Day One of the 2026 MLB draft is in the books, which means four rounds are down and 16 rounds left to go today. We saw a handful of surprises and some fascinating storylines through the first day. The Prep Baseball and D1 Baseball staff break it down below.

+ Prep Baseball's Day One Takeaways
+ Prep Baseball's Day Two Forecast

DAY TWO: STORYLINES

+ The best available college players on our Draft Board heading into the second day were hitters Daniel Cuvet (Miami), Henry Ford (Tennessee), Tre Phelps (Georgia), Macon Winslow (North Carolina), Will Gasparino (UCLA) and Alex Hernandez (Georgia Tech). Of those, Cuvet was the first to hear his name called in the 5th round to the Nationals.

Both Ford and Phelps bet on themselves this year after not signing in last year’s draft as eligible sophomores. Neither decision worked out as planned for the pair of SEC hitters as Ford was chosen in the 6th round and Phelps the 9th.

The best available pitchers included Ethan McElvain (Arkansas), Justin Byrd (Georgia), LJ Mercurius (Oklahoma), Luke McNeillie (Florida), Steele Murdock (UCSD), Cal Randall (UCLA), Bo Rhudy (Tennessee) and Dylan Vigue (Georgia). Murdock was quickly off the board with the third pick of the 5th to the Twins, while Rhudy was the last of that group to be selected, at the end of the 7th to the Phillies.

+ For an in-depth look at the best available preps heading into day two, have a look at the Day Two Forecast.

+ After having two picks during day one, the MLB Draft League set records with the most picks in a year (57) and 55 picks on day two. West Virginia set a team record with 15 total selections in 2026 – over half of its roster.

+ After getting shut out on day one, a recent history low of just 12 Juco prospects were selected over the 20 rounds of the 2026 draft. The first selected was Jimmy Anderson (Heartland CC, IL), a shortstop with some pop who is a Kentucky recruit.

+ As usual, four-year college prospects dominated day two with 381 of the 475 picks. Eighty-five preps were chosen on day two.

+ Final numbers included 474 of a total 613 picks (77.3%) were from four-year colleges. Preps represented 20.7% of the total picks, while Juco’s 2.0%. A potential trend to watch for, the decreasing prep percentage is likely tied to a “perfect storm” of increasing NIL support mixed with an overall class that was at least a full tier (talent wise) below 2025. Present forecasts from Prep Baseball anticipate this reverting to usual form in ‘27.

+ The SEC led all conferences with 70 picks during day two for a total of 104 in the 20 rounds. The ACC was second with 49 on day two and 68 total, Big 12 with 40 and 56, Big Ten 35 and 46, Big West 21 and 23 and CUSA with 20 and 22. All other Division I conferences combined for 142 total selections.

+ After Arkansas dominated day one with five picks in the first four rounds, Georgia ruled day two, finishing with 13 total draft picks. Arkansas was second overall with a dozen picks. UCLA and Arizona State tied for third with ten picks each.

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STEALS / FAVORITE PICKS

David Seifert: Will Gasparino (UCLA) in the 5th round to the Phillies. Granted, there are swing adjustments needed to control the whiff, but to grab a tall, uber-athletic talent who can stay in the big field at the pro level has to be a coup. He’s very similar to their 2nd rounder, 64th overall, Caden Bogenpohl (Missouri State) who we had ranked lower in our final Draft Board. One could reasonably argue that Gasparino has better tools than Bogenpohl. Also in the 5th, Steele Murdock (UCSD) is a power arm with a plus breaker and Ethan McElvain (Arkansas), as well as Luke McNeillie (Florida) are long time favorites who could move quickly, especially the lefthanded McElvain. Cody Brasch (Louisiana) in the 8th was another steal for me. With a fastball up to 97 and a plus breaking pitch who performed well out of the pen early in the season for the Ragin’ Cajuns, he looks like a quick mover through a minor league system.

