Jackson Flora is the Best Pitcher in this Draft Class

One of the things here at Baseball Scoops is pitching is supreme. When trying to dive into what game to watch for the night, looking at the starting pitching matchups is a must. It’s eye appealing. What is also eye appealing is the arms that are pegged to go in the first round of this draft. The names are in plenty and given the caliber of bats, you’ll find good value in the middle to bottom of the first round with players such as Cameron Flukey, Cole Carlon, and Hunter Dietz. When rounding out the top five players in this class, four of the five are position players. And then there is Jackson Flora, who is undisputed the best pitcher in this draft class.

Photo Credit: Aaron Fitt

When you look at every single mock draft that has been released to this point, Flora has been stapled to the number five slot, which is in fact the Pittsburgh Pirates. Given their pitching pipeline, not just what is at the major league level, but they also have Seth Hernandez in the pipeline. Make that more exciting times for Pirates fans. There is a very compelling case that a team like the Giants (4th overall) draft him and there’s the realm of possibility the Twins could grab him at third overall as well. Flora has that ceiling as a front line starter and could very well be an ace.

Flora spent the last two seasons at the University of California Santa Barbara and this season was by far his best as a starter. He pitched 102 innings, surpassing his total of 75 from a season ago. Furthermore, he finished the season with a 1.06 ERA, which was a massive improvement from his 3.60 in 2025. What was most eye opening was his 133 strikeouts, which set the UCSB school record. Flora averaged 11.7 K/9, and an 0.85 WHIP. Base traffic was limited and that was the most impressive part. What was great to see signs of improvement from Flora was the command and control. Flora averaged 2.8 BB/9 and given the strikeout to walk ratio, you love to see it. Flora was the nations top pitcher, the 2026 Big West pitcher of the year, and he has set himself up greatly to be the first pitcher to go in this draft.

UCSB does have some standout pitchers that have made it to the MLB. Shane Bieber was drafted out of UCSB by the Cleveland Guardians and former teammate of Flora in Tyler Bremner was taken second overall last season by the Angels. Flora is entering that type of company and it’s great to see that program churn out arms and talent.

What makes Flora so polarizing is his four seam fastball. It is a pitch that consistently sits in the mid 90’s, but has been able to top out at 100 MPH. Movement wise, the pitch has had 20” of induced vertical break. It has a 70 grade, which shows how devastating of a weapon it is and can be. It’s a pitch he leaned on his entire life and then he knew when he reached the collegiate level, adding secondaries was a must.

When it comes to his secondaries, he has a slider and a changeup in his arsenal. They both have a 55 grade. His slider has shown the great ability to generate swing and miss and is the most effective when it is tunneling his four seam fastball. One thing he worked on prior to the 2026 season was the kick changeup. The goal was for him to find new ways to beat left handed hitters and coaches taught him the pitch so he can have further success. Adding that pitch gives him a more well rounded arsenal, projecting him to be a legitimate starter. It has deceptive arm speed with great movement. Playing off that four seam, good luck.

Flora, like much of this draft class is a high character player. A pitcher with an extremely high ceiling and has the makings of altering your franchise. Whichever team lands him is getting a great talent.

We’re 7 days away from the draft.