Kentucky’s baseball pipeline to the professional level widened on day two of the 2026 MLB Draft, with two Wildcats pitchers selected and four more signees hearing their names called as the 20-round event concluded.
Right-handers Connor Mattison and Nile Adcock were selected on the final day, with Mattison taken by the Minnesota Twins in the 16th round and Adcock claimed by the Atlanta Braves in the 20th and final round. The selections brought the total number of Wildcats picked to four over the two-day draft.
Mattison, a junior from Goodyear, Arizona, compiled a 2-2 record with an 8.10 earned run average over 14 appearances during the 2026 season. He struck out 37 batters across 36.2 innings. Earlier in his college career, the transfer student tossed a no-hitter as a freshman at his previous school.
Adcock, a senior from Pinckneyville, Illinois, finished with a 5-1 record and two saves in 24 appearances as a relief pitcher. He struck out 50 batters in 36 innings and allowed just three home runs. Over his two seasons with Kentucky, he posted a 12.5 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate, the fourth best in program history.
Meanwhile, four of Kentucky’s incoming recruits were selected, including two high school standouts. Infielder Jimmy Anderson was selected by Baltimore in the fifth round, while third baseman Robert Omidi heard his name called by Detroit in the eighth round. Left-handed pitcher Cooper Corkrean went to Kansas City in the 18th round, and infielder-right-handed pitcher Matt Ponatoski was selected by Cincinnati, also in the 18th round. Ponatoski is committed to play both football and baseball at Kentucky.
The most significant news for the Wildcats came from Louisville, where prep sensation Grayson Willoughby withdrew from the draft to attend Kentucky. Willoughby, from Trinity High School, was a top-250 draft prospect and earned multiple national honors: MaxPreps National High School Pitcher of the Year, Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, and Kentucky Mr. Baseball. The right-hander finished his senior season 12-0 with a 0.67 ERA and 96 strikeouts, also hitting .467 at the plate.
UK senior infielder Luke Lawrence signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Chicago White Sox. Players selected in the draft have until July 27 to sign with their respective organizations.
Sources
- UK Athletics
- Lexington 18 coverage of Kentucky baseball commits and signees navigating draft decisions
This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/07/12/mattison-adcock-selected-on-day-two-of-mlb-draft/.
