The 2026 Major League Baseball Draft is underway in Philadelphia to kick off All-Star week festivities. The Boston Red Sox made a surprising selection with their first round pick on Saturday, taking left-handed hitting shortstop Jake Schaffner with the 20th overall pick. 

The 21-year-old infielder spent two seasons at North Dakota State hitting .353/.446/.446/.892 with only three home runs before transferring to North Carolina for the 2026 season. In 68 games for the Tar Heels, Schaffner hit .356/.467/.552/1.019 with six home runs and 19 doubles. 

According to MLB Pipeline, Schaffner was the No. 75 player available in the draft, making him a reach for Boston in the first round. According to Pipeline, Schaffner “has good feel for the barrel and focuses on lashing line drives from gap to gap. He has a disciplined approach and rarely swings and misses, especially against fastballs. While he won't be a slugger, he's hitting the ball harder than ever this spring and could produce 10-12 homers annually with a healthy amount of doubles.” 

Schaffner fits the bill that the Red Sox typically target in the draft: college bats with a strong feel for the strike zone and good bat-to-ball skills. According to ESPN's Mike Monaco, Schaffner’s 95 percent in-zone contact rate ranked third among all qualified hitters in the ACC and SEC. 

Boston typically targets these types of bats, like Henry Godbout in 2025, with hopes that they can grow into more power after getting into the Red Sox bat speed and exit velocity development program. 

As noted by Red Sox Stats on Twitter/X Schaffner saw the biggest jump in exit velocity in college baseball from 2025-26, with Monaco adding that his 2026 average exit velocity was 88 mph, and nearly six mph jump from the 82.4 mph he posted in 2025. 

Along with strong contact skills and a great command of the zone, Schaffner is graded by Pipeline as having 60-grade speed, while being a strong defender at shortstop, though questionable arm strength led many in the predraft process to think he would not stick at the position. 

Schaffner’s ranking as the No. 75 prospect in the draft signals he may have been available when the Red Sox are next on the clock with the No. 67 pick. However, there are likely two factors at play in Boston selecting him in the first round. Firstly, team’s draft boards are much different than public rankings. It’s likely that several teams, including the Red Sox had Schaffner rated much higher on their boards. Secondly, given the unique structure of the MLB Draft and the bonus pool allotment, teams can often choose to go under slot with some of their picks with hopes of targeting a more expensive player in the later rounds. 

In other words, it’s likely that Schaffner will sign for less than the $4,373,900 slot value of the 20th pick in order to spend that money elsewhere in the draft. 

After losing their second and fourth round picks for signing All-Star starter Ranger Suarez, who declined his qualifying offer from the Philadelphia Phillies, the Red Sox will have two more selections on the first day of the draft.

They’ll next be on the clock during the Competitive Balance B round, No. 67 overall, a pick acquired from Milwaukee in the trade that sent pitchers Kyle Harrison, and Shane Drohan, along with shortstop David Hamilton to the Brewers in exchange for infielders Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler. Boston will have 15 selections on Sunday during rounds 5-20. 

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