The 2026 MLB Draft starts today! Coverage starts on NBC or Peacock with a half-hour preview show at noon followed by the first pick at 12:30 CT. The first hour (about 10 picks) will then be on NBC or Peacock when coverage switches to MLB Network, MLB.com or MLB.tv from 1:3o to 3:30. That should cover picks 11 through 40, or enough for every team to pick once.
After that, rounds 2 through 4 will be today (Saturday) on MLB.com or MLB.tv. Rounds 5 through 20 start on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. CT. Those rounds will conducted
by a conference call, but you can again listen in on MLB.com or MLB.tv.
The White Sox have the first pick in the draft and as I write this, no one is sure whether they will select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Fort Worth Christian HS shortstop Grady Emerson, or Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey. Those three players are expected to go 1 through 3 in the draft, with the Rays and Twins taking whomever the White Sox don’t.
In my preview on Friday, I gave some possibilities for the Cubs with the 23rd pick in the first round. The Cubs could get a real great player with that pick. Some players who went 23rd in the draft this century include Christian Yelich, Jacoby Ellsbury, Phil Hughes, Gavin Williams and Jeff Francoeur. However, more often than not, the player taken with the 23rd pick either fails to reach the majors or only has a short career. So the draft is indeed a crapshoot—one with huge rewards but also one in which the odds are against every team. So keep that in mind as the Cubs select.
Throughout the draft, we’ll be updating this article with the names of every player taken by the Cubs. We’ll also be giving you separate articles welcoming the Cubs first five picks, along with the information you need to know about them.
Here is the schedule for every Cubs pick. The number in parenthesis is the overall number of that pick. After the seventh round, the Cubs have every 30th pick. The second-round comp pick is for losing Kyle Tucker.
Day 1 picks (Saturday):
Round 1 (23):
Round 2 (62):
Round 2 Comp (75):
Round 3 (98):
Round 4 (126):
Day 2 picks (Sunday):
Round 5 (159):
Round 6 (188):
Round 7 (217):
Round 8:
Round 9:
Round 10:
Round 11:
Round 12:
Round 13:
Round 14:
Round 15:
Round 16:
Round 17:
Round 18:
Round 19:
Round 20:
