.

Peterson is massive, standing 6'5" and tipping the scales at 230 pounds. He is only 21 years old, so he could potentially put on even more good weight moving forward. His stuff is electric, but it hasn't translated to wins or impressive metrics. He is being called a high-risk, high-reward player, and if you've watched him deal, you can see why.

There is a lot for the Rangers to love about Liam Peterson, but the lack of results has to give you some pause

First, the good things. Peterson is built like a middle linebacker and is an extremely imposing presence on the mound. He routinely hits triple digits on the gun with his live fastball and has a gorgeous strikeout slider that has biting movement away from right-handed hitters and in on the knees of lefties.

He also became much more accurate in his three years at UF, bringing his walk totals down while throwing more innings. He went from 44 walks in 63 innings his freshman year to 36 walks in 84.1 frames by his junior season. He also struck out an otherworldly 111 hitters in the 2026 season.

Unfortunately, with all the arm talent in the world, Peterson has not been able to get his statistics to match. He went 14-16 over his collegiate tenure with a 5.03 ERA and 1.51 WHIP. He's also been unusually hittable for a guy who throws with so much velocity and movement. He gave up 215 hits in 216.1 innings at Florida, and that 1:1 ratio didn't improve as he allowed 84 hits in 84.1 innings this season.

The Rangers have gambled on the sexy strikeout pitchers before, with guys like Jose Corniell, Winston Santos, and David Davalillo in recent years, only to see each of them tread water over their first several professional seasons in the farm system. Do they really want to take that risk again? Peterson is a shiny-looking sports car, but it hasn't impressed when you look under the hood.

They say you can never draft enough pitching talent, and Peterson has that for days, but this organization also has several other areas of need that could be addressed with the pick. Whether it be shortstop Justin LeBron or TCU outfielder Sawyer Strosnider, both of whom have been mentioned consistently as attractive prospects tied to the Rangers post-combine.

Baseball draft picks have so much developing to do before they are major league-ready that it's extremely hard to forecast how well even the most talented prospects will do. That is why guys like Chris Young and the scouting department heads get paid the big bucks to make these kinds of calls.

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