Steve Sica - Checking in on the Mets' 2026 Draft Picks

It's been a little over a month since the 2026 MLB draft, and there are already some Met selections making an impact down in Low-A St. Lucie.

Most of these players are position players, as top draft pick pitcher Carson Wiggins hasn't made his professional debut yet. Shane Sdao, the Mets' fourth-round selection and newly ranked #20 prospect per Pipeline, will also likely wait until 2027 to make his organizational debut.

There are four players from this year's draft who have already seen playing time in Low-A St. Lucie. Let's take a closer look.

OF Aiden Robbins (3rd Round Selection, 92nd overall)

Robbins seemed to be a steal this late in the draft, with many models and experts expecting him to go in the first round or early in the second. The Mets pounced on the opportunity to draft him near the end of the third round.

So far so good. In his first 11 games with St. Lucie, Robbins is 13-for-40, with an OPS of .838, along with seven RBIs and five walks. On August 15th, Robbins hit his first professional home run, which was part of a season-best 3-for-4 day.

Ranked by Pipeline as the Mets' 11th-best prospect, he's the highest prospect from this year's draft class on that list, even topping first-round pick Carson Wiggins, who is ranked at 13. Robbins was a hitting machine during his time at Texas, finishing 2026 with 24 home runs and an OPS of 1.122. Expect him to turn into one of the most complete hitters in the Met system next year.

C Ryan Tayman (9th Round Selection, 270th overall)

Coming out of Cal Poly in the Big West, Tayman put on a show in the 2026 NCAA season. He batted .357 with an OPS of 1.120 while mashing 18 home runs, driving in 57 runs, and collecting 19 doubles. The Mets used their 9th-round pick on the 20-year-old catcher.

Based on the early returns alone, Tayman has been the best performer of the 2026 draft class. In his first ten Low-A games, he's batting .324, with seven RBIs, four walks to five strikeouts, and he's putting up an OPS of .869.

He started his career with a bang, going 4-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored in his first Low-A game on July 28th

OF Kuhio Aloy (11th Round Selection, 330th overall)

Born and raised in Hawaii, Aloy spent his collegiate years in the SEC with the University of Arkansas. He put up an .838 OPS in his last season with Arkansas before the Mets picked him in the 11th round of this year's draft.

Aloy has gone 8-for-37 in his first ten Low-A games, but with three of those hits being home runs, that's enabled him to put up an impressive .823 OPS. He's got a bit of power in his game as well. During his full collegiate career of 162 games, he smashed 30 home runs.

OF John Smith (19th Round Selection, 570th overall)

With the success of last year's 20th-round pick, Garrett Stratton, who is putting up a 1.88 ERA in Double-A Binghamton, you can't take late-round draft picks too lightly.

The Mets hope to see similar success from John Smith. He spent his Senior year in college with the University of Central Florida, where he put up a .958 OPS with a batting average of .322. 

He didn't have to go far to make his Met debut, staying in the Sunshine State with St. Lucie. So far, Smith has gone 10-for-41 with two home runs, eight RBIs, and three doubles.