UCLA baseball landed its best 2026 recruit yet Sunday.
Shortstop CJ Weinstein announced his commitment to UCLA via Instagram on Sunday afternoon, flipping from LSU.
Perfect Game’s No. 128 prospect in the class would have been the Tigers’ 15th-highest-ranked incoming freshman, but now headlines the Bruins’ crop.
UCLA’s only other two top-200 recruits are outfielder Jaden Jackson and Hamilton Friedberg.
Hailing from Newport Beach, California, Weinstein previously played at Huntington Beach for three seasons before attending Orange Lutheran for his senior campaign.
Weinstein, who played second base and shortstop in high school, will likely have the opportunity to compete for a starting job come 2027, with junior infielders Roch Cholowsky, Mulivai Levu and Roman Martin all expected to depart the program via the 2026 MLB Draft.
Standing 6-foot-1 and 184 pounds, per Prep Baseball Report, Weinstein fits the profile of a typical coach John Savage recruit – a local product who hits left-handed, appears to have plenty of room to grow, and is both athletic and defensively skilled enough to play shortstop.
The Orange Lutheran product made MaxPreps’ April 29 Player of the Year watchlist alongside MLB’s projected No. 1 overall pick, Grady Emerson. He also attended the MLB Combine in June.
Weinstein brings the Bruins’ freshman class to 11 athletes – all of whom call California home.
However, the left-handed-hitting middle infielder – and any one of UCLA’s high school recruits – could also sign with an MLB organization through July’s draft, especially with mounting anticipation that the First-Year Player Draft will no longer allow players to sign directly from high school following the 2027 bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA.
MLB Pipeline’s 2026 draft rankings list Weinstein as its No. 152 prospect – ahead of current Bruins junior right-hander Cal Randall and catcher Cashel Dugger.
