2026 MLB Draft: Day 1 Recap

Below is a team-by-team analysis of last night’s draft activity. Remember that you can find more detailed scouting reports and tool grades for the players drafted yesterday over on The Board. The positions below are what we have them projected as on The Board, not necessarily what the player was announced as. For pitchers, we have a role designated below: starter (SP), or single-inning or multi-inning reliever (SIRP and MIRP).

Arizona was in a tough spot, caught in the middle of the round just after the more skillful hitters (who are usually their type) were picked. They were left with a choice between a few hitters with balanced skill sets but bottom-dwelling defensive fits (like Logan Hughes) or good up-the-middle defenders with hit tool risk. They ended up taking a player from the latter category in Helfrick, who can frame, throw, and has power that he might not tap into consistently due to strikeouts. He could be a Mike Zunino reboot of sorts, which would be a good outcome at the 15th pick. Bryant has a nasty fastball/curveball combo and a projectable frame. We had him ranked 20 spots lower than he was picked, but we don’t really consider him to be a reach; the players in that range are comparable. Kerce has a good shot to be a speedy utility guy, Dowd needs to get stronger, and McDevitt is a test for a player dev group that hasn’t done well with pitchers. His fastball plays, but can they find a secondary pitch? — EL

The A’s had a great first day. It sounds like Burress was in play starting at pick five yesterday and that his camp played hardball with the teams in the no. 5-7 range that were trying to cut a deal with him. Though he’s listed at 5-foot-9, Burress (as we’ll soon learn when he’s measured for ABS purposes) is probably closer to 5-foot-7, and he’d be mold-breaking were he to thrive in a way that resembles his college output. I mostly buy that it will work for him as a hitter, but not so much as a center fielder.

After that the A’s took three pitchers who we really like. Edwards has good secondary stuff and a deceptive enough delivery to help his fastball play. Geackle has a nasty breaking ball that could play in a leverage relief role. We like Dudan’s upside and think he’d have come off the board a round earlier if he hadn’t blown out this spring.

Finally, Martin is a candidate to move up the defensive spectrum and play shortstop in pro ball after playing third base in deference to Roch Cholowsky at UCLA. These are all high-probability big leaguers who are likely to move quickly. — EL

The Braves had the most creative first day of any team. Gracia and Beck (a fascinating small-school Canadian prospect) are both going to be under slot, facilitating the three high school pitcher picks after them. McCarthy (a 6-foot righty who was up to 101 this spring) and Dennis (94-97 at the Combine) are smaller guys who throw hard and have one great secondary pitch. They’re also both 17 and might have a sneaky amount of growth left, both from a skill and body standpoint. Hirschkorn is huge and throws strikes, much different than the other guys. This is, pound for pound, the most interesting class. — BG/EL

Baltimore was seen as Booth’s floor during the mock draft process and, with Kansas City throwing a curveball at pick no. 6, that is how things played out. Booth has an electricity to him that is unmatched in this draft. The quickness of his hands and his speed for his size are both show-stopping, but his swing is weird and that’s why he wasn’t in the mix at the very top of the draft.

I’m a Ty Head… head. He needs to add strength, but everything else (contact, speed, defense, natural launch, baseball IQ and acumen) is already in place. I didn’t see him as being all that different than a bunch of the college hitters who went early in the first round. I thought he was one of the better individual picks on Day 1.

Voegele is also in Baltimore’s wheelhouse. He elevates his fastball and has a 2,900-rpm breaking ball, but there’s relief risk. Roberts will be the most interesting player from this group to monitor for changes. He’s big and strong looking, and he has feel for contact, but he doesn’t hit for much power. Is there a way to unlock it? Can we watch for changes to discern how Baltimore thinks that can be done? — EL

I loved Boston targeting Schaffner as an under-slot addition in the first round. He can hit, he can play shortstop, and he’s a cold-weather player without a ton of high-level experience prior to his lone year at UNC. I had him ranked toward the top of the second round on talent and wouldn’t have considered him much of a reach even if the Sox had done him for slot.

