Mets land Cal Poly catcher Ryan Tayman with 2026 ninth-round pick

The New York Mets selected catcher Ryan Tayman in the ninth round of the 2026 MLB Draft, bringing a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo backstop into the organization with a skill set built around receiving fundamentals and a bat that played up late in his amateur career.

Tayman’s baseball route has a distinct California geography. Born in San Luis Obispo and raised in Grover Beach, he attended nearby Arroyo Grande High School, where he was a multi-role defender during his prep career. According to the Mets’ Draft profile, he was a three-year letterman at Arroyo Grande, mainly seeing time at first base, third base, and catcher, a common pattern for prospects who get their athletic identity established before narrowing in on a primary position.

The Draft profile also frames the family and recruiting context around a player who did not grow up surrounded by a wave of national industry attention. Tayman’s name, the profile notes, did not generate notable scouting buzz during his senior year in California’s talent-saturated recruiting landscape, even though his production was strong enough to translate into a measurable stat line.

In his senior season at Arroyo Grande, Tayman hit.453/.570/.800 in 28 games, with eight doubles and six home runs. He also drew 19 walks against nine strikeouts, a ratio that suggests a disciplined approach rather than purely free-swinging power. That blend, plus the ability to handle the catching position, is one of the reasons a team would still see developmental value even if the player was not viewed as a standout on the most crowded recruiting circuits.

Tayman’s path to affiliated baseball paused before it accelerated. The profile says he was not selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, choosing instead to pursue his professional preparation through college ball at the University of California, Berkeley. That decision matters for a prospect’s risk profile: it can mean less immediate professional development, but it also offers a longer runway to refine swing mechanics, durability habits, and the specialized demands of behind-the-plate work.

By landing Tayman in the ninth round, the Mets are indicating that they believe the catcher’s combination of offensive upside and position utility can be developed inside their system. In the lower rounds, clubs often look for players who can be coached into more repeatable actions and whose tools might become clearer once they face more uniform competition.

For Tayman, the next test will be translating production into consistency and proving that his catching skills hold up against a higher volume of advanced pitching. For the Mets, the key question will be how quickly he can progress through the early stages of the player development ladder while continuing to improve the details that separate a promising college profile from a long-term professional catcher.