MLB 2026 Draft ~ Mocks, Rankings, Discussions and More

[craviduce]

Kevin Roberts Jr. is a prep bat worth keeping an eye on. probably a 60+ grade power on him right now. Teammate of Konnor Griffin in HS.

Love AJ Gracia but he’s hitting himself into the top 8.

I agree on Gracia. You want players to have a good season, it justifies to the fan base why he's draftable/covetable...but we're drafting 13th, not Top 8...so, like you said, he's pricing himself out our range.

I do this all the time..."What ifs"....there's a good crop of HS SS and HS Pitchers....I think 4, maybe 5 are taken ahead of us. So you're looking at 7 or 8 College players going before our 13th pick. Then I try to name the names...and I try to think about the teams ahead us. Do they make weird reaches like the Angels usually do? Right now....I can name 5 college players that would go before Gracia...Cholowsky and Flora are going off the board first, unless LeBron finally is able to smash SEC pitchers...but I do think LeBron will likely go 10th or 11th...maybe even fall to us at 13th? Lackey is a Top 10 pick right now, so is his teammate from GT, Drew Buress.

After that...I'm not sure who would go before Gracia? Curiel is struggling with Speed and Power the first 3 weeks of the season, Hacopian's back is giving him fits and keeping him out of the A&M lineup, Bell is done for the season, and Flukey has the broken rib that will keep him out towards the middle/end of April. Strosnider might be available at 13...or go just ahead of us. He seems like the perfect Angels pick, they love the College, almost MLB ready players.

Sorry...long winded there...but that's my thought process.

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As for Roberts, Jr...the power is real, and the speed is even more so. His problem, and it's big : He bombed hard this past summer against Great Competition on the All-Star circuit which included likely 1st round Arms in Rojas and Boleman. Roberts, Jr. batting around .100 during the summer with a wooden bat....that dropped his Hit Tool from 50 to 40...major red flags went up around his name.

Roberts, Jr does have 4 HR to start his season with Jackson Prep. They don't have the toughest schedule, so erasing that tag is going to be hard for Roberts, Jr. to do. I hope he can have a GREAT combine and interviews to help raise his stock again.

I think as of now, he'll go 2nd or 3rd round to a team like the Brewers, Pirates, Royals, Rays...teams that historically do well with HS talent in need of a swing overhaul. He'll get overslot money to forego the Florida commitment, but he won't get the First Round money that he was trending towards back in Spring 2025.

His speed is undeniable, his defense in CF is pretty good....getting on base is the albatross

[craviduce]

Tyler Bell somehow is cleared to play for Kentucky....top prospect injured his shoulder diving for a ball behind 2B on opening weekend. It was thought he would miss up to 3 months. He'd try to return for a post season run. This is good news for Kentucky and Tyler Bell's draft possibilities.

played only 1 game in February...went 1 for 4. He's DH today....we'll see how the shoulder holds up. Bell had 39 XBH's last year, 17 Doubles, 10 HR, 11 SB. Rates as an above average SS, great speed, still room to grow on the hit tool, though....but pundits thought he'd reach that next level this year or in the pros. Showed well in All Star Circuit Tours and in the CapeCod league last summer, though the Cape stint was only a week long. His summer ball made him a highly watched/touted prospect entering this season.

I'm shocked. Thought I'd pass on the news to draft followers

[DewittDaman11]

Tyler Bell somehow is cleared to play or Kentucky....top prospect injured his shoulder diving for a ball behind 2B on opening weekend. It was thought he would miss up 3 months. He'd try to return for a post season run. This is good news for Kentucky and Tyler Bell's draft possibilities.

played only 1 game in February...went 1 for 4. He's DH today....we'll see how the shoulder holds up.

I'm shocked. Thought I'd pass on the news to draft followers

Possibly just dislocated?

[craviduce]

Tyler Bell somehow is cleared to play or Kentucky....top prospect injured his shoulder diving for a ball behind 2B on opening weekend. It was thought he would miss up 3 months. He'd try to return for a post season run. This is good news for Kentucky and Tyler Bell's draft possibilities.

played only 1 game in February...went 1 for 4. He's DH today....we'll see how the shoulder holds up.

I'm shocked. Thought I'd pass on the news to draft followers

Possibly just dislocated?

it could've been just dislocated....all the tweets and UK stories I've seen say "non-throwing shoulder injury"....nothing about dislocation. I wish I would've been around to see it or read about it at the time.

Anyways this is good news for him. I was hoping his hit tool would continue to progress this spring.

[craviduce]

Caden Sorrell just hit another HR...if you can tolerate the high 20% K rate, this cat can HIT and MASH. CF, too....he's backing up his 150 wRC+ with another 150ish wRC+ so far.

He's been moving up draft boards this week.

still that K% gives you a little pause. That's usually exasperated in the majors.

[craviduce]

Roch Cholowsky with his 8th HR on the year for UCLA as they open up BigTen play today @ Ohio State. He has #1 locked up, unless the White Sox decided to go the cheaper route and draft Emerson, out of HS or one of the elite HS pitchers like Rojas or Boleman.

teammate and College Leader in HR, Will Gasparino hit his 11th HR of the season....eye popping 250 wRC+....70 points higher than Cholowsky.

