The Athletics spent the early part of the 2026 draft leaning into a familiar formula: stock the system with bats, then come back hard for pitching.
That approach fit the club’s bigger picture. The A’s have already moved first-round college position players Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson to the majors quickly, and they could take the same path with top pick Drew Burress. But even with those young hitters in the pipeline, the organization still needed more arms.
So after Burress, Oakland went pitcher, pitcher, pitcher.
The A’s used their next three selections to add Southern California lefthander Mason Edwards in the second round, Arkansas righthander Gabe Gaeckle in the supplemental second and North Carolina State righthander Jacob Dudan in the third. Assistant GM of player personnel Billy Owens said that was exactly the point.
“Fortifying, elevating and replenishing our pitching was definitely achieved,” Owens said. “Mason Edwards, Gabe Gaeckle and Jacob Dudan all bring strong arsenals, pedigree, power, spin and elite competitiveness.”
Edwards is the name that jumps out first. He comes with the strongest résumé of the group and looks the most ready to move through pro ball. The BA College Pitcher of the Year led Division I with 169 strikeouts and finished with a 2.07 ERA while fronting a USC rotation that carried the Trojans to super regionals.
Owens made it clear why the A’s were eager to get him at No. 47 overall.
“Edwards is an elite competitor with a strong history of missing bats,” Owens said. “We consistently saw his velocity in the 90-94 (mph) range and he periodically touched 95. He’s creative, throws strikes, changes speeds, carries plus spin and pitches with different shapes.
“We believe Mason possesses top-shelf makeup and competitiveness. We definitely were elated that he was available at No. 47 overall.”
On the mound, Edwards works with a three-pitch mix and a curveball that many evaluators view as the best breaking ball in the 2026 draft. The stuff plays. The next step is sharpening the strike-throwing.
That’s the one area that could test him early in pro ball. Edwards walked 47 hitters in 95.2 innings in his final season at USC, and more disciplined professional hitters could force that issue.
A’s scouting director Eric Kubota drew a striking comparison, likening the 6-foot-2 lefthander to Barry Zito because of that curveball-led profile.
Edwards still has a long climb ahead before anything like Zito’s accomplishments enter the conversation, but the ingredients are there. And he lands in an Oakland system that already includes promising lefthanders Jamie Arnold and Wei-En Lin.
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