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CORVALLIS — Oh boy, it is certainly tempting to lay into the Oregon Ducks today. To say they bought into their own hype. Label them paper tigers. Call for everyone to lay off the talk of a playoff.
They were supposed to manhandle the team from the panhandle. Instead, it was nearly a Vandal scandal.
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The 2026 MLB Draft is approaching, and Baseball America is providing a comprehensive, state-by-state look at the talent across the country with our rankings of the the top 2026 high school baseball players by state.
Our state lists collectively include rankings for more than 1,000 players from across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, offering an in-depth look at the 2026 high school class. Players are listed in the state where they attend high school, with the depth of each list varying depending on the level of talent in each state.
These rankings are based on Baseball America’s extensive scouting coverage, combining first-hand evaluations and industry feedback to line up players based on their projected future talent. The rankings reflect the full spectrum of talent in the 2026 class. The players who project to be the best major league players—and thus will likely end up being high draft picks—are at the top of our rankings.
In addition to elite draft prospects, these lists include high-end college recruits, many of whom project to be impact college players who could raise their MLB prospect profiles after getting to campus. They also include other players who have the potential to be quality Division I regulars.
The players at the top of the lists stand out right now with the highest long-term major league projection, but there are future major leaguers throughout these lists. Player further down the rankings have a greater chance of getting to college, where they have the potential to emerge after more development at that level.
These lists offer a resource for tracking the best 2026 high school baseball prospects who could shape the 2026 MLB Draft and make an impact on college baseball programs in the years ahead. For college programs, major league teams and fans, these lists provide a deeper look into the pipeline of talent that will shape the 2026 MLB Draft class, future draft classes and the next half decade of college baseball.
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | SCHOOL | COMMIT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grady Saunders | RHP | Thurston | Oregon State |
| 2 | Sawyer Nelson | SS | South Salem | Loyola Marymount |
| 3 | Teagan Scott | C | South Salem | Oregon State |
| 4 | August Ware | LHP | Gencoe | Oregon State |
| 5 | Trenton Hertzog | C/3B | Tualatin | Oregon |
| 6 | Jake Rolling | SS | Jesuit | Gonzaga |
| 7 | Zack Hankins | LHP | Taft | Oregon |
| 8 | Ryan Hemsley | RHP | West Linn | Portland |
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Tattoo artists across Oregon are voicing concerns after a recent rule clarification from the Oregon Health Authority says topical anesthetics cannot be used by any tattoo artist.
Sean Lanusse has been tattooing for nearly two decades, and sits on the committee that reviews curriculum for Oregon tattoo schools. During their last committee meeting, a memo was introduced with little warning.
“They just kinda slid it out and said we are not going to talk about this because it does not pertain to this meeting but here is this information,” Lanusse said.
The practice clarification says under no circumstance can tattoo artists in Oregon apply topical anesthetics. The reasoning: it could constitute practicing medicine.
Only one other state in the U.S. bans all topical anesthetics for tattoo purposes.
Lanusse said it’s common to see a numbing agent like Bactine in a tattoo studio.
“I did use bactine for a while just to ease it up a little bit, help the client through the extra 20 mins or whatever but generally I’m not using those things,” Lanusse said. “I don’t think it’s as big of a problem for us as it is for cosmetic tattooing.”
Cosmetic tattoo artists say ban will hurt business
At her private studio, Exuvium Studios Body Art & Beauty, Kaysie Anderson tattoos more than just permanent makeup. She does a lot of work with scar camouflaging and post-mastectomy areola reconstructing tattooing.
“I have used numbing creams up until this clarification for nearly every single service I perform,” Anderson said.
After the new rule came out, she sent a poll to her clients asking if they would be willing to get their tattoos without numbing cream. Since most of the tattoos Anderson applies are in very sensitive areas of the body, a vast majority of her clients said no.
“This will 100% drive business out of our state, this will also drive licensees out of our state so the HLO will loose that revenue too,” Anderson said. “If I am not able to get clarification on how this is to be enforced or applied then I would have to relocate.”
In an email from the Oregon Health Authority, the agency cited two instances of topical anesthetics being used during a cosmetic tattoo appointment that led to the client going to the hospital for eye irritations. Both of those cases were from more than 10 years ago. One happened in Albany in 2016, the other in Bend in 2012.
Both Lanusse and Anderson are hoping for more clarity from the Health Licensing Office as to why they are making these clarifications now.
“The ideal answer would be to have the HLO reconsider their interpretation of existing policy because it doesn’t seem to be supported by and existing statute,” Anderson said.
“I don’t like that they did it that way because this effects thousands of tattooers, cosmetic and artistic tattooers,” Lanusse said. “The rollout of this was very surprising, very sudden and not well communicated to everyone, it’s going to have far-reaching impact and no plan going forward.”
