2026 Mock Draft 4.0

A month later, we're back at the mocking. The Prospects Live Amateur Scouting Team is proud to present our fourth exercise predicting the outcome of this summer's Major League Baseball Draft.

Once again, we went all the way to the end of the second round of the draft in this mock, giving you 75 selections to peruse here; the team each submitted a name for every pick until Pick 40, with the choice receiving most 'votes' taking the spot. We used pool strength, historic precedence, and recent trends to inform our selections for the spots, if you're interested in how the sausage is made.

The summer will be here before we know it, and the surprises will likely make this exercise rather futile with retrospective analysis.

One pick is anything but a surprise, though.

Round 1, Pick 1 – Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky

First alternate: Grady Emerson / Second alternate: Vahn Lackey Exactly one month ago, during 2026 Mock Draft 3.0, we projected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky to be picked first overall by the Chicago White Sox and as June rolls around, many of the same concerns we had about Roch's viability at the first overall selection and the White Sox' disposition towards an alternative remain the same. As such, why should we shift course? The majority of our team still feels as if Cholowsky, the silky-smooth defender at shortstop with all the polish and bat-to-ball skill you could ever want, is the way the White Sox will go at 1.1. The only other two players who were mentioned in consideration for this spot are Fort Worth Christian prepster Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech Catcher Vahn Lackey; we maintain either could be possible, especially if they would accept less-than-slot and allow Chicago to make the most of its credible bonus pool. While going against the grain with 1.1 is growing to be more en vogue, we'll take Roch with the first selection until some true fire emerges from the smoke. – Drew Wheeler

This post is for subscribers only

Become a member to get access to all content

Subscribe now