In most cases, the number of players drafted is a strong indication of how good a college baseball team was the previous season. Arizona had nine draftees last year after reaching the College World Series, but following a disastrous 2026 campaign only two Wildcats heard their names called in the 2026 MLB Draft.

Right-handed pitcher Owen Kramkowski was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 5th round, while fellow righty Collin McKinney went in the 9th round to the Baltimore Orioles.

Kramkowski was taken with the No. 145 picks, which has a bonus slot value of $506,100. McKinney’s bonus slot at No. 260 is $213,300. Players chosen in the 11th round or later can sign for up to $150,000 without it impacting a team’s bonus pool.

The two draft picks for Arizona is its fewest since 2022, when catcher Daniel Susac went in the 1st round and outfielder Tanner O’Tremba went in the 15th round. It was also the first time since 2014 the UA did not have a player taken in the first four rounds.

While the loss of existing UA players to the MLB Draft was minimal, the same can’t be said for future Wildcats. Two members of Arizona’s 2026 recruiting class as well as three transfers signed this summer were drafted Sunday.

Incoming freshman catcher Francisco Rivero, from Canyon del Oro High School in Oro Valley, went in the 15th round to the Washington Nationals while righty Garrett Ahern—a transfer from GCU—went in the 16th round to the New York Yankees. The 17th round then saw righties McCarty English (Southern Miss) and Collin Cobb (Williston State JC) and New Mexico prep righty Jack Byers all get picked.

Each has until July 27 to sign a pro contract or they’ll join the Wildcats this fall for the 2027 season.

The 6-foot-3 Kramkowski, who grew up in Sahuarita, is the fifth player recruited to the UA out of high school by Chip Hale and his staff to get drafted. He spent three seasons with the Wildcats and was part of the weekend rotation the last two years, starting the opening game of the College World Series. In 2025 he wen 9-6 with a 5.48 ERA, striking out 90 batters in 92 innings, but struggled as a junior with a 1-8 record and 6.13 ERA.

In 35 career appearances, Kramkowski walked only 38 batters in 165.1 innings against 165 strikeouts.

The 6-foot-5 McKinney spent the last two seasons at the UA after beginning his career at Baylor. He was the Wildcats’ Friday night starter for most of 2025 before getting moved to the bullpen, and this past spring spent time in the rotation and as a reliever. He struck out 109 in 91.2 innings with Arizona.

McKinney had entered the NCAA transfer portal last month and committed to Houston but is expected to sign.

Arizona’s lack of draft picks from its roster was indicative of a team that went 19-34, its worst record since 1994, and finished 9-21 in the Big 12 after winning the conference tournament title the previous year. The same can’t be said for ASU, which failed to advance beyond the NCAA regionals despite having 10 draft picks on the roster.

• Fallen firefighter Nick Hutcherson was remembered as courageous, intelligent, and lighthearted during a memorial service in Phoenix.
• Hutcherson, 27, and two other firefighters died on June 27 while battling what became the Snyder Fire in Colorado.
• Friends and family recalled his wisdom, unique laugh, and his favorite phrase, “easy day.”

A Snoopy sticker on a fellow firefighter’s helmet became part of the last photo fallen firefighter Nick Hutcherson texted to his father, capturing one of their final shared moments.

“I smiled when I saw the picture and texted him back, ‘Thank you and be safe out there.’ And he replied, ‘Will do.’ That evening, I did get a call, but it wasn’t from Nick,” said Ron Hutcherson through tears during his son’s memorial service on the afternoon of July 11 at Dream City Church in north Phoenix.

The brief exchange between father and son happened June 27, when the 27-year-old Nick Hutcherson and two fellow firefighters died as they took on what became the sprawling Snyder Fire in western Colorado.

The “Peanuts” character anecdote offered a glimpse into the man by those who eulogized Hutcherson, remembering him as courageous and intelligent, yet never one to lose his lighthearted spirit.

“Nick could pull all of these facts and quotes out like they were common knowledge. He was incredibly smart, but he didn’t let that get in the way of being goofy and funny. He was so unapologetically himself that you couldn’t help but to like him and get drawn into whatever subject he was talking about,” said Cantene Coker, his friend and crew member.

Wise words, laughter marked memories

Hutcherson served as a firefighter on the Kaibab National Forest after joining the profession in July 2021, according to those who spoke at the service. He was also pursuing a degree in physical therapy with the goal of one day becoming a doctor.

ARIZONA — We’re less than two weeks removed from the start of training camp, and the Arizona Cardinals feel oh-so-close to football season.

We’ll probably do one more pre-camp mailbag before things get kicking, but thanks to everybody who answered our call on X.

Before we get started, I did get a few questions on how players looked during minicamp and OTA’s. Reporters are only allowed to view the first 30 minutes of practice, which mostly involves individual position drills, special teams and stretching.

Case in point, we can’t say how somebody like Carson Beck or Isaac Seumalo looked. The questions are appreciated nonetheless.

