The first edition of the 2026 MLB mock draft has arrived. As the college baseball regular season nears its conclusion, my board of top draft-eligible prospects has fallen in place. The Marlins select 14th in the first round.
Pick #
Team
Player
Position
School
Slot Value
1
Chicago White Sox
Roch Cholowsky
SS
UCLA
$11,350,600
2
Tampa Bay Rays
Grady Emerson
SS
High School
$10,507,000
3
Minnesota Twins
Vahn Lackey
C
Georgia Tech
$9,740,100
4
San Francisco Giants
Jackson Flora
RHP
UC Santa Barbara
$8,988,400
5
Pittsburgh Pirates
AJ Gracia
OF
Virginia
$8,336,500
6
Kansas City Royals
Jared Grindlinger
LHP/OF
High School
$7,746,100
7
Baltimore Orioles
Drew Burress
OF
Georgia Tech
$7,327,200
8
Athletics
Logan Reddemann
RHP
UCLA
$6,982,600
9
Atlanta Braves
Cameron Flukey
RHP
Coastal Carolina
$6,675,300
10
Colorado Rockies
Jacob Lombard
SS
High School
$6,393,100
11
Washington Nationals
Ryder Helfrick
C
Arkansas
$6,133,500
12
Los Angeles Angels
Derek Curiel
OF
LSU
$5,889,300
13
St. Louis Cardinals
Chris Hacopian
INF
Texas A&M
$5,661,300
14
Miami Marlins
Ace Reese
3B/1B
Mississippi State
$5,444,900
15
Arizona Diamondbacks
Eric Booth Jr.
OF
High School
$5,241,000
16
Texas Rangers
Sawyer Strosnider
OF
TCU
$5,051,900
17
Houston Astros
Aiden Robbins
OF
Texas
$4,868,600
18
Cincinnati Reds
Gio Rojas
LHP/OF
High School
$4,696,500
19
Cleveland Guardians
Tyler Bell
SS
Kentucky
$4,530,500
20
Boston Red Sx
Logan Hughes
OF
Texas Tech
$4,373,900
21
San Diego Padres
Tyler Spangler
SS
High School
$4,224,700
22
Detroit Tigers
Logan Schmidt
LHP
High School
$4,082,700
23
Chicago Cubs
James Clark
SS
High School
$3,947,600
24
Seattle Mariners
Cole Carlon
LHP
Arizona State
$3,818,700
25
Milwaukee Brewers
Daniel Jackson
C
Georgia
$3,696,000
26
Atlanta Braves*
Justin Lebron
SS
Alabama
$3,578,800
27
New York Mets
Cole Prosek
C/SS
High School
$3,466,500
28
Houston Astros*
Aiden Ruiz
SS
High School
$3,363,600
29
Cleveland Guardians^
Mason Edwards
LHP
USC
$3,270,200
30
Kansas City Royals^
Coleman Borthwick
RHP
High School
$3,190,500
31
Arizona Diamondbacks^
Tegan Kuhns
RHP
Tennessee
$3,118,300
32
St. Louis Cardinals^
Cade Townsend
RHP
Ole Miss
$3,044,600
33
Tampa Bay Rays^
Jarren Advincula
2B
Georgia Tech
$2,980,200
34
Pittsburgh Pirates^
Liam Peterson
RHP
Florida
$2,897,400
35
New York Yankees
Bo Lowrance
3B
High School
$2,826,700
36
Philadelphia Phillies
Connor Comeau
SS/C
High School
$2,758,800
37
Colorado Rockies^
Brody Bumila
LHP
High School
$2,696,700
* = Prospect Promotion Incentive
^ = Competitive Balance Round A
Marlins first-round pick: Ace Reese, 3B/1B, Mississippi State
Ace Reese is one of the best power-hitting prospects in the 2026 MLB Draft class. He’s also one of the most consistent hitters in this class and continues to show growth after every season.
The Mississippi State product has had an extremely successful college career to date. Through 49 games as a junior, Reese has a .317/.420/.688 slash line, with a .463 wOBA, and 17 home runs.
Power is the name of the game for Reese, flashing elite exit velocities for a college bat, and staggering barrel rates. Reese’s approach is slightly aggressive, although he makes strong contact and whiff numbers for a power bat.
Reese slips down draft boards a bit due to lack of a positional home. He has spent most of his time at third base and the corner outfield spots during college, but may be best at first base as he grows older. On many fronts, he resembles 2025 Brewers first-round pick Andrew Fischer, who made waves for himself in the World Baseball Classic (Italy) and has built upon that in High-A.
Reese will not add much on the base paths, but would add much needed pop to the Marlins farm system if selected. He’d cost slightly less than half of Miami’s total draft bonus pool of $11,960,100.