There are two picks here I’m more skeptical of. Hull’s swing is long, and I’m scared he won’t hit. His exclusion from the pre-draft rankings wasn’t an oversight; this issue concerns me. Mataczynski is tooled up, but the contact portion of his profile is also sketchy. I’ll be looking for swing changes from both guys next spring. Mataczynski’s ask has supposedly been around $2 million, about $1.2 million above his slot, while Schaffner’s slot is $4.3 million. Based on where it seemed like Schaffner would go, it’s possible (though I don’t know) that his cut was big enough that the Sox have another bullet to fire today. — EL

I really liked the first two pitchers taken here. Townsend throws strikes and has a big fastball. We’ll see if the Cubs can resist the temptation to push him quicker than he can develop his command and secondaries. Jasa is a sleeper a tier or two down, a tall drink of water still growing into his levers with a hard fastball, two solid breaking balls, and work to do on his command change. Sorrell and Bailey are both boom/bust power hitters with hit tool risk. I’m particularly curious to see if Bailey’s power translates to wood, as it looked 70 grade at Florida State. Marionneaux leans on his slider, which flashes above average when he locates down to the glove side; he projects as a reliever. — BG

As expected, the White Sox took Cholowsky with the first overall pick, and apparently he’s going to sign for (slightly) less than slot value. After trading for the 34th pick Friday night, the Sox entered the draft with the most bonus pool money and all the room in the world to go over slot. We’ll see if Thome goes for over slot; it seems like Chicago was motivated to make the aforementioned deal in part to ensure they got him. He projects as a power-over-hit second baseman with everyday upside. Prosek is a more clear-cut over-slot candidate. He’s old for a prep prospect and doesn’t have a clear defensive position, but he can hit. Volchko has a middle-relief floor with big velo and a sharp slider, and he has a chance to start with a little more touch and feel. Segura looks like a sinker/sweeper reliever. — BG

Lebron is among the most fascinating prospects in this year’s draft. He’s an incredible athlete with an ideal baseball build that not only portends more power, but supreme athletic longevity. He also really struggles with spin and has big hit tool risk. Becker had an arrow-down junior season, but if his step back at the plate stemmed primarily from injuries, the Reds are well positioned to buy low on a guy who looked like a first-round talent a year ago. Levu is a contact-oriented first baseman with plus barrel feel; he’s athletic enough to be worth a look at the hot corner. Horn and Norby are backend starter prospects. — BG

Cleveland tends to absorb a certain amount of risk at the very top of the draft in exchange for the kind of upside they can’t easily acquire elsewhere. Peterson is a great match between player and team, a talented pitcher with developmental meat on the bone going to a club that’s had a lot of success building starting pitchers. Schmidt arguably already has two plus pitches, and there’s upside if the touch and feel elements come later. The Guardians went safe from there. Schmidt starting throwing harder over showcase play. He’s a little thicker than most high school pitchers, but he throws strikes with two pitches that project plus. Broussard is a slasher with elite speed who profiles as a fourth outfielder. Lewis is a contact-hitting first baseman who performed in the ACC, though he doesn’t have the bat speed or raw thump you associate with a Day 1 slugger. — BG

We liked Colorado’s draft a good bit. They were presumably thrilled to see Bell still on the board, an athletic shortstop with SEC success under his belt who was a top-five player on our Draft Board. The Rockies then went back to Athens, Georgia’s “power hitter, we’ll see on the hit tool” well for Jackson. One of Reddemann’s standout traits is his ability to sell his above-average change with good arm speed, which feels like a fairly Coors-proof trait. Natili is a player who divides opinion, but even if he can’t get to his power, he’s the kind of vocal leader and quality framer that teams love to stick behind the plate. Davis throws hard with big sink, and will profile in relief if he can find a better breaking ball. — BG