The organization “Reform Oregon Tattooing” said they will be lobbying this next legislative session to separate the licensing process for artistic tattooing and cosmetic tattooing.
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Note: The Oregon Capital Chronicle is only identifying the youth mentioned in this story by their first names to comply with Oregon Youth Authority policy.
Incarcerated youth at Camp Tillamook remove weeds from plants at the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership’s native plant nursery attached to the facility’s campus.
Mia Maldonado/Oregon Capital Chronicle
Nestled in front of the Northern Oregon Coast Range sits Camp Tillamook, a 25-acre space that houses incarcerated youth and one of a few native plant nurseries along the Oregon Coast. Several youth spend their mornings pulling weeds from nursery pots filled with red currants, snowberries and other native shrubs. On some days, they focus on sowing seeds or transplanting seedlings into larger pots.
Their work supports the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, a nonprofit that employs them to help grow the 75,000 native plants it distributes annually to nonprofits, tribes and state and federal agencies for watershed restoration projects across the Oregon Coast.
Camp Tillamook is an example of how youth in custody of the Oregon Youth Authority are gaining job experience while also, often unintentionally, playing an important role in restoring Oregon’s river banks, forests and marshlands.
Tillamook Estuaries Partnership plant material program manager Asa Skinner shows off an air separator machine a youth at Camp Tillamook made during his woodshop courses to help nursery staff separate seeds from chaff.
Mia Maldonado/Oregon Capital Chronicle
Since the nonprofit began partnering with the Oregon Youth Authority — the state agency that oversees roughly 900 youth convicted of crimes before age 18 that are incarcerated or on probation — nearly 712,000 native plants have been planted across almost 3,800 acres along the Oregon Coast, according to plant material program manager Asa Skinner. “We are partnering with the Oregon Youth Authority for a couple reasons,” Skinner said. “One, it’s a lot of work, so we need help. Two, we can produce plants, and through the process of producing those plants, we feel like we can meaningfully contribute to youth well being.”
Adolfo, 21, said his favorite part about the job is getting to take care of the plants.
“I like the humanity of it,” he said. “A lot of people don’t get the opportunity to plant trees. It’s hard to get into a nursery. The experience is good.”
A similar program is located in rural Oregon City, where incarcerated youth can apply to be cultural ecology interns for Parrot Creek, a nonprofit the Oregon Youth Authority contracts with to provide residential treatment to youth ages 13 to 20.
Rather than working at a nursery, the youth are paid to improve trails, remove invasive species, plant native plants and track wildlife across the nonprofit’s 81-acre property. The Parrot Creek internship reminded 18-year-old Dez of his Boy Scout days. Through the internship, Dez was able to save enough money to buy a car when he graduates next week and plans to go to Clackamas Community College to study music production and study in the automotive department.
The internship is unique in that the youths’ jobs are rooted in Indigenous knowledge from tribes local to the Willamette Valley. The goal of the program is to improve the land and teach cultural environmental stewardship, said Ame Mañon-Ferguson, the program manager.
Mañon-Ferguson said she hopes the internship helps the youth understand what it means to have a job and coworkers, as well as cultivate a deeper understanding of the region they live in.
“It’d be nice for them to go on a walk with their families and be able to identify plants or animals, and if it’s something that they’re genuinely interested in, getting them to think of this as a career pathway,” she said. “Another part of it is about the Indigenous history, and just being able to be more knowledgeable about the original people of this area.”
Youth at Parrot Creek in rural Oregon City cut and collect fallen Hawthorn and blackberry branches, both invasive species, to create piles that fire experts will conduct a prescribed burn on at a later date.
Mia Maldonado/Oregon Capital Chronicle Camp Tillamook serves slightly older youth than Parrot Creek, housing boys aged 16 to 24. At this facility, staff focus on preparing youth for their release from the corrections system by allowing them work and study at the same time.
“They get to be adults here,” Sapper said. “They can make some good money here, and they can buy things and pay off any restitution they owe to the state. This will open some doors for them. It’s all about structure and discipline.”
For the nursery’s crew lead Steve Sprague, the work offers something deeper than job experience.
“To know that you’re doing work that gets carried to something larger outside of you, even though maybe you won’t see the benefits of but knowing that it’s important, I think it’s especially beneficial for incarcerated youth,” Sprague said.
While the nursery job and cultural ecology internship haven’t necessarily changed the youths’ career plans, many said it will help them take care of the environment, their future gardens and overall have a stronger resume for when they apply to future jobs. The job gave 20-year-old David a better outlook on life and helped him learn about landscaping, an aspect important to construction which he hopes to go into.
For 20-year-old Nicolas, the experience taught him humility.
“I make a little bit of money but I work a lot,” he told the Capital Chronicle. “I’m not messing around anymore.”
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Bluesky.
This republished story is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit opb.org/partnerships.
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