​To begin Day 2 of the 2026 MLB Draft, the Los Angeles Angels selected shortstop Jaxon Willits with the No. 141 overall pick in the fifth round on Sunday. Willits is the older brother of Eli Willits, who earned the No. 1 overall pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2025 MLB Draft. Eli, an infielder with the Blue Rocks, warmed up against the Frederick Keys on June 23, 2026, at Frawley Stadium. Photo credit: William Bretzger-Delaware News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images. Jaxon is also the son of former Angels outfielder Reggie Willits, who spent his entire Major League career with the Halos from 2006 to 2011 and appeared in 10 playoff games from 2007 to 2009. Reggie was a fifth-place finisher in the 2007 American League Rookie of the Year Award voting.
Reggie Willits later moved into coaching and is now an associate coach at the University of Oklahoma, where Jaxon played all three seasons of his collegiate career. In a notable moment from May 14, 2009, at Anaheim, Reggie Willits crossed home plate for the winning run in the Angels’ 12th-inning 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium, a play captured by Kirby Lee for USA TODAY Sports.
Jaxon Willits entered the draft as the No. 117 overall prospect and is coming off a standout season with Oklahoma, during which he finished the year as the College World Series Most Outstanding Player. This season, he also helped lead the Sooners to the program’s first national championship in school history.
On June 22, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska, Willits, the Sooners’ regular starting shortstop, started in 64 of 66 games this season. He posted a .313 batting average with 73 hits, three triples, seven home runs, and a team-leading 20 doubles. In the College World Series, he batted .500 with a home run, four doubles, and seven RBIs, contributing to Oklahoma’s historic title run. Photo evidence from that game at Charles Schwab Field shows Willits signaling to the bench after driving in a run during the fourth inning against the North Carolina Tar Heels, with a photo provided by Steven Branscombe of Imagn Images.
The story highlighting the Angels drafting the brother of the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and the son of a former Halos outfielder appeared first on LA Sports Report. This draft selection adds another chapter to a family with deep ties to the Angels organization and a lineage of high-level collegiate and professional baseball success, as Jaxon Willits looks to carry forward the Willits name at the next level.