​With the MLB Draft drawing to a close early Sunday evening, news emerged that Texas Longhorns left-hander Haiden Leffew will return to the Forty Acres for the 2027 season after going unselected through the first 19 rounds, according to a Horns247 report. Orangebloods quickly corroborated Leffew’s decision to come back to Austin. The 6’1”, 235-pound pitcher has exhausted three years of eligibility. Perfect Game ranked Leffew as the No. 367 prospect in this year’s draft.
As a high school recruit, Leffew was positioned just outside the top-150 prospects nationally by Perfect Game when he signed with Wake Forest out of Kannapolis, North Carolina, as part of the 2023 recruiting class. In his freshman year, Leffew proved difficult to hit, fanning 38 batters over 35.1 innings and limiting opponents to a .221 batting average. Yet command issues surfaced, as he walked 27 batters, hit six, and threw eight wild pitches, contributing to a 6.11 ERA. He appeared in 20 games in 2024, starting five of them.
In 2025, Leffew worked exclusively out of the bullpen, reducing hit-by-pitch and wild pitches by about half. Although his batting average against rose to .263, he delivered a 4-1 record with a 4.46 ERA and improved strikeout numbers, punching out 59 batters in 34.1 innings across 27 appearances, which led the team. He also recorded four saves, accounting for four of Texas’ 13 saves that season.
After entering the NCAA transfer portal, Leffew committed to Texas last June as the No. 14 overall transfer by 64Analytics thanks to a fastball that reached the mid-90s and a plus-plus changeup that generated a 72.1-percent whiff rate. For the Longhorns, he assumed a high-leverage bullpen role, appearing in 17 games and posting a 4-1 record with a 4.05 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 20 innings. Opponents hit just .176 against him, though he did show command issues, walking 15 batters, tossing three wild pitches, and hitting two others.
An undisclosed late-season injury limited Leffew to a single postseason appearance, where he faced UC Santa Barbara in the Austin Regional, failing to retire a batter and allowing two runs (one earned) while walking two. While command concerns persist, Leffew’s combination of experience and raw stuff positions him to again serve in a high-leverage role in Max Weiner’s bullpen in 2027, with continued upside to unlock if he can maintain more consistent strike-zone authority. When he’s on, Leffew has appeared nearly unhittable, underscoring why Texas fans and evaluators are optimistic about what he can bring to the staff in 2027.