MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis projects the New York Yankees will select University of Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson at No. 35 in the Supplemental Round of the 2026 MLB Draft, a pick that simultaneously represents the best player available at that slot and a direct answer to the Yankees’ increasingly urgent catching depth problem behind Austin Wells.
Austin Wells Has Left the Door Wide Open for a Catching Reset
Austin Wells was supposed to be the long-term answer behind the plate after the Yankees drafted him with premium capital in 2020.
He developed into a brilliant framer and reached the majors with 20-homer power, which looked like the floor of a developing offensive profile.
Instead, that offensive ceiling collapsed, likely eroded by nagging injuries and reported numbness that have steadily undercut his production.
Wells solved his defensive question marks and became a legitimate big-league catcher, and his offensive game has deteriorated badly enough that the Yankees need a contingency plan.
The team’s window is open now, and the roster needs a right-handed bat behind the plate – the kind of balanced catching profile that Ryan Jeffers provides for the Minnesota Twins.
This site’s coverage of the Yankees’ roster construction heading into the deadline underscores how thin the margin for offensive underperformance has become across the lineup.
Jackson’s Numbers at Georgia Make the Fit Impossible to Ignore
Daniel Jackson posted a 1.276 OPS with 32 home runs in his age-21 season at Georgia, numbers that don’t require much editorializing to understand their weight.
That kind of right-handed thump from a college catcher in a single campaign puts Jackson firmly on the elite tier of this draft class offensively.
The honest qualifier sits right next to that: Jackson is not the top catching prospect in this class, and it’s not particularly close.
Georgia Tech’s Vahn Lackey could go as high as No. 1 overall per Baseball America’s Mock Draft 3.0, and MLB Pipeline has Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick going eighth overall.
Jackson is a distant third among college catchers in terms of draft positioning.
At No. 35, though, landing the third-best collegiate catcher in a loaded class while filling a genuine roster need is not a consolation prize – that’s draft efficiency, full stop.
The offensive credentials alone make Jackson a legitimate prospect rather than a slot filler, and his defensive profile gives him a realistic path to the majors without a positional conversion.
The Yankees’ Draft History Makes This Pick Feel Inevitable
The Yankees typically operate by an unofficial guiding theory: take athletic, up-the-middle bats – shortstops especially – and figure out real positions later.
That philosophy produced Trey Sweeney in 2021 and Spencer Jones in 2022, among others. Jackson breaks that mold slightly, but the underlying logic is identical: elite bat, premium position, college-ready profile.
The Yankees’ supplemental slot at No. 35 is a byproduct of MLB’s free-agent spending penalties, which pushed their first selection out of the first round entirely.
That context actually sharpens the case for Jackson – at this range, a college catcher with a 1.276 OPS who can move quickly through the minors is exactly the kind of high-floor pick a contending organization needs.
The dynasty and prospect value is real for fantasy managers tracking the pipeline.
Of course, per Callis’s own framing, the Yankees could pivot to a shortstop or a Ben Hess-type and surprise everyone for the fifth consecutive year.
But the Jackson fit is cleaner than almost any draft projection the Yankees have faced in recent memory.
The next hard checkpoint is the 2026 MLB Draft itself, where the Yankees’ selection at No. 35 will confirm whether Callis’s projection holds – or whether New York goes back to the well on middle infield depth.
Keep an eye out on NYSD for further coverage of Daniel Jackson, the Yankees, and the evolving catching situation heading into the second half.
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