Two Mizzou Baseball standouts heard their names called on the first day of the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday, with right-hander and shortstop Kam Durnin going within five picks of each other in the fourth round.
McDevitt went to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 116th overall pick, while Durnin was selected by the Houston Astros at No. 121. McDevitt’s spot made him the highest draft pick for Mizzou since Kameron Misner went No. 35 and TJ Sikkema went No. 38 in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
Their fourth-round selections also gave Mizzou another notable draft milestone. It was the sixth time in program history that two Tigers were taken within the first four rounds, and McDevitt and Durnin became the 32nd and 33rd Tigers ever chosen in the top four rounds. The pair are the highest draft picks of the Kerrick Jackson era, and it also extends Mizzou’s run to four straight seasons with at least two players drafted under Jackson.
McDevitt’s junior season was the one that put him squarely on the draft map. He emerged as the Tigers’ Friday night starter and logged a team-high 79.1 innings with a 4.42 ERA.
He also led Mizzou and ranked in the SEC’s top 15 with 102 strikeouts, while opponents hit just .211 against him. According to D1Baseball’s Synergy Stats, he ranked sixth nationally and second in the SEC among pitchers who threw 500-plus fastballs with a 30.8 percent whiff rate.
He held opponents to four hits or fewer in 10 of his 15 starts and recorded six or more strikeouts in 12 of those outings.
Durnin’s season was just as eye-catching in a different way. After transferring in from Wichita State, he led Mizzou in all three slash categories, hitting .329/.438/.570 with nine home runs, a triple, nine doubles and 25 RBI.
He finished second on the team with 52 hits even though he missed the first 12 games because of injury, and he added a team-best 11 stolen bases. At shortstop, he backed it up with elite defense and a .974 fielding percentage.
The draft continues Sunday at 10:30 a.m. CT with Rounds 5-20 on MLB.com and MLB.TV.
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