Kendall Rogers: How about Seattle getting Tennessee’s Henry Ford, a top two-round talent, in the bottom of the sixth round? That’s the steal of all steals … I was telling our staff this last night on our group chat, but I love the Rockies taking Oklahoma State lefthanded pitcher Hudson Barrett in the eighth round. Barrett has outstanding measurables, and when healthy, is a very good arm. I think Barrett can add a few mph to his fastball, too, with a more integrated pro pitching approach. I would be surprised if we look up in two-to-three years and Barrett is not in the big leagues … I get the off the field concerns, but I really like the Cubs taking former West Virginia righthanded pitcher Chase Meyer in the ninth round. Meyer is an elite talent with a filthy breaking ball. Command of the zone will need to be better in pro ball, but he’s one of those guys arms that could move relatively fast if he can put all the puzzle pieces - on and off the field – together … Another pick I love just from a sheer college baseball standpoint is the Nationals taking Miami infielder Daniel Cuvet in the fifth round. That’s another top-round talent that dealt with injuries throughout the 2026 campaign. But it’s an impressive hit tool, that’s for sure. I’m also a firm believer in Angels fifth-round pick and Oklahoma shortstop Jaxon Willits.

Mark Etheridge: I love storylines, so we’ll focus on a pair here. The Guardians grabbed Oklahoma recruit Savion Sims (Prestonwood Christian HS, TX) in the seventh round, when pretty much everyone had him mocked in the first couple of rounds. He’s an easy 100 mph in a 6-foot-8 package. Will this follow last year’s Jack Bauer model, where the flamethrowing prepster no one expected to get to college shocked the masses? Another potentially interesting draft to follow is with Georgia two-way player Kenny Ishikawa, who was selected by the Reds in the 13th round. Ishikawa was drafted by the Orix Buffaloes in last year’s NPB Draft in Japan. Does Ishikawa sign with the Reds, head back to Japan, or run it back in Athens?

Shooter Hunt: The Mets were tasked to find value with the third lowest pool ($6.7M), and given the organization’s ability to develop high-level arms, grabbing RHP Luke McNellie (Florida) in the 5th round could end up being the steal of the draft. The org layered a plethora of massive upside (with risk!) arms that each have a shot to rise.

Ian Smith: Guardians continued to impress me throughout the weekend, and proceeded to open day two with three straight quality picks in Lucas Moore (Louisville/5th), Deiten LaChance (Oklahoma/6th), and one of the higher upside prep arms in the entire draft in Savion Sims in the 7th.

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TOP TEAM DRAFTS

Seifert: The A’s selections were strong up and down with a nice balance of present performance, tools and projection. The White Sox also stood out to me with Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) in the 12th round as a standout pick on day two. They also grabbed Cam Johnson (Oklahoma) in the 15th. He’s obviously not a strike-thrower, that’s the reason he slid, but he does have a lively fastball and a big arm. Who knows what the CWS PD can tweak out of him. I also loved the Rockies day one haul of Tyler Bell (Kentucky), Daniel Jackson (Georgia), Logan Reddeman (UCLA), Jack Natili (Cincinnati) and Ben Davis (Mississippi State). On day two they proceeded to add a high ceiling prep arm in Dylan Putnam (Battle HS, MO) and stole future big leaguer Hudson Barrett (Oklahoma State) in the 8th. If the Astros are able to sign their total haul which included late round preps Jack Beck (Columbia Central HS, TN and brother of Jordan who went from a 14th round pick out of high school to a 1st rounder at Tennessee) in the 13th and James Tronstein (Harvard-Westlake HS, CA) in the 15th, look out. It could be a once every five year, five-star type of class. The Royals three picks in the 5th-7th rounds stood out for me – Ethan McElvain (Vanderbilt), Justin LeGuernic (Clemson), Dylan Vigue (Georgia) all could move quickly and impact a big league bullpen. Like Kansas City, the Twins also looked sneaky good with college arms early in day two. Leading off with Steele Murdock (UCSD/5th), they also called the names of slider specialist Max Bayles (Santa Clara/7th) and the power heat of Thomas Burns (Texas/8th). I wasn’t so sure about what to make of the Phillies after day one, but they rebounded spectacularly in day two with Gasparino (UCLA/5th), Macon Winslow (North Carolina/6th), Bo Rhudy (Tennessee/7th) and stole an under the radar bat with Brayden Bakes (Illinois State) in the 13th to name a few of their many strong day two picks. The Giants crushed it on day one, then led off day two with Luke Nixon (NC State) in the 5th, followed by an arm I really like with Cody Brasch (Louisianna) in the 8th and high level performer Ian Korn (West Virginia) in the 10th, lefty strike-thrower Colin Fisher (Arkansas) in the 13th and JP Robertson (Ole Miss) in the final round. The Rays crushed it on day one with preps Grady Emerson and Taj Marchand then went big arm hunting on day two. They bagged some good ones with Kyle Johnson (Virginia), Tate McKee (Georgia Tech), Cole Stokes (Florida State), Mason Bixby (Oklahoma) and Alex Philpott (South Carolina), as well as relying on their area scouts for the selections of three high potential preps in the 7th-9th rounds that included AJ Rice (Pickens County HS, GA), Griffin Long (Sonoraville HS, GA) and Tai Jones (Jackson Academy, MS).

