Jaxon Jelkin Scouting Report

Continuing the trend of looking for underrated MLB draft gems, Jaxon Jelkin is a pitcher I really like. He’s a guy I’ve seen a lot this past season at Kentucky and I think he has the tools to be successful at the next level. The Wildcats’ right handed starter shined in the SEC this year and will be a steal for whatever team drafts him in two weeks.

About Jelkin…

Jelkin, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, started his college career pitching for his home state school at Nebraska Lincoln, he pitched in 11.2 innings as a freshman before transferring to South Mountain Community College in Arizona. After a strong junior college season, he was drafted by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2023 draft. He elected not to sign and instead transferred to the University of Houston, where he started 7 games before suffering an elbow injury. Jelkin ended up needing Tommy John surgery, where he underwent a successful procedure in June of 2024. Despite the surgery, his productive JUCO numbers, as well as his limited high-major production, was enough for the Mets to take a chance on him in the 9th round of the 2024 draft. Again, he again elected not to sign, and would transfer to the University of Kentucky, where he successfully rehabbed from Tommy John throughout the 2025 season and even served as the first base coach for the Wildcats. In his final season of eligibility, Jelkin slotted in as the opening day starter and the Friday night guy for the ‘Cats. He started 15 games in 2026 and even came out of the bullpen twice and recorded a save in one of those appearances.

Scouting Report

Jelkin is an older prospect who will be 23 at the time of the draft. Jelkin has a smooth delivery and a great feel for the zone with his fastball-heavy mix, including a 4-seam fastball, cutter, and a sinker which he prefers most of the 3 heater shapes. He also offers an upper 80’s changeup, a plus curveball, and a slider. His low three-quarters slot allows him to generate above average run on his sinker that sits 93–95 while topping out at 97. He has a great feel for the pitch and produces a strike rate north of 70% while keeping the ball off the barrel. He has a projectable 6’5–195 lb frame which should allow him to tap into even more velocity at the professional level. The curveball is an outlier pitch which generates both sweep and depth and sits north of 2800+ RPM. Jelkin sometimes has issues recreating his cutter shape, but the upper 80’s-low 90’s offering serves as a solid pitch to keep hitters off the sinker. His changeup works off the same plane as the sinker and plays as another solid offering vs left handed hitters. His slider has the potential to be a solid pitch at the next level as well for Jelkin if he can find a consistent shape and feel. The 4-seamer is mixed in from time to time but won’t be a plus offering for Jelkin. As an older prospect, Jelkin’s more polished stuff and feel for the strike zone helped raise his floor in a major way. I see him getting taken anywhere between the second and fourth round as he could end up being as high as a back end of the rotation arm in the big leagues within a couple of years.

Future Value Grades:

Sinker: 50 | Curveball: 55 | Cutter: 40 | Changeup: 50 | 4-Seam Fastball: 40 | Slider: 45 | Control: 55 | Overall: 50