PHILADELPHIA — The 2026 MLB Draft began Saturday in Philadelphia, marking the sixth consecutive season that the draft has taken place as part of the All-Star festivities in July. An energetic crowd filled the Grand Hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to cheer as the next generation of baseball stars were announced as MLB draft picks (even though none of the players were actually in attendance).
Odd ambiance aside, it was a momentous day for all 30 major-league organizations as they added a wave of new talent to their organizations. Here are seven takeaways from Day 1 of the draft, which brought us the first four rounds. (Day 2, featuring rounds 5 through 20, will take place on Sunday.)
The draft proceedings began with an absolute stunner. Because while Roch Cholowsky going first overall to the Chicago White Sox didn’t catch anyone off-guard, commissioner Rob Manfred’s ****** unciation of the UCLA shortstop’s last name certainly did.
“Cho-LOO-ski”
With that, baseball had its Adele Dazeem moment.