2026 MLB Draft Deep Dive: Trey Beard

In his second season at FAU, Beard blossomed into the Owls’ ace in the Friday starter role. He made the same amount of starts and appearances in 2025, but pitched in 86.0 innings compared to 65.1 in 2024.

He was one of the best pitchers in the entire nation when it came to striking batters out. He ranked 17th among all Division I qualified pitchers, with a 33.7% K%. 

He improved on the walks as well, dropping his BB% below 10% for the first time in his collegiate career. Beard would finish his sophomore campaign with a 3.14 ERA, seven wins, a 1.08 WHIP, and would hold batters to a .194 batting average.

2026 Outlook & Beyond

Beard will face the biggest test of his career in 2026. The 6-foot-2 southpaw transferred to Florida State, where he’ll face a full season of rigorous ACC competition. 

After a season where he improved across the board, eyes will be all over for the Florida native, pitching just a few hours from home.

If his pitch-mix can hold up, Just Baseball’s No. 40 college prospect can continue to raise his draft stock. His plus changeup being his headlining pitch, his high release point does an amazing job of deceiving hitters.

His fastball sits low-90s, but the change in velocity with the changeup was effective enough to help him generate the elite strikeout numbers he recorded. His other secondary offerings are solid as well, in his curveball and slider.

The confidence and comfort that Beard has with his pitch-mix is something not a lot of other college left-handers can say they have. It’s a quality that should only continue to get better as he receives high-level coaching. 

The control has only gotten better with Beard as well. After managing the walks better in 2025, if he can continue to do so in 2026, his ceiling as a major league starter will only rise. 

Trey Beard Deep Dive: Conclusion

Beard’s upward trajectory has been one of the most intriguing and underrated narratives to follow in all of college baseball. 

He’s flashed his incredible stuff and has been one of, if not the best, pitchers out of the American Conference. He now gets to test it out against some of the nation’s best competition on a weekly basis. 

If he has similar success to former Seminole left-handed standout Jamie Arnold, he could be an easy stock-riser in the 2026 MLB Draft.