Updated July 11, 2026, 10:34 p.m. ET
PHILADELPHIA — For the definitive grades on the 2026 Major League Baseball draft, check back in 60 to 120 months.
For a firmly informed yet wildly volatile analysis, we’ve got you covered right now.
The first round of this year’s draft, held Saturday, July 11 at Philadelphia’s Convention Center, launched the careers of dozens of prep and collegiate players, almost all bound for the big leagues, some sure to be All-Stars, perhaps a precious one or two headed for the Hall of Fame.
Oh, that’s all way, way in the future. Yet for now, let’s dive into who nailed their picks and who has more questions to ponder, perhaps providing answers once the entirety of a team’s draft class unfolds. Herewith, some instant grades for the MLB draft class of 2026:
MLB draft grades 2026
No. 1 – Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA. Grade: A-
Here’s to not overthinking it. Cholowsky’s junior year might not have exceeded the sophomore season that set him up as the 1/1 in waiting, but he’s still the surest thing with a good enough ceiling out of the consensus top three to six. And for a franchise on the upswing, Cholowsky could help as soon as 2027.
No. 2 – Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian HS. Grade: C+
The Rays opt for a prep player for the eighth time in 11 years, which hasn’t worked out for most of their picks the past decade. In Emerson, they get perhaps the best upside in the draft but also miss significant near-term value in bypassing Vahn Lackey.
No. 3 – Minnesota Twins: Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech. Grade: A
Lackey’s junior power surge perhaps created the highest ceiling of any potential draftee – he hit 20 homers after hitting six his sophomore year – and may be viewed as the should-have-been 1/1 once everyone’s careers are over.
No. 4 – San Francisco Giants: Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara. Grade: C
The Giants play it safe but smart, bypassing Jacob Lombard’s swing-and-miss concerns to add what should be a rotation stalwart – and fairly soon. Yet you wonder if any of this decision was driven by the urgency of the present as opposed to selecting the best available player.
No. 5 – Pittsburgh Pirates: Derek Curiel, OF, LSU. Grade: B-
They bypass the consensus top six and reach just a tad for Curiel, who is a great pure hitter who can play all three outfield positions. Not bad for immediacy for a pitching-rich organization needing cheap offense.
No. 6 – Kansas City Royals: Zion Rose, OF, Louisville. Grade: C-
The first huge surprise and potential reach. Rose was outside the top 25 of all mock drafts, though the Royals also hold the No. 30 pick and should save a significant amount of money in their draft pool.
No. 7 – Baltimore Orioles: Eric Booth, OF, Oak Grove (Mississippi) HS. Grade: A
The Royals’ reach enables Booth to fall to Baltimore, which jumps on his 20-20 potential and a high ceiling that’s been lacking from their system after a never-ending stream of ACC and SEC outfielder top picks.
No. 8 – Athletics: Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech. Grade: B+
Once again benefiting from the Rose surprise, the A’s reel in a high-end college talent who could make an impact before the club departs Yolo County for Las Vegas. Sixty career home runs at Georgia Tech and the second Yellow Jacket to go in the top eight, and the first outfielder selected by Oakland/West Sacramento since Kyler Murray.
No. 9 – Atlanta Braves: AJ Gracia, OF, Virginia. Grade: B
They depart from their typical pitching penchant to grab Gracia, who has excellent power and a career .459 OBP at Duke and Virginia. He also represents bonus pool savings for a club that has the 26th pick as well, a spot where several elite prep arms should be available.
No. 10 – Colorado Rockies: Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky. Grade: B-
Bell’s enjoyed significant helium in recent weeks, his name even bandied about as a potential top five pick in certain scenarios, perhaps an indication teams aren’t concerned with an early-season shoulder injury. Now he’s the first pick of the Paul DePodesta era in Denver.
No. 11 – Washington Nationals: Chris Hacopian, INF, Texas A&M. Grade: B+
The first pick of the Paul Toboni regime is a relatively safe one, as Hacopian offers multi-positional versatility and an already advanced hit tool that should get him to D.C. quickly.
No. 12 – Los Angeles Angels: Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, Huntington Beach (California) HS. Grade: A
Is it a new day in Anaheim? With Perry Minasian fired, the Angels spend their top pick on a high school product for the first time since Jo Adell and Jordyn Adams were picked in 2017-18. Grindlinger is obviously a roll of the dice but also exactly what the organization needs.