Let’s get into it, hopefully you guys are staying hydrated:

Which Cardinals position groups are well stocked and worry free heading into training camp? – Ed

Ed, thank you always for the questions.

I think the running back room is the most obvious answer here, where the Cardinals realistically have three backs who could be starters on other teams in Jeremiyah Love, James Conner and Tyler Allgeier.

Offer a bit something different, and if former Day 2 pick Trey Benson is your fourth running back, that’s a pretty loaded room.

Another spot I’m eying for this is cornerback, where all of Will Johnson, Denzel Burke, Garrett Williams, Starling Thomas and Sean Murphy-Bunting could start with Max Melton being another name to provide competition.

The tight end room — headlined by Trey McBride — is also a good one, which bodes well for Arizona’s intentions to utilize 12 and 13 personnel.

What’s the current standpoint on the Jacoby Brissett contract extension? – Ceddy

That’s a great question Ceddy, as there’s been virtually zero info leaked on how talks are going between the two sides.

For what it’s worth, Brissett was spotted working out with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride this week, so his intentions are still to be the starter. Arizona reportedly is committed to him being the starter, too.

The actual divide seems to be guaranteed money, as Brissett has only $1.5 million guaranteed for 2026 — which is the final year of his contract. It doesn’t seem like he wants more years tacked on.

The likely end result? The Cardinals guarantee a few more million to satisfy Brissett right before the start of training camp.

What’s your prediction for running back touches? – Staches

Stache, IF THAT IS YOUR REAL NAME, running back touches in Arizona might not be what people want or think.

Yes, the Cardinals used the No. 3 pick on Love. Yes, he should be featured in the offense.

However, Love has never quite owned a dominant role in a backfield dating back to his Notre Dame days with Jadarian Price.

On the other side of the coin, Mike LaFleur’s tenure in New York/Los Angeles as an OC utilized more of a committee approach in terms of running back usage.

Love, Allgeier and Conner all figure to have some role. By season’s end, Love probably ranks first in total touches, but it won’t be a wide gap barring injury.

Cardinals overperform relative to expectations next year but still need a QB. What avenues could they pursue? – Blake

First of all, Blake does great stuff as the host of Bleav In Arizona Cardinals podcast, so go check his work out.

In this scenario, I think Arizona has two options: Roll with Carson Beck for 2027 or push all of their chips into the coming draft class for a quarterback.

If the Cardinals outperform relative to expectations, you would…. hope Beck at least showed something? At some point? Though nothing is guaranteed.

Also I know the 2027 class has all the hype in the world, though we’re so far removed from seeing that come to fruition. We forget the 2026 class had plenty of quarterback hopes before the dust eventually settled.

This is a very real scenario, but entering LaFleur’s second year, there might also be very real pressure to get a franchise guy and get the program moving in the right direction.

The NFL stands for “Not For Long” and the Cardinals have been losers for far too long. If Arizona outperforms expectations, they need to put the pedal to the floor in 2027.

How much Carson Beck do you think we’ll see on the hall of fame game? – Noah

Noah, I think we saw a lot of Beck.

It’s unlikely any starters will play in the first of four Arizona preseason games, paving the way for Beck, Kedon Slovis and potentially even a drive or two of Gardner Minshew for the Cardinals.

Beck will see plenty of preseason time entering his rookie season. Maybe the third preseason game will feature less since that’s considered a typical “dress rehearsal” for starters that typically play the most.

If I had to guess a split for Beck/Minshew/Slovis in the HOF game, it would look like this:

Minshew: One drive
Beck: Rest of first half
Slovis: Second half

You could flip-flop Beck and Slovis, but you get the idea.

What is the most un-spoken positive change the team’s made since the Mike LaFleur hire? (For me its the defensive staff) – S0N0FDAV1D

That’s along what I’m thinking too, but I would take a bit of a step back to see the bigger picture.

Part of the criticism on Jonathan Gannon’s staff was the lack of experienced and seasoned minds on either side of the ball. Gannon banked on high energy, youthful guys — which ultimately didn’t pan out.

LaFleur acquired names such as Nathaniel Hackett and Teryl Austin to supplement their respective sides of the ball. Both have extensive coordinator experience and carry weight across the league.

That won’t directly translate to wins, but especially for a first-time coach like LaFleur, I do think there’s something to be said about those changes.

If Carson Beck starts half the season, and shows real flashes, do the Cardinals take a quarterback in the 1st round next year? – Holden

Incredible twitter name, Mr. Holden Beers.

I do think a best-case scenario is Beck can clearly show he’s the guy for Arizona, which would save time and money for the Cardinals. That would be massive.

The biggest issue here is the Cardinals have a massive question to answer with Beck on little expected time on task. The sample size we see of the rookie quarterback won’t be convincing enough one way or another.

So if he shows “real” flashes, I think it depends where the Cardinals finish in the standings. If they’re already in pole position to draft somebody, I do think they’ll pull the trigger on somebody like Arch Manning.

If Arizona is out of reach and needing to make a massive trade up, the Cardinals might prefer to stick with Beck.