Flukey throws hard and has two good, if not great, breaking balls. He shrugged off a mid-season injury and has otherwise held his velo and stuff throughout his career. He projects as a mid-rotation starter. LeBlanc only had one year of high-level college baseball. He projects as a utility infielder who can contribute on both sides of the ball. Dempsey was a two-way player at FGCU but will likely only pitch in pro ball. He sits in the low 90s and can really spin it. He throws strikes, but is otherwise unpolished. Pellegrin is a strong defender with the rare pretty right-handed swing. He crushed the MLB Draft League, and was the first player from that circuit taken in this year’s draft. — BG

Houston had a fun, diverse draft, as if they were trying to win some kind of Bingo type game. They took a very stable college hitter in Hughes, a cutter/curveball guy in Radel, a changeup-oriented lefty in Mendes, a bat speed prodigy in Johnson, a glove-oriented utility prospect in Durnin, and then a more projectable, young lefty bat in Peterson.

The Hughes pick was surprising because he cuts against the grain of what Houston has tended to do, which is take the Brice Matthews and Jacob Melton type of player who has big athleticism and power, but lacks a stable contact profile. Hughes is the opposite, a good hitter with well below-average athleticism and speed. Radel, however, is in Houston’s wheelhouse as a cut/ride fastball guy with a good curveball and command. He’s like the fourth Notre Dame pitcher of this type who the Astros have drafted since I’ve been doing this job. This is the start of a great draft class for a system that needs it. — EL

The first misdirection of the draft, as there was a lot of smoke that had Eric Booth Jr. heading to KC in the first round. Instead they took Rose, a player with an enviable blend of power and speed; the trick will be getting him to hit the ball in the air more often. Later, the Royals opted for two of the draft’s late bloomers. Rabe barely pitched at Ole Miss until his junior year, and then dominated with one of the SEC’s best fastballs. In some ways, Slightom is a KC special, a tall and athletic Midwest pitching prospect with round-down fastball shape. He’s a candidate to take a leap forward as he focuses exclusively on baseball. Yehl is a strike-thrower with elite deception, which probably appealed to an org that puts a lot of value on pitchability. The Royals will presumably be able to buy Battista out of his commitment to UIC. He’s an athletic, if undersized, outfielder with a hit-over-power profile. — BG

While Grindlinger was announced as an outfielder, Angels sources told us that they’re planning on developing him as a two way player. It’s a significant departure in strategy for the team, which has consistently taken the most big league-ready collegiate player available throughout the post-pandemic era. Advincula is more of that ilk, a contact maven who barreled almost literally everything as a junior at Georgia Tech. Lujo makes a lot of contact as well. He has a fully optimized spray chart — he hit a ton of balls just over the left field wall this year — but he doesn’t have big raw power. Grahovac has thump, and he just might be able to play third (he spent most of 2026 at first base). — BG

The Dodgers got a guy who I view as a top 10 player in the class down at pick 40 in Lowrance. For a hitter this big and projectable to have such natural swing loft, plus an ability to cover the top of the zone, is rare. It’s the kind of thing Freddie Freeman can do. I knew, when ranking Lowrance, that I was 15-20 spots higher on him than the general consensus, but I thought he’d end up going toward the back of the first.

Sandefer has a three-location attack (elevated fastballs, east/west slider and changeup operation) and throws strikes. He might benefit from a change in his stride direction. — EL

Understandably given their station, the Marlins tend to prioritize high-upside high school picks toward the top of the draft. Lombard fits the bill, an uber toolsy prep shortstop who fell in the draft, in part due to very shaky contact data on the showcase circuit. Miami was understandably less adventurous from there. They like guys who can spin it, and both Kleinschmit (a pitchability southpaw) and Peterson (a small-school performer) fit the bill. Peterson in particular is in the right place, as he hasn’t yet converted great feel for spin into sharp breaking balls. Kozeal is a power-over-hit utility prospect. Roberson was a surprise selection, an LSU commit who was reportedly a tough sign. — BG

