NC State SP Jacob Dudan selected in the 3rd round by the A’s. Here is his path to the majors.

NC State right-handed pitcher Jacob Dudan is heading to the pros after being selected by the Sacrament0/Las Vegas Athletics with the 83rd overall pick in the third round of the 2026 MLB Draft.

The junior from Huntersville, N.C., becomes the latest Wolfpack arm to hear his name called, joining teammate Ty Head (selected 46th overall by the Baltimore Orioles earlier in the draft) in making the jump to MLB organizations.

Dudan made significant strides during his three seasons in Raleigh. He began as an elite bullpen arm as a freshman and sophomore before transitioning into a starting role as a junior.

Over his Wolfpack career, the 6-foot-2, 192-pound right-hander posted a 10-5 record with 11 saves and a 4.01 ERA. He struck out 159 batters while walking 63 in 128 innings pitched.

In 2026, Dudan transitioned a starting role, leading the ACC in innings pitched with 50 before his season was cut short by a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery. He recorded 62 strikeouts (sixth in the ACC at the time of injury) and showed the ability to go deep into games (although that might have been part of the reason he got hurt?)

Dudan’s development from reliever to starter was always going to happen, and it certainly helped his draft stock. In his first two seasons, he never threw more than four innings in a single appearance and stayed under 48 innings each year. His junior campaign showcased improved stamina and the potential to anchor a rotation which is what the A’s are likely looking for here.

Injury and Draft Outlook

Dudan underwent UCL surgery on his throwing arm late in the season, an unfortunate end to what seemed to be shaping up to a record season. Despite the injury, his pre-injury performance gave his name a lot of buzz. He entered the year ranked as high as No. 74 among college players by D1Baseball and still landed inside the overall Top 100.

The Athletics, known for developing pitching talent, selected Dudan at No. 83. He will now focus on rehabilitation and recovery, with expectations that he’ll resume throwing and continue his development in the Oakland system next year.

Path to the bigs…

Dudan’s path is pretty complicated because of the injury. A lot will ride on how he recovers, however in today’s baseball, Tommy John surgery is more a right of passage than a career killer.

That said, it’s unclear if he’ll move back into a starter’s role or be groomed to be a closer thanks to his elite velocity (which will likely go up after surgery). You can assume they will start him in a relief role upon his return as they take their time ramping his back up. But the A’s are a good landing spot for Dudan’s future. They are a team rebuilding, and with a young core anchored by Nick Kurtz (arguably the evetual lefty Aaron Judge), they are looking to build a young but reliable staff.

Right now there isn’t much star power that. They have JT Ginn (27 years old) with his likely unsustainable 3.10 ERA, Jeffrey Springs (33 years old), and Luis Severino who is fine, but has never regained the form he had earlier in his career with the Yankees.

The main pieces they’ll build on is Gage Jump, a LHP from LSU who just came up and can pump it at 99MPH. They hope he can anchor their rotation of the future, but aside from him, everyone else is flawed. Jamie Arnold, another LHP has great command and is seen as their top pitching prospect. He’s not a high velocity guy, so you can assume he’ll be a mid-rotation guy if anything.

Braden Nett is a young high velociy RHP, but he’s wild.

No one in their system has the pedigree or pure stuff that Dudan does (especially from the right side). This means that if Dudan can recover and stay healthy, he’ll have a chance to make some noise for the (at that point) Las Vegas A’s.