Sophomore outfielder Jacob McCombs was selected with the 209th pick by the Minnesota Twins in the 2025 MLB draft.
The pick came in the seventh round of the draft and McCombs signed with the Twins for $280,000 on July 23.
McCombs played before college at Rancho Cucamonga High School.
Before the 2025 season, UC Irvine baseball head coach Ben Orloff was aggressive in the transfer portal and was able to get McCombs to join the Anteaters’ roster. The massive transfer portal pickup, McCombs, came from San Diego State University of the Mountain West Conference.
McCombs will make his debut in the Florida Conference League (FCL) for the FCL Twins, the rookie-level affiliate of the Twins. McCombs became active on the FCL Twins roster on Aug. 4. McCombs played eight games for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League after the collegiate season, and prior to the MLB Draft. He hit .095, with two hits, a double and an RBI in his time on the Whitecaps.
In the 2025 Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA baseball championship tournament, McCombs was named to the All-Regional team; this included a two hit game, with one hit being a home run from McCombs in an elimination game against Arizona State University on June 1. Earlier, in another elimination game against California State University, Fresno, McCombs had three hits and two RBIs, including a home run on May 31.
Following the 2025 Big West Championship, McCombs was named to the All-Tournament team after his two run, four RBI performance, which included a home run in a game against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, on May 23. This game was a 15-3 win for UC Irvine in seven innings.
McCombs was named to the All-West Region Second Team and the All-Big West First Team in the 2025 season.
In a May 10 matchup against California State University, Bakersfield, McCombs had two hits — including a home run — and three runs, which led to a 7-3 win.
On April 11 against UC Davis, McCombs had three hits and two RBIs, including a home run in a 4-1 victory.
In a game against UC Santa Barbara on March 23, McCombs had two runs, hits and RBIs which included a home run in a 9-4 win.
During a March 15 matchup against California State University, Northridge, McCombs had two runs and two hits, which included a home run in the 11-3 victory.
In a March 8 matchup against California State University, Long Beach at Anteater Ballpark, McCombs was a pivotal player in the 8-6 victory as he had three RBIs, including a home run.
In a game against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on March 2, McCombs had three hits and two runs, including a home run in a 12-5 Anteater victory.
A team McCombs played well against was Texas Tech. In a Feb. 23 matchup, he had two RBIs, including a home run, while on Feb. 21, he had four hits, two runs, and two RBIs, including a home run against the Red Raiders. Both games were Anteater victories.
On Feb. 15, McCombs had three runs, including a home run against the University of New Mexico in an 18-4 win.
McCombs finished the 2025 season with a .352 batting average, which included 61 runs, 81 hits, 54 RBIs, 16 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 11 walks.
Jack Fedor is the 2025-2026 Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Joshua Gonzales