No. 13 – St. Louis Cardinals: Trevor Condon, OF, Etowah (Georgia) HS. Grade: B
A startling combination of power and speed, Condon was heavily recruited by Tennessee’s Tony Vitello before Vitello took the San Francisco Giants’ managerial job.
No. 14 – Miami Marlins: Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver Prep (Florida) HS. Grade: A-
There are some swing-and-miss concerns with Lombard, causing his stock to tumble from the top five all the way to the Marlins here. Miami stops the fall for the hometown kid, their third prep pick in four years. Pretty good value here.
No. 15 – Arizona Diamondbacks: Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas. Grade: B+
Arizona can be very comfortable with Helfrick’s hitting profile; he crushed 18 homers and walked as much as he struck out (55) in his final year in Fayetteville.
No. 16 – Texas Rangers: Gio Rojas, LHP, Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Florida) HS. Grade: B+
Getting the first prep pitcher and second overall has to be value, right? You’d think, though we’ll see if the Rangers regret passing on the upside of college bats Ace Reese and Justin Lebron. Counterpoint: Never a bad idea to add a lefty who can crank his fastball up to 98 mph.
No. 17 – Houston Astros: Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech. Grade: C+
Hughes offers the upside of a guy who pulverizes the ball and hit 37 home runs in two years in Lubbock. With Reese and Lebron tumbling, time will tell if SEC baseball Just Matters More.
No. 18 – Cincinnati Reds: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama. Grade: A-
In picking a college bat for the first time since Matt McLain in 2021, the Reds gamble on Lebron’s massive talent that had him poised as a potential 1/1 before a lackluster platform season in Tuscaloosa. Should be an excellent value at this slot.
No. 19 – Cleveland Guardians: Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida. Grade: B
With so much pitching on the board and that being the Guardians’ whole thing, it was just a matter of which arm Cleveland chose. They opted for a bit of a fixer-upper, as Peterson struggled with command a bit his final season, but has always possessed raw stuff.
No. 20 – Boston Red Sox: Jake Schaffner, SS, North Carolina. Grade: C-
A theoretical reach, the Red Sox opt for the gritty leadoff man who led the Tar Heels to the men’s College World Series final. Schaffner can toggle among all infield positions, stole 26 bases in 29 tries and a .467 OBP in his platform year.
No. 21 – San Diego Padres: Coleman Borthwick, RHP, South Walton (Fla.) HS. Grade: B
Coming up on this year’s episode of That’s So Preller, the Padres’ GM digs up another prep arm, this one a big righty from Florida’s Panhandle. Time will tell if he becomes more Padres trade fodder but for now, they add a 6-6, 245-pound beast who was slated to be a two-way player at Auburn. Probably not anymore.
No. 22 – Detroit Tigers: Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina. Grade: A
Flukey was pegged as early as the top 10 and the first arm off the board at various points this spring, which makes the Tigers’ value grab very prudent right here. Flukey’s junior year was slowed by a rib fracture but he struck out 11.6 per nine in three seasons in Conway.
No. 23 – Chicago Cubs: Cade Townsend, RHP, Mississippi. Grade: B-
True to form, the Cubs go collegian here, for the ninth time in 10 drafts. Townsend has big stuff but made just 22 starts in Oxford, creating a longer path to Wrigley than, say, ’22 Cubs pick Cade Horton.
No. 24 – Seattle Mariners: Ace Reese, INF, Mississippi State. Grade: A-
Reese’s slide stops in Seattle, as he was the consensus best available for a few picks here, but got caught in the onslaught of top college arms still available. The Mariners have been as successful as anyone picking in the back end of the first round frequently, and know a thing or two about developing infielders.
No. 25 – Milwaukee Brewers: Trey Ebel, INF, Corona (Calif.) HS. Grade: B
Well, isn’t this neat? It’s back-to-back Ebel brothers for the Brew Crew, as elder brother Brady was chosen 32nd overall a year ago and has a .412 OBP in A ball. The younger Ebel, a right-handed hitter compared to the lefty-swinging Brady wasn’t expected to go this high, but it’s also not hard to envision the Brewers maxing out his skills to go along with excellent baseball instincts.
