Analyzing The New York Yankees Day 1 Position Player Picks
After the New York Yankees selected a pair of pitchers (Arkansas LHP Hunter Dietz in Round 1 and Canadian LHP Sean Duncan in Round 2) with their first two picks in the 2026 MLB Draft, they turned their attention to drafting some position players with their 3rd and 4th Round selections.
With the 99th pick (Round 3), the Yankees went with catcher/outfielder Brendan Brock from the University of Oklahoma. One round later, they drafted Cal State Fullerton outfielder Paul Contreras (pick 127).
Brock is intriguing because while you never really draft for need, the Yankees could use more catching depth in the system. Plus, it is not a position the Yankees draft often. If you go back to 2020, their only catcher picks were Tomas Frick (3rd Rounder, 2023), Ben Rice (12th Round pick, 2021), Dom Keegan (19th Round pick, 2021 – did not sign), and Austin Wells (1st Round pick, 2020).
This past year, Brock transferred to Oklahoma from Southwestern Illinois Community College and he performed well in the SEC. He elected to go to OU after being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 14th Round in the 2025 MLB Draft. In 65 games, he had a slash line of .302/.392/.522 with 13 home runs, 55 RBIs, 28 stolen bases, and an OPS of .921 as he helped Oklahoma take home the College World Series.
The 28 stolen bases (32 attempts) were the 5th most of any player in the SEC and 13 of those stolen bases came against SEC competition (tied for 2nd in the conference). According to MLB Pipeline, Brock’s speed is the best part of his game and he has a good feel when it comes to running the bases as well.
“Brock combines plus-plus speed with basestealing aptitude. He’ll slow down some if he remains behind the plate, where he moves well, is improving as a receiver and displays solid to plus arm strength.”
Brock does have experience playing at all three outfield spots, but the Yankees did draft him as a catcher, so it will be interesting to see how the organization decides to make best use of his athleticism.
As far as his offense goes, MLB Pipeline wrote Brock can hit the fastball, but he has to work on hitting the offspeed pitch.
“Brock has a patient approach, quiet setup and a relatively compact right-handed stroke, but he also swings through a lot of strikes and mis-hits too many pitches. He crushes fastballs but really struggles against changeups and has problems with breaking balls as well.”
Contreras ended up being the Big Wes Field Player of the Year this past season at Cal State Fullerton in his second year with the Titans (transferred from Modesto Junior College after the 2024 season).. The 20-year-old had a slash line of .346/.441/.633 with 14 home runs, 45 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.074. Ironically, Contreras was the first Cal State Fullerton player to win conference Player of the Year since another former Yankees draft pick, Dalton Blaser (2016).
While he did not lead the Big West in any particular statistical category, he was in the top-five in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, .OPS, home runs, and walks.
The plate discipline is what to watch for with Contreras. This past season, he ended up finishing with more walks (33) than strikeouts (31), which was a vast improvement from what he did in 2025 with the Titans (15 walks to 37 strikeouts in 38 games). Back in April, Prep Baseball Report had Contreras as one of their draft risers because of the way he was commanding the strike zone.
“After a stellar April (1.233 OPS with three home runs, eight stolen bases), there are now rumors of him being considered on day one (top four rounds). His max EV of 108.9 mph doesn’t jump out, but his size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and control of the strike zone (15.1% BB rate vs 14.7% SO rate) lead the lefthanded hitter’s skillset in the batter’s box.”
Contreras does have solid gap-to-gap power and considering he is young for a college draft pick, there is room for him to grow in terms of his power tool. However, the fact that his plate discipline continued to improve should be a good sign for him at the next level.
Overall, the Yankees had a solid Day 1 of the draft as they got two position players with strong athletic tools that have a lot of potential as they begin this exciting stage of their baseball journey.