Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox must have loved watching the University of North Carolina’s thrilling College World Series run, because they used their top two draft picks on Tar Heel standouts.
With the 20th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Red Sox selected UNC shortstop Jake Schaffner. They followed that up by picking Schaffner’s teammate and close friend, outfielder Owen Hull, at No. 67 overall.
You can read scouting reports for breakdowns of Schaffner and Hull’s skill sets, but we wanted to learn more about what Boston’s top two selections will bring to the organization on and off the field. That’s why we chatted with UNC’s head baseball coach Scott Forbes, who offered great insight on both players.
“Two phenomenal young men,” Forbes told NBC Sports Boston of Schaffner and Hull. “They’ve done a lot for us. They both helped us have the season that we had. So to see their hard work pay off and their dream come true to potentially be a big-leaguer and be drafted by a major league team and a team like the Red Sox with so much history is really cool.”
Schaffner and Hull shined for North Carolina in the College World Series, leading the Diamond Heels to their first national championship series appearance since 2007. They fell to Oklahoma in three games, but that didn’t take away from what was a magical season for the program.
“Both these kids, they were easy to coach,” Forbes added. “They showed up every day, they worked their tails off. They got better as the season went along, and they performed. They both performed all season for us at elite positions, shortstop and center field. Stole bases, left-handed hitters, athletic. Two of the best players not just in our conference, but in the country at those two premium positions, which is why we were able to play in the national championship and win 54 games.”
Here’s more from our exclusive interview with Scott Forbes, which you can listen to below:
Jake Schaffner
A reach at No. 20?
When the Red Sox took Schaffner at No. 20, it came as a surprise to many draft experts. MLB Pipeline had him ranked 75th on their draft board, while Baseball America had him all the way down at 98th.
Coach Forbes shared his response to those who labeled Boston’s selection of Schaffner as a reach.
“You’re not really gonna know what the value of that pick is until down the road,” Forbes told NBC Sports Boston. “I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Jake’s a big-leaguer, and that’s what you’re looking for. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a pretty safe pick that he’s going to be a big-leaguer, and I think he’s got a ton of upside.
“I think you have to be careful with those rankings. Those rankings aren’t always done by the people that know as much as the people who know as much, and you have to trust that the Red Sox did their work. … So, to me, I think you just flush that stuff down and just see what happens.”
What stands out?
If you read Schaffner’s scouting report, you’ll learn that he has advanced bat-to-ball skills, great plate discipline, and above-average speed. What else should we know about Boston’s first-rounder?
“His makeup. I mean, he’s tough as nails,” Forbes said. “He’s not scared of anything. I think he can hit anybody’s fastball, and it’s a fastball world now with the velocity. … I think he can hit 100 (mph), I think he can hit 105. You have to make pitches to get him out.
“But he’s competitive, he’s tough, he can play through nicks and bruises. He’s a competitor. So the makeup is what the (draft experts) don’t really understand, in my opinion. They don’t know the true makeup, the intangibles. I think that is one of the biggest factors when it comes down to being a major leaguer and staying in the big leagues.”
Personality traits
What kind of demeanor does Schaffner bring to the field and inside the clubhouse?
“He’s fiery during the game, very level-headed,” Forbes said. “He can handle failure. Easy to be around. But a great teammate. I think he cares about winning the most, and he pulls for his teammates. … He’s not necessarily a ‘rah rah’ guy, but he plays with some enthusiasm and some energy.”
Areas to improve
Schaffner is already a well-rounded player, but Coach Forbes identified one area of his game he should work on during his journey to the majors.
“He’s worked so hard at his arm strength, where he can make sure that he can make the backhand at the highest level,” he said. “He’s continued to zone in on his arm strength and his throwing program as he gets older to make sure he takes care of his body. Be a better base stealer with better jumps.
“The biggest thing, though, is just to continue to — he has so much range defensively. He moves so well. Just to continue to challenge himself to improve his arm.”
Owen Hull
What should we know?
“He is a big-time competitor. The guys labeled it, ‘The O Zone,'” Forbes told NBC Sports Boston. “He is a different guy when he steps in that box and he’s competing. He’s not gonna be scared, he’s not gonna back down. It’s not cockiness, it’s just competitive confidence.
“He’s a worker, he’s a winner. He’s got a different personality than Jake, but they balance each other really well. But he’s all about winning too. He’s not about style points. He’s learned to be more accountable with himself in a good way. In the standpoint of, ‘Yeah, I could have taken a better route there’ or ‘I should’ve went harder against the wall for that ball instead of slowing down.’
“I would say too, his upside is — you look at him, he’s 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5. He’s just now starting to learn to pull the ball in the air. He’s got tremendous power. I think he’s got so much more growth that he can make.”
Power potential
Hull totaled nine homers last season for the Diamond Heels. There’s some swing-and-miss in his profile, but he hits the ball hard when he does make contact. Don’t let his modest homer total fool you.
“He’s just gonna have to trust himself more on getting the ball in the air pull side, because he’s got such good bat-to-ball. … Not being afraid to swing and miss occasionally on a ball that he can launch pull side. But he’s got power. The power in the games he doesn’t put on paper, but if you want that kid to launch the ball at our stadium or at Fenway, he can do it.
“In a game, he’s more of a gap-to-gap guy. But when he hit the home runs that he hit this year, they were bombs. So it’s not like he hit two. I think he still hit nine. He reminds me a lot of like a Kyle Seager, who we had here. Didn’t hit a ton of home runs, more doubles. But as he got older, he learned to drive the ball more to the pull side without pulling off the ball at the same time and still keeping his average up pretty good. But he’s an RBI guy though. I mean, who has 90 RBI and only has nine home runs? So imagine if he hit 18 home runs.
“A lot of that too was he was just willing to take the runner on third and less than two (outs), he was just willing to do what it took to get that run in and help the team win than trying to spin off the ball and hit a home run.”
Sticking in center?
Hull was new to center field at UNC. There were some growing pains, but Coach Forbes believes he has what it takes to stick there in the pros.
“I think he can. Originally, it was a challenge, but he got drastically better in center field for us, which was a credit to him,” Forbes said. “He’s got a really good arm, he’s long. But center field was new to him. He did a really good job of getting better, so I think there’s some upside in center, but if it doesn’t work out, you also have a guy that would be unreal in the corner spots. But I think he can stick there.”
Personality traits
“Owen’s got a little bit of a dry sense of humor,” Forbes said. “Once you get to know him, you kind of realize it. A lot of people would think something different about Owen until you really get to know him, but he’s awesome.”
Areas to improve
“I would say to make sure he has fun,” Forbes said. “Because he’s so competitive. And understand that you’re gonna fail. He’s gotten better with that, but he’s just so competitive and he wants to win so bad, and it eats at him so bad. So number one, that’d be it, continue to learn how to handle that failure the right way.
“Then, challenge yourself really hard to be better defensively if you want to play center field in the big leagues, which he does.”
