SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Two former Cal Poly baseball players, catcher Ryan Tayman and infielder Alejandro Garza, were named by MLB Pipeline as top performers from the 2026 Major League Draft for their minor league teams.

Cal Poly is one of just three schools represented by multiple players across the 30 farm systems. The others are Georgia Tech (the Mustangs open their 2027 season against the Yellow Jackets) and Texas A&M (Cal Poly won one of three games against the preseason No. 1-ranked Aggies in 2025), both from the Southeastern Conference.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Tayman and Garza didn’t disappoint.

Tayman played for the Single-A St. Lucie Mets this summer after being drafted in the ninth round last July. The Arroyo Grande High School graduate, who transferred to Cal Poly from Cal for his junior season, hit .316 with five home runs in 21 games.

Garza played 18 games for the Single-A Hill City Crawdads, hitting .347 and striking out just 14 percent of the time after being drafted in the 15th round by the Cleveland Guardians.

Tayman hit .357 and broke or tied Cal Poly school records with 18 home runs, including three grand slams, and 546 putouts, earning an NCBWA third-team All-America award and a spot on the ABCA All-West Region first team.

Named Big West Co-Field Player of the Year in May and Cal Poly’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year in June, Tayman was the team’s top hitter by 29 points this season and also produced 19 doubles and 57 RBIs.

He was particularly successful in the postseason, batting .394 and sparking the Mustangs to their second Big West regular-season title, second consecutive conference tournament championship and first NCAA regional crown for a spot in the Super Regionals. Tayman hit .366 in 30 conference games.

A member of the Buster Posey National Catcher of the Year Midseason Watch List, Tayman went 6-for-15 with two doubles in the Big West tournament and 6-for-12 with two home runs and three RBIs in the Los Angeles Regional on the way to most outstanding player honors and a spot on the all-regional team.

Tayman threw out 17 would-be base stealers this season (tied for No. 11 in the Cal Poly record book), and his 57 RBIs place him tied for No. 13 in a single season. He replaced Eric Peterson atop the single-season putouts chart and is tied with Monty Waltz (1985) and Steve Wood (1998) on the single-season home run list.

Named 2023 San Luis Obispo County High School Player of the Year by The Tribune and earning first-team Cal-Hi Sports all-state honors, Tayman hit .453 with eight doubles, six home runs and 20 RBIs in 28 games as a senior at Arroyo Grande High School.

Earning first-team All-Big West honors for the third consecutive year, Garza hit .318 with 50 RBIs, a Big West-leading 21 doubles (14th in the NCAA) and team highs of 91 hits and 28 multiple-hit games at Cal Poly. Garza also was one of the toughest players to strike out, fanning just 19 times in 306 plate appearances (17th in the NCAA), and broke the school record for career hits, finishing with 254 in three seasons. Jimmy Allen had 252 hits in four years (2011-14).

Hitting .267 after the Cal State Bakersfield series in mid-March, Garza raised his batting average 70 points over the last nine weeks of the regular season. He struck out just five percent of the time in his three seasons with the Mustangs.

Also among the 30 selections were two others from the Big West Conference — UC San Diego infielder Anthony Potestio (Yankees) and Utah Valley first baseman/outfielder Kaden Carpenter (Rangers). On July 1, 2027, UC San Diego leaves the Big West for the West Coast Conference, while Utah Valley enters the Big West from the Western Athletic Conference.