No. 27 – New York Mets: Carson Wiggins, RHP, Arkansas. Grade: B-
The Mets play the long game here, as Wiggins did not pitch this season after recovering from May 2025 Tommy John surgery. Yet he is at the very back end of that rehab and should be able to attack his first pro season in 2027 with a relatively normal workload. At his best, Wiggins touches 102 mph on the gun; he was slated to be the pitching-rich Razorbacks’ Friday night starter in 2027, though he had just 14 career appearances.
No. 35 – New York Yankees: Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas. Grade: A
The early run on hitters shoved some big arms way down the board and getting Dietz here counts as a significant coup for the Yankees. At 6-6, 235 pounds, Dietz overcame a stress reaction in his elbow to run his fastball up to 98 mph and jacked up his draft value with a 14-strikeout performance against Kansas in an NCAA regional.
No. 36 – Philadelphia Phillies: Tyler Spangler, SS, De La Salle (Calif.). Grade: A-
They take a big swing on a talent slated to go in the top five until a back injury kept Spangler off the field his senior season. He was upright enough to work out for teams at the drat combine
No. 39 – Toronto Blue Jays; Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State. Grade: B
They land the biggest lefty arm at No. 39, which is a coup on paper, especially given that Carlon has touched 100.7 while also possessing an outstanding breaking ball. Is there a but? Of course. Carlon left a late-season start after his velocity was down, pushing him from the teens to 20s on draft boards to, well, right here. They hope for better outcomes than recent lefties such as Brandon Barriera and Ricky Tiedemann who have hit roadblocks in their system.
No. 40 – Los Angeles Dodgers: SS Bo Lowrance, Christ Church Episcopal (SC) HS. Grade: A-
A 6-5 corner infielder and left-handed bat, Lowrance has a massive ceiling and represents a coup falling to the Dodgers here. Projected to stick at third base despite his significant height, he told MLB.com he models his swing and approach after Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson. Good call.
MLB Draft order, results
- Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA. Grade: A-
- Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian HS. Grade: C+
- Minnesota Twins: Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech. Grade: A
- San Francisco Giants: Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara. Grade: C.
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Derek Curiel OF, LSU. Grade: B-.
- Kansas City Royals: Zion Rose, OF, Louisville. Grade: C-.
- Baltimore Orioles: Eric Booth, OF, Oak Grove (Miss.) HS. Grade: A.
- Athletics: Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech. Grade: B+
- Atlanta Braves: AJ Gracia, OF, Virginia. Grade: B
- Colorado Rockies: Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky. Grade: B-.
- Washington Nationals: Chris Hacopian, INF, Texas A&M. Grade: B+
- Los Angeles Angels: Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, Huntington Beach (California) HS. Grade: A
- St. Louis Cardinals: Trevor Condon, OF, Etowah (Ga.) HS. Grade: B
- Miami Marlins: Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver Prep (Florida) HS. Grade: A-
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas. Grade: B+
- Texas Rangers: Gio Rojas, LHP, Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Florida) HS. Grade: B+
- Houston Astros: Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech. Grade: C+
- Cincinnati Reds: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama. Grade: A-
- Cleveland Guardians: Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida. Grade: B
- Boston Red Sox: Boston Red Sox: Jake Schaffner, SS, North Carolina. Grade: C-
- San Diego Padres: Coleman Borthwick, RHP, South Walton (Fla.) HS. Grade: B
- Detroit Tigers: Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina. Grade: A
- Chicago Cubs: Cade Townsend, RHP, Mississippi. Grade: B-
- Seattle Mariners: Ace Reese, INF, Mississippi State. Grade: A-
- Milwaukee Brewers: Trey Ebel, INF, Corona (Calif.) HS. Grade: B
Top picks for teams without first-rounders
- No. 27 – New York Mets: Carson Wiggins, RHP, Arkansas. Grade: B-
- No. 35 – New York Yankees: Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas. Grade: A
- No. 39 – Toronto Blue Jays; Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State. Grade: B
- No. 40 – Los Angeles Dodgers: SS Bo Lowrance, Christ Church Episcopal (SC) HS. Grade: A-
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