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2026 MLB draft: Meet the players with local connections who were selected — including 2 in the top 10
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- 2026 MLB draft: Meet the players with local connections who were selected — including 2 in the top 10
Several players with Illinois or Northwest Indiana connections were selected in the 2026 Major League Baseball amateur draft.
Two Illinois natives were selected in the top 10, becoming the 29th and 30th players from the state to be drafted that high. The Kansas City Royals took Zion Rose at No. 6, while Tyler Bell went to the Colorado Rockies at No. 10. They are just the second and third top-10 picks from Illinois since the turn of the century, following Tyler Jay from Lemont and Illinois in 2015 (No. 6, Minnesota Twins ).
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Here's a look at which teams drafted players with local connections and where they were picked relative to their predraft MLB Pipeline top 250 ranking.
No. 6 (1st round): Zion Rose (Brother Rice/IMG Academy/Louisville), Kansas City Royals
Zion Rose , 21, came into the draft ranked No. 30 on MLB Pipeline's top 250 and made a big jump to be selected at No. 6, indicating he signaled to the Royals he was willing to sign for less than the slot-bonus value. Rose played three seasons at Brother Rice, earning Daily Southtown Player of the Year honors as a junior, before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior year. The Chicago native is a 6-foot-1 outfielder who slashed .358/.438/.585 with 24 home runs, 146 RBIs and 65 stolen bases in three seasons at Louisville. Rose also played in the Cape Cod League and with the USA Baseball collegiate national team.
No. 10 (1st round): Tyler Bell (Lincoln-Way East/Kentucky), Colorado Rockies
Tyler Bell, 21, is the rare prospect who came into the draft ranked No. 10 by MLB Pipeline and was selected right at No. 10 by the Rockies. He is a switch-hitting shortstop from Lincoln-Way East who spent the last two seasons raising his draft stock at Kentucky, punctuated by appearances in the Cape Cod League and with USA Baseball's collegiate national team. He slashed .314/.438/.556 with 75 RBIs in two years with the Wildcats and was named first-team All-SEC this season despite dealing with a shoulder injury. He was selected at No. 66 by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2024 draft but was the highest pick not to sign.
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Bell is the sixth player from Lincoln-Way East to be selected in the draft. He is following the path of the most recent, Ryan Ritter , who also went to Kentucky and was drafted by the Rockies in the fourth round in 2022. Ritter, previously the highest draft pick from Lincoln-Way East, made his MLB debut for the Rockies in 2025.
No. 34 (Competitive Balance Round A): Landon Thome (Nazareth), Chicago White Sox
Landon Thome has a familiar name thanks to his Hall of Fame father, Jim , and the left-handed-hitting infielder from Nazareth has plenty of his own accolades: Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, 2023 Class 3A state champion and a nod on several high school All-America lists after his senior season. He hit .535 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs in 2026 and was 49-for-50 in stolen-base attempts. Thome was ranked at No. 34 in MLB Pipeline's top 250 and was selected at the spot the Sox traded to get the day before the draft.
He joins former Nazareth teammate Jaden Fauske , who was drafted at No. 44 by the White Sox last year and is currently playing with Class A Kannapolis.
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No. 56 (2nd round): Jack Slightom (Lyons Township), Royals
Jack Slightom is a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher whose fastball sat at 92 mph this spring for Lyons — and that was after he led the Lions to the Class 8A football playoffs as quarterback. He went 7-0 for the Lions this year with a 3.09 ERA and 87 strikeouts after choosing to focus on pitching .
This story will be updated.
Sources: MLB.com , Baseball Reference, ukathletics.com , playeroftheyear.gatorade.com .