Rogers: I loved the day one haul from the Athletics, but I think in terms of the draft from a Top 10 rounds standpoint, I really like what the Rockies put together with their draft class. I absolutely love what Colorado did in the top five rounds. Tyler Bell and Daniel Jackson are fantastic selections, while UCLA righthanded pitcher Logan Reddemann is an elite arm when healthy. How about an elite backstop and slugger in Cincinnati’s Jack Natili, and a premier velocity guy in Mississippi State righthanded pitcher Ben Davis? We had this discussion during the college baseball season, but Davis just looks like one of those guys who oozes upside. He already has the velocity, and now immersed in pro pitching operations – his best days, in my opinion, are very much ahead of the talented righty … Another draft class that I like some pieces of is Pittsburgh. The Pirates took one of my favorites with their third-round pick in UNC righty Jason DeCaro, while Georgia’s Tre Phelps is certainly better than a ninth-round talent. Though it remains to be seen if he signs, it’s a bonus if the Pirates can get USC righthanded pitcher Grant Govel to sign as a 16th rounder. I get the concerns with Govel, but I was super impressed with him in my look at the College Station Regional. There’s a lot of deception with his stuff, and he’s a hard-nosed personality.

Shooter: The White Sox, Cardinals, and Rays all had massive bonus pools with plenty of picks, and I felt that they all turned in dominant performances. Even the White Sox grabbing a semi-sleeper premium prep arm, RHP Kyle Casteel (Butler HS, PA) in the 11th only served to amplify the huge haul. The Rays were the buzz of every other team that I talked to, and for good reason: the club grabbed two potential stars at the top in Emerson & Marchand before returning to what its player development does best: pitching. 17 of the final 19 picks were arms. Ultimately, I continue to side with the direction that the Giants went. While the industry aggressively pursued bat-to-ball specialists in a draft that was considerably down from the previous year, San Francisco elected to spend the third highest bonus pool on three premium arms (Flora-Bolemon-Waechter), which, when forecasting for the depth of ‘27s hugely talented position players, might be an excellent decision in the long run.

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SIMUL-DRAFT

The 2026 Simul-Draft is also in the books. Our day two selections:

5-143	Cal Randall	RHP	UCLA
6-173	Macon Winslow	C	North Carolina
7-203	Joe Tiroly	2B	Virginia
8-233	JP Robertson	RHP	Ole Miss
9-263	Camden Johnson	INF	Oklahoma
10-293	Justin Shadek	RHP	Georgia Tech
11-323	Braden Holcomb	OF	Vanderbilt
12-353	Rob Evans	LHP	Miami
13-383	Alex Kranzler	RHP	Vanderbilt
14-413	Kevin Takeuchi	UTL	Southern Cal
15-443	Dylan Alonso	RHP	Troy
16-473	Porter Buursema	RHP	Georgia Tech
17-503	Richie Roman	RHP	Houston
18-533	Jake Duer	OF	Texas A&M
19-563	Parker Coil	LHP	Arkansas
20-593	Luke Lawrence	SS	Kentucky

Of our 21 total picks, 20 were collegians. Our lone prep, Ethan Bass in the third round, went unselected likely due to signability. It was a missed opportunity, but one risk of the Simul-Draft with limited knowledge in real time about fluid factors like signing bonus demands.

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