Could the Washington Nationals draft one of the Arkansas Razorbacks rising stars?

Helfrick has plus raw power and has 33 home runs in 140 career college games. His OPS has been over 1.000 in each of the past two seasons. However, there are some question marks about his hit tool. He does not project to hit for a great average, but the offensive bar for a catcher is not that high.

A good offensive comparison may be pre-2025 Cal Raleigh. That version of Raleigh hit around .220 with 25-30 homers. He was not an MVP candidate, but he was still one of the best catchers in baseball. That could be what we see from Helfrick. It is worth noting that Helfrick has lowered his strikeout percentage every year he has been in college, and is only striking out 17.5% of the time this year.

Kiley McDaniel of ESPN mocked Helfrick to the Nats, noting that the Razorbacks catcher has improved his contact rates significantly. Helfrick fits a need and is in the 11th overall pick range on talent. It just feels like a natural fit, and one we will hear about a lot as we approach the draft.

While Helfrick is a pretty easy prospect to analyze, his teammate Hunter Dietz is more polarizing. You can see how controversial he is based on his range. MLB Pipeline ranks him at 18th, while Baseball America has him all the way at 55th.

Personally, I think BA is way off on this one. Dietz is a massive left handed pitcher who throws in the mid to upper 90’s, while featuring several potentially plus breaking balls. He is not some massive projection either, posting a 3.43 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 65.2 innings in the SEC. Dietz was the first SEC pitcher to reach 100 strikeouts on the season.

This feels like a clear first round profile, so I am not sure what BA is missing here. Dietz did deal with injury issues before this season, and only threw 12.1 innings his first two years of college. However, injuries are just part of the game with pitchers these days. He was also a highly touted high school prospect, so it is not like this has come out of nowhere.

Over the past few years, Paul Toboni’s former club, the Red Sox, have loved a couple things. They really like SEC pitchers and big lefties. Dietz fits both of those categories, which could make him a fit for a front office with so many ties to the Red Sox. Last year, the Red Sox took SEC pitchers with three of their first four picks.

There is some cool video of Dietz throwing to Helfrick in a start against Alabama. Dietz was 95-97 and held the velocity into the 7th inning. Right now, it feels like Dietz could be a slight reach, but if he continues to dominate down the stretch and in post season play, he could fit squarely into the Nats range.

If he has not already, I would advise Paul Toboni to take a trip down to Arkansas. That is where you can find two of the most exciting prospects in the 2026 MLB Draft that fit the Nats range in the draft and positions of need. Hunter Dietz and Ryder Helfrick are two names Nationals fans need to be monitoring.