SEC leads all conferences with 34 players selected on Day 1 of 2026 MLB Draft

The SEC showed again on Saturday why it is baseball’s top conference. When the dust settled on Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft, the SEC led all conferences with 34 selections.

Thirteen players from SEC squads were selected in Round 1 and Competitive Balance Round A. Derek Curiel from LSU got the party started, going at No. 5. The biggest Day 1 belonged to Arkansas, as the Razorbacks finished with a nation-leading 5 first-day selections, including 3 in Round 1.

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Fourteen of the 16 SEC schools had at least one Day 1 draftee. Here’s a list of all the Day 1 picks from the SEC:

Round 1
5. Derek Curiel (LSU) – Pittsburgh Pirates
10. Tyler Bell (Kentucky) – Colorado Rockies
11. Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) – Washington Nationals
15. Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) – Arizona Diamondbacks
18. Justin Lebron (Alabama) – Cincinnati Reds
19. Liam Peterson (Florida) – Cleveland Guardians
23. Cade Townsend (Ole Miss) – Chicago Cubs
24. Ace Reese (Mississippi State) – Seattle Mariners
27. Carson Wiggins (Arkansas) – New York Mets

Competitive Balance Round A
30. Taylor Rabe (Ole Miss) – Kansas City Royals
32. Tegan Kuhns (Tennessee) – St. Louis Cardinals
35. Hunter Dietz (Arkansas) – New York Yankees
37. Daniel Jackson (Georgia) – Colorado Rockies

Round 2
43. Carson Tinney (Texas) – Minnesota Twins
51. Chris Rembert (Auburn) – Pittsburgh Pirates
62. Caden Sorrell (Texas A&M) – Chicago Cubs
65. Jake Brown (LSU) – Seattle Mariners

Competitive Balance Round B
73. Gabe Gaeckle (Arkansas) – Athletics

Round 3
77. Joey Volchko (Georgia) – Chicago White Sox
81. Gavin Grahovac (Texas A&M) – Los Angeles Angels
87. Cam Kozeal (Arkansas) – Miami Marlins
92. Aiden Robbins (Texas) – New York Mets
99. Brendan Brock (Oklahoma) – New York Yankees
100. Ruger Riojas (Texas) – Philadelphia Phillies
102. Kyle Jones (Florida) – Milwaukee Brewers

Round 4
104. Ben Davis (Mississippi State) – Colorado Rockies
109. Rylan Lujo (Georgia) – Los Angeles Angels
116. Josh McDevitt (Missouri) – Arizona Diamondbacks
117. Hudson Calhoun (Ole Miss) – Texas Rangers
120. Shane Sdao (Texas A&M) – New York Mets
121. Kam Durnin (Missouri) – Houston Astros
128. Deven Sheerin (LSU) – Philadelphia Phillies
132. Russell Sandefer (Florida) – Los Angeles Dodgers
135. Jaxon Jelkin (Kentucky) – Philadelphia Phillies

The 2026 MLB Draft continues with Rounds 5-20, beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.