In the aftermath of not only Will Dodge's incredible Draft Lottery Primer, but the 2026 MLB Draft Lottery itself, the Prospects Live Amateur Team is back on the Mock Draft grind with our second iteration predicting the outcome of this summer's MLB Draft.

Our amateur team came together to prepare this predictive exercise which will, in the course of three months (or less), become increasingly more difficult to justify; players' output on the field ebbs and flows, and with new talent emerging daily, this may not be an incredibly accurate assessment come July 2026.

Either way – it is fun.

The team worked diligently to provide picks for the first 40 selections in the 2026 Draft (including at least one for each team) by considering the teams' recent trends, bonus pools, the pool strength, and even intangibles like new presidents of baseball operations to contend with.

Well, shall we?

Image courtesy Bleacher Report

1.1 - Chicago White Sox – SS Roch Cholowsky

Is it really that obvious? Well…yeah. No need to complicate it from the jump – Roch is the pick, and the best guy in the class and arguably the best collegiate shortstop of the last decade feels as good a place to start as any. Roch is a complete package who hits for average and power, draws healthy walks (45 BB vs. 30 K in ‘25), and makes premium defensive plays at the six. Cholowsky’s huge sophomore season sets the stage for a repeat in his draft year and looks the part of an everyday MLB shortstop with offensive upside and defensive stability. You could make arguments for others, but they’re remarkably futile for the moment. The White Sox got Hall of Famer Harold Baines the last time they picked first – the team should be salivating to have hit “Roch Bottom.”