Blanco '22 Selected in 2026 Major League Baseball Draft

Austin Prep Alum Evan Blanco '22, a key component on the 2022 MIAA Division III State Championship team, was selected in the 2026 Major League Baseball draft on July 12. The Athletics took the 6'0, 210 lbs left handed pitcher in the 13th round with the 381 overall pick. 

 

The Woburn native most recently starred at the University of Tennessee, where he made 16 starts for the Volunteers during the 2026 season. Blanco finished the season with a 7-4 record and 101 strikeouts, a career high, including a season high nine strikeouts against Alabama. Before that, Blanco spent the 2023-2025 seasons with the University of Virginia, highlighted by appearances in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional and Super Regional in 2024.

 

Blanco starred at Austin Prep during a career where he went 21-0, amassed 216 strikeouts, and posted a 0.58 ERA in 134.2 innings pitched. As a senior, Blanco went 12-0 during the state championship campaign. Blanco was a 2022 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper High School All-American, three-time Catholic Central League All-star, 2022 Catholic Central League Pitcher of the Year, 2022 MaxPreps Massachusetts Player of the Year, 2022 Boston Globe Athlete of the Year, Boston Globe All-Scholastic in 2021 and 2022, and a Boston Herald All-Scholastic in 2022.

 

The Athletics, formally of Oakland, are approved to relocate to Las Vegas, where they are scheduled to open their permanent home in Las Vegas in 2028.