LSU Players Listed Among Top Prospects As MLB Draft Begins Saturday

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU players are listed among the top prospects to be selected in the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft, which starts on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Rounds 1-4 of the draft will begin at Noon CT on Saturday, with the first 10 selections televised by NBC and Peacock, and the remaining selections televised by MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com.

Rounds 5-20 will be held starting at 10:30 a.m. CT Sunday, and they may be viewed on MLB.com.

MLB.com ranks LSU All-American centerfielder Derek Curiel as the No. 12 overall draft prospect for 2026.

Joining Curiel as LSU players among the 2026 MLB.com Top 250 Prospects are outfielder Jake Brown (No. 59) and right-handed pitcher Deven Sheerin (No. 145).

Other notable 2026 LSU draft prospects include right-handed pitcher Zac Cowan, outfielder Chris Stanfield, right-handed pitcher Gavin Guidry, right-handed pitcher Grant Fontenot and left-handed pitcher Santiago Garcia.

Making MLB Draft history has become a familiar theme of LSU coach Jay Johnson’s tenure, which began in 2022.

LSU has produced during Johnson’s tenure a total of 36 drafted players, including five selections in the first round, 16 selections in the Top 5 rounds and 24 selections in the Top 10 Rounds.

When left-hander Kade Anderson was chosen as the No. 3 overall selection by the Seattle Mariners in the 2025 MLB Draft, he became the third LSU player in three seasons to be selected among the Top 3 overall picks, and the fourth LSU player in four seasons to be selected among the Top 5 overall picks.

LSU right-hander Paul Skenes and centerfielder Dylan Crews in 2023 became the first players from the same school to be selected first and second overall in the draft. Skenes was selected No. 1 by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Crews was selected No. 2 by the Washington Nationals. LSU third baseman Jacob Berry was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 Draft by the Miami Marlins.

Curiel in 2026 will become LSU’s sixth first-round selection in five seasons, joining Berry, Skenes, Crews, Anderson and right-handed pitcher Ty Floyd, who was chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in 2023.

LSU has had 14 pitchers selected in the draft over the past two seasons, which is tied with Mississippi State for the most in the nation in that span.

An SEC-record eight LSU pitchers were selected in the 2024 MLB Draft, marking the second straight season the Tigers tied the conference mark for drafted hurlers.

LSU tied in 2023 the Southeastern Conference record for most drafted players in a single season when 13 Tigers were selected by MLB teams.

Since the MLB Draft began in 1965, LSU players have been selected on 271 occasions, including 22 first-round picks.

Since 1984, LSU players have been selected in the MLB Draft on 250 occasions – 129 pitchers and 121 position players – an average of nearly seven players per season. The Tigers have produced 21 first-round selections since 1989.

(Release via LSU Athletics)