I’m not thrilled with what the Brewers have done so far, but it’s not their style to be “done” this early in the draft. They tend to save money early and spread their bonus pool out across several over-slot players later, which might still happen today. Ebel is a nice, contact-oriented shortstop prospect without overt physicality. I’m skeptical that either Strosnider or Jones will hit. Garcia I like quite a bit. He can pitch and will pretty quickly have a pair of good breakers that are harder than the slow, deep curveball he has right now. The Brewers deserve the benefit of the doubt, so let’s withhold judgement until they’ve made all of their picks. — EL

It was a great draft to pick in the top three, and Minnesota was able to snap up the last of the consensus top-tier talents. Lest there be any hand wringing from Twins fans about selecting two catchers at the top of the draft, Tinney will either tap into his power enough that Minnesota will find a spot for him, or he won’t, in which case it won’t matter. The Wachsmann pick is exciting. He’s a late bloomer, and while he’s quite raw, he has prototypical size, premium arm strength, and flashes plus secondary stuff. LaPour and Renfrow are college pitchers with relief risk for different reasons: lack of feel and pitchability in the former case, mild stuff in the latter. — BG

I’m excited to see what the Mets, who have been very good at developing pitching, can do with Wiggins, who looked like a potential top-15 pick before he blew out. Sdao could be this draft class’ Zach Thornton, a player they find a way to help throw harder without sacrificing his command. I’m skeptical about Robbins being able to hit and had him lower than the consensus, but picking him in the 90s feels fine. — EL

Dietz was great value where the Yankees got him and is likely to move quickly. Duncan, who blew out this spring, will be a must-see prospect about 12 months from now once he’s done rehabbing (and has probably gotten much stronger than he was this spring) with one of the better conditioning and pitcher-improving orgs in the league. Both of them could be mid-rotation starters.

Duncan might be over slot, as Brock is a senior. He’s fast and athletic for a catcher, and could be a multi-positional utility type in pro ball. Gutierrez-Contreras is a young-for-the-class outfielder with impressive physicality (6-foot-3, 205 pounds), great mid-major performance, and the ability to pull fastballs. His splits against good velocity aren’t great. — EL

The Phillies draft was top-heavy, with a potentially over-slot Spangler up top and what look like some pretty hefty under-slot targets later. Spangler exited last summer as a virtual lock for the middle of the first round or higher, then his team was collectively suspended for partying and he had a stress fracture in his back. He looked rusty at the Combine. If the Phils can get Bogenpohl to tap into his power in games, then they’ll have a second-round steal. With this kind of power, he can run a sub-70% contact rate and still thrive so long as he’s getting to the pop, which he was last able to do freshman year. Riojas and Sheerin could be quick-moving relievers à la Orion Kerkering. Jelkin is a lanky, talented pitcher who had a nomadic college career due to off-field behavior. — EL

After the first three, and arguably four, picks went chalk, Pittsburgh was the first team that had to pick a lane. Curiel went higher than we had him on both our Board and in our mock, but valuing the athleticism, bat-to-ball skill, and glove was defensible here in a spot without an obvious option. Just yesterday, the Pirates traded the 34th overall pick for Jacob Gonzalez and Brandon Eisert. It’s another understandable decision, given where they are in the standings, but we wonder if the Bucs were feeling a bit wistful when that spot rolled around with several early-to-mid-first-rounders still available, particularly since they had a ton of bonus pool space to play around with. Regardless, I’d expect them to take several overslot guys throughout the rest of the draft. Ruiz, a shortstop with contact skill and a great glove, got the ball rolling on that front, but the other three picks have a role-player veneer. Perhaps that’s not fair to Giles, a high school outfielder with feel to hit and a chance to stay in center. — BG

The Padres had a bold draft that included a couple of players who were tougher to evaluate because of the level of competition they faced. Lascelles is a Canadian infielder who isn’t especially physical or athletic, but he can hit, and he did so at an elite level in the little bit of wood bat travel ball he participated in. Lavey is a lefty-hitting catcher from a small school who had some nutty BP performances during private workouts. Of course, Borthwick is a gigantic high school righty with huge stuff and the usual risk you’d associate with high school pitching, plus a little more because he’s a heavier kid in the Alek Manoah physical mold. Lynch looks like a nasty, quick-moving reliever to us, while Conover is a patient (maybe too patient) 6-foot-4 outfielder without a red flag, but also without a plus physical tool. At his size, there’s a chance one (maybe the power) will improve late. — EL

Flora was a classic “don’t overthink this” pick. He’s talented, he’s genial, he has a knowledge and understanding of his craft that can diffuse to other players, and he’ll help the big league team pretty quickly. The two high school pitchers were both ranked within a couple of spots of where they were picked. They are the first indications that the current regime is willing to swim in riskier draft waters. Bonds will be a test for the org’s player development program to see if they can get him to lift the ball in a way that takes advantage of his raw power without sacrificing too much of his contact for it to be worth it. — EL

Reese was the first college hitter the Mariners had selected with their top pick since Evan White. He and Brown are very different flavors of position player, as Reese is a power-over-hit prospect without an obvious position, and Brown is a plus-plus athlete with below-average impact. The Mariners have done extremely well with first-round pitchers in the Dipoto era, but they’ve also found starters later in the draft (Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller), and for Seattle of all teams, it makes sense to grab the bats first and see what they can do with Taylor. Incidentally, Taylor went considerably ahead of where I expected, though both he and Lucas (a well-rounded small-school hitter without an obvious carrying tool) were drafted in a space where Seattle tends to cut a deal. — BG

In the first Chaim Bloom draft, the Cardinals had seven Day 1 picks, and there’s something here to excite analysts of all stripes. In the first round, they took a player that models are likely to be more enthusiastic about than scouts, as Condon is a smaller, contact-oriented high school player with less upside than many of the guys in his draft orbit. There’s arguably more upside with their second-rounder, as Kuhns already has a good fastball and control, and could really blossom if they can sharpen his breaking ball. Maniscalco and Kennedy are toolsy middle infielders, and look like great value picks where they were taken. Williamson is a boom/bust power hitter with a swing that may not work against good velo. Montesa was a small-school transfer to WVU and may have a lot of developmental runway left. Both he and Ferraro, a college performer with strong measurable swing decisions, project as role players. — BG

The Rays got their guy in Emerson with the second overall pick. They had him first on their board, supposedly with a bit of a gap between him and the next player. They also continued their trend of taking a lot of high school players, leaning more on scout-y tools than performance. Marchand and Bland have big power, while Giese has fairly exciting physical projection. Blair is a strike-throwing college starter who gives the class a player with a high floor. — EL

The Rangers’ draft was high-variance player after high-variance player for the first three picks. Rojas is the best high school pitcher in the class and a potential no. 2/3 starter, though his delivery is a bit more violent than the typical prep arm’s. Comeau has big lefty power projection, but less promising feel for contact. He’s the high school version of first rounder Ace Reese. Bumila is hurt and will have elbow surgery in Texas after his signs. He’s a spring pop-up arm with triple digit heat, freakish size, a precocious changeup, and a breaking ball that needs some pitch design love. Calhoun is a walk-prone reliever with a bat-missing fastball. — EL

The Jays didn’t have many early picks or much bonus pool money, so it looked like they were destined to be price takers to some degree. It didn’t play out that way, though, as Carlon, one of our top pitchers, fell all the way to no. 39 overall. They then got Brick, another top-40 pick on our Board, in the fourth round. To pick that late and still land the best breaking ball and top high school catcher in the draft has to be a pleasant surprise. Maybe it’s just the Oregon connection weighing too heavily on my mind, but Cooney reminds me a bit of Josh Kasevich. They’re both middle infielders with great bat-to-ball skills who fit better at second than short, and both are former Ducks who wound up as early-round selections for Toronto. The Jays may need to take a conservative approach today to make the math work on their Day 1 picks. — BG

The Nationals had a very balanced and exciting first day, as they walked away with Hacopian (who might have gone higher had he not dealt with injuries this year) and Brunson (who entered the year as a mid-first-rounder for me but had a tough year), and then two high schoolers with a fair bit of upside. Williams has the look of an athletic utility guy, while Harris has plus breaking stuff. — EL