Tampa Bay Rays Select Grady Emerson With No. 2 Pick in 2026 MLB Draft
· Yahoo Sports
The Tampa Bay Rays added some premier talent with immense upside this weekend.
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With the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Rays selected Fort Worth Christian shortstop Grady Emerson, adding one of the highest-upside players available to an already loaded farm system.
Emerson, an 18-year-old from Fort Worth Christian High School in Texas, is a premier prospect and is seen as the top high school player in the draft, and was treated as such. Only being selected behind UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
During his senior season, Emerson hit .532 while posting a ridiculous .648 on-base percentage and 1.013 slugging percentage. He added seven home runs, 50 RBI and 31 stolen bases while leading Fort Worth Christian to its first state championship appearance since 2019.
Those numbers earned him National Gatorade Player of the Year honors and made him one of the rare high school players to become a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist. The feat is so rare that only Emerson and Kansas City Royals Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. are the only two players to receive the honor since the award was introduced in 1978.
According to MLB Pipeline, "Scouts have a difficult time finding any flaws in Emerson's game, with one noting the worst thing he can say about him is that he's not Bobby Witt Jr. Like Witt, Emerson is a rangy prep shortstop from the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with all-around tools, even if his aren't quite as loud."
Incoming infield influence 💥
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 11, 2026
With the 2nd overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft the Tampa Bay Rays select SS Grady Emerson. pic.twitter.com/WZMFtuBL3B
Shortly after hearing his name called, Emerson said his goal is to reach the major leagues by the time he's 20 years old, meaning only two seasons inside the minor leagues. Aggressive timeline? Absolutely, but not impossible.
MLB Pipeline continued with its evaluation. "Emerson's advanced skills stand out as much as his tools, starting with the way he stacks up quality at-bats, making good swing decisions and barreling balls to all fields from the left side of the plate. He generates impressive exit velocities with a pretty left-handed stroke, and while he doesn't sell out for power, his bat speed and projectable strength portend future 25-homer pop. "
If his bat develops the way scouts expect, Tampa Bay may have landed one of the biggest stars from the entire 2026 MLB Draft. He will likely become one of the Rays top prospects inside the system according to all major industry rankings once the next update comes out.