[craviduce]

Arkansas' ace Gabe Gaeckle threw a gem today 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K....brought his ERA down to 2.61.

The Razorbacks keep losing their pitchers to the draft and they keep reloading. I think they may the best rotation in the country again. One of the best long relievers in the nation, and their weekend 3 man rotation can handle their own each series. And let's not forget about the injured Carson Wiggins, who likely won't play this year....he's getting drafted, probably their best pitcher, too. He topped 102mph off the mound in April of last year, and blew out his elbow. I'm not sure if he'll be allowed to pitch in June before the draft?

Dietz, Gaeckle, Wiggins....probably will go Day 1 of the draft...Rounds 1-3

[Cranny]

Zero in on a RH OF power bat who may realistically be available at #13.

[craviduce]

Zero in on a RH OF power bat who may realistically be available at #13.

fast riser, Will Gasparino is RH, and leads NCAA in HR at 11, now batting over, .400. Underwent a slight swing change once he arrived at UCLA through the transfer portal from Univ. of Texas....plays CF. UCLA has played 3 games with Univ. San Diego (top 40 team, year in, year out), Top 10 TCU for 3 games, Top 25 ranked Tennessee, Top 25 ranked A&M, and Top 5 ranked Miss. State. And they just opened Big10 play on the road with Ohio State today.

Chris Hacopian is having back issues, but he dominant at the plate with Maryland the last two seasons. He's a middle infielder, but I'd take him at #13. He should be back soon with A&M, doing pretty well there in limited time.

and we don't necessarily have to be locked in on a RH bat. Though it would be nice, a LH OF bat or corner infield LH bat would/should be welcomed as well.

And unfortunately for the fan base, Liam Peterson seems like the perfect Chaim Bloom pick. Great Fastball, good slider, control issues, might wind up a reliever at the bottom, or a Front of the rotation starter if he can make it all work. He's project, but that's what Bloom seems to like.

film on Peterson...he's giant on the mound...I think he's 6'5"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NO1KpMT5V8

[ramfandan]

Zero in on a RH OF power bat who may realistically be available at #13.

If the most talented guy fits RH OF power bat great but I have always been one to draft 'the best player' over 'need' .

Sometimes you can get lucky and have both fall your way .. a great talent at a positon of need too.

[craviduce]

Zero in on a RH OF power bat who may realistically be available at #13.

If the most talented guy fits RH OF power bat great but I have always been one to draft 'the best player' over 'need' .

Sometimes you can get lucky and have both fall your way .. a great talent at a positon of need too.

Dan gets it

what happened to your Vols? Kuhns seems to be the only Day 1 prospect this year (rounds 1-3). And I like Kuhns, good pitcher with it seems impeccable control...under 2 BB/9. He has really wicked curve. Good arsenal for the pros. Won't rack up the most K's, but he'll get his share each outing.

I'm not a Henry Ford fan...didn't think much of him last year with UVA, and he's okay with Tenn this year. Needs a big SEC performance to make Day 1, imo.

[craviduce]

Tre Phelps continues his torrid start to 2026 for UGA. The Dawg just hit his 7th HR of the season. Looking forward to his SEC season which starts next weekend. That'll tell you if he's 1st round material or not. A lot to like right now. 175 wRC+

[craviduce]

Zero in on a RH OF power bat who may realistically be available at #13.

If the most talented guy fits RH OF power bat great but I have always been one to draft 'the best player' over 'need' .

Sometimes you can get lucky and have both fall your way .. a great talent at a positon of need too.

Dan gets it

what happened to your Vols? Kuhns seems to be the only Day 1 prospect this year (rounds 1-3). And I like Kuhns, good pitcher with it seems impeccable control...under 2 BB/9. He has really wicked curve. Good arsenal for the pros. Won't rack up the most K's, but he'll get his share each outing.

I'm not a Henry Ford fan...didn't think much of him last year with UVA, and he's okay with Tenn this year. Needs a big SEC performance to make Day 1, imo.

Kuhns is being touched up a bit against Wright St tonight.... 3 runs so far, but 5 K's, 0 walks (he won't walk many). Still a good outing...nothing big, just 3 one run innings.

[craviduce]

Drew Burress with a lead off double to start the game for GTech vs. VaTech tonight....he scored. Vahn Lackey and Jarren Advincula both walked in the 1st and later scored. GTech has batted around with only 1 out. Buress about to take his 2nd AB of the inning.

Those 3 players have a really good chance to land in the 1st round this year.... Buress and Lackey, as it stands now, could go Top 10 or Top 15. There's a lot of good HS players that may make the College kids slip down the draft.

[craviduce]

speaking of Liam Peterson....the RHP through 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K vs. High Point. Better tests coming for Peterson next weekend as SEC starts

[craviduce]

Curiel led off the game for LSU Tigers with a Double, scored when Jake Brown homered in the next AB. That's 6 for Brown this spring. And that's 5 XBH in 67 PA's for Curiel, well under what he did last year. Maybe he's heating up going into SEC Play next week? I hope so, he's around 70 wRC+, and that's against weak competition.