{"id":126272,"date":"2026-07-20T22:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=126272"},"modified":"2026-07-20T22:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:34:28","slug":"2027-mlb-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/20\/2027-mlb-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"An Early Look at the 2027 MLB Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a few things in this world that never sleep: jellyfish, sea urchins, and draft season. With the 2026 MLB Draft in the books, it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2027 MLB Draft. Much like this past draft cycle, the early debate for who will be the number one pick<\/a> is between a college shortstop and a prep shortstop.<\/p>\n

An Early Look at the 2027 MLB Draft<\/h2>\n

\"Major<\/p>\n

Unlike the ’26 draft, though, the ’27 draft class is loaded with high-end college arms. With that, we’ll get into some names to watch in the field and on the bump over the next year.<\/p>\n

2027 MLB Draft Position Player Prospects<\/h3>\n

Regardless of the sport, draft experts like to use tiers when discussing prospects. Right now, the two players in their own tier above the rest are Florida shortstop Brendan Lawson<\/a> and prep shortstop Dylan Seward. After starting all 60 games for the Gators in his freshman season, Lawson returned in 2026 and launched 19 home runs with 48 RBIs and a 1.210 OPS. With a smooth left-handed swing and strong arm, Lawson is a prospect that MLB teams can expect a high power ceiling for, and the ability for him to stick at shortstop.<\/p>\n

As for the California native, Seward, he’s a switch-hitter that Baseball America has already labeled as their number one prospect for the ’27 class. Not only does the Tennessee commit<\/a> have highly impressive bat-to-ball skills, but he has blazing speed and a strong arm, giving him plenty of tools for franchises to fall in love with.<\/p>\n

Not far behind the two shortstops are Arizona State outfielder Landon Hairston<\/a> and West Virginia second baseman Gavin Kelly<\/a>. The current Sun Devil standout is the son of former big leaguer Scott Hairston<\/a>, and he was one of the most impressive college hitters in 2026, hitting .400 with 29 home runs. The current Mountaineer, Kelly, was a big part of the WVU team that just made the College World Series, as he hit .382 with plenty of pop and speed to go with it.<\/p>\n

Some other prep players that will have plenty of eyes on them throughout the next year include Carter Hadnot, Graham Houston, and Grant Westphal. There are certainly some other prep players that will see their stock rise when the ’27 high school season arrives, but this trio has already impressed scouts with their athleticism.<\/p>\n

Before we move on to the noteworthy pitchers in the class, a few other names to pay attention to during the rest of the summer and during next season include Louisville’s Tague Davis<\/a>, Auburn catcher Chase Fralick<\/a>, and Tennessee standout Trent Grindlinger<\/a>, whose brother, Jared Grindlinger, was just drafted in the first round by the Angels.<\/p>\n

2027 MLB Draft Pitching Prospects<\/h3>\n

Only two college pitchers came off the board in the first 20 picks of the 2026 MLB Draft, but that should not be the case in 2027. This class is loaded with pitching talent, starting with Oregon State’s Dax Whitney<\/a>. The right-hander will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2027 season, but he’s already proven to be a future frontline starter. In 139.2 college innings, Whitney has pitched to a 2.77 ERA with 224 strikeouts and just 11 home runs allowed.<\/p>\n

The two other college pitchers that are currently being slotted in the top ten picks include Mississippi State lefty Tomas Valincius<\/a> and Wake Forest righty Chris Levonas<\/a>. The southpaw, Valincius, can run the fastball up to 95, and his wipeout slider helped him strike out 134 hitters in 97.2 innings. For Levonas, he uses his elite velocity to blow hitters away, as he held opponents to a .171 batting average in 2026.<\/p>\n

When it comes to prep arms, North Carolina-based left-hander Conner Salerno is the early leader in the clubhouse. Salerno is committed to Mississippi State and features a three-pitch mix that includes a mid-nineties fastball. Striker Pence is the other name that will certainly create some buzz as we get deeper into draft season. The imposing right-hander reclassified to the ’27 class<\/a> and has flashed a 100+ MPH fastball, making plenty of organizations willing to spend big on his signing bonus.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a few things in this world that never sleep: jellyfish, sea urchins, and draft season. With the 2026 MLB Draft in the books, it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2027 MLB Draft. Much like this past draft cycle, the early debate for who will be the number one pick is between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5819,"featured_media":126345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,29143],"tags":[29688,29687,29686],"class_list":["post-126272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-mlb-draft","tag-chase-fralick","tag-gavin-kelly","tag-landon-hairston"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5819"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126272"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126347,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126272\/revisions\/126347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}