Who might Marlins pick in first round of MLB Draft? What projections are saying
As the 2026 MLB Draft approaches this weekend, with Rounds 1-4 on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and Rounds 5-20 on Sunday starting at 11:30 a.m., mock drafts point to the Miami Marlins going with a college hitter with their first selection at No. 14 overall.
The question is: Which one?
Mock drafts from a handful of trusted outlets — MLB.com, Baseball America, ESPN, The Athletic and Perfect Game — all have the Marlins opting for a Southeastern Conference hitter, although four names are being circulated.
Here’s what to know about each.
Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian
Hacopian, whose college career started at Maryland (where his dad Derek Hacopian won ACC Player of the Year in 1992), was first-team All-SEC in his lone season with the Aggies after hitting .319 with a .983 on-base-plus-slugging mark, 11 home runs, 41 RBI and 34 runs scored in 42 games. He missed nearly a month of the season with a lower back injury.
MLB Pipeline notes that Hacopian’s “hitting ability and strike-zone judgment rank among the best in the 2026 Draft” and that he “can make hitting look easy because he has advanced feel for the barrel and control of the strike zone, and some clubs believe he has the best bat in the college ranks.”
Both MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Baseball America project the Marlins to select Hacopian in their latest mock drafts.
Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell
Bell, a switch-hitter, hit .343 with a 1.119 OPS for the Wildcats as a sophomore. He missed the first month of the season after injuring his shoulder in Kentucky’s season opener. MLB Pipeline notes that he “has the bat speed and strength to generate 20 homers per season once he learns to lift balls in the air more consistently,” while Baseball America praised his “savvy batting eye” and that he “rarely expands the strike zone, with excellent swing decisions and decent contact skills.” Both outlets project him to be able to stay at shortstop. The main knock on Bell? His raw power.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel projected Bell, a consensus top-10 prospect in the draft class, to go to Miami if he manages to fall to No. 14.
Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron
This is what all that Lebron to Miami fuss is about on social media, right?
In all seriousness, this Lebron is also no stranger to South Florida. He’s a Miramar native who starred at Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy before going on to be a three-year starter for the Crimson Tide.
While at Alabama, Lebron hit .313 with 45 home runs, 158 RBI and 172 runs scored. He stole 69 bases, including 42 in 43 attempts as a junior.
MLB Pipeline and Baseball America both praise his bat speed, which plays a role in his power potential, and his overall well-rounded makeup but also cautioned about struggles to consistently hit — he only hit .229 in SEC play last season.
The Athletic’s Keith Law projected Lebron to the Marlins in his latest mock draft.
LSU outfielder Derek Curiel
Curiel, like Bell, is a draft-eligible sophomore. He excelled during both seasons at LSU, hitting .349 with a .975 OPS, 101 RBI and 131 runs scored across 126 games and was the top hitter for the Tigers when they won the College World Series in 2025 during his freshman year.
His contact skills drive his offensive success, and he has shown the ability to hit to all fields from the left side. Defensively, he’ll have a chance to stay in center field.
Perfect Game projected Curiel to the Marlins.
Other names to know
While those are the four who have been projected to go to the Marlins, the national outlets have also thrown several other names into the conversation for Miami.
Among them: TCU outfielder Sawyer Strosnider, University of Virginia outfielder AJ Gracia, Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese, Tennessee right-handed pitcher Tegan Kuhns, Florida right-handed pitcher Liam Peterson, Coastal Carolina right-handed pitcher Cameron Flukey and Etowah (Georgia) High outfielder Trevor Condon.
A lot of it, of course, depends on what happens in the first 13 picks. That will dictate the routes Miami can pursue when it’s on the clock.
More to know about the Marlins in the 2026 MLB Draft
-The Marlins’ bonus pool for the draft is $11,960,100.
Each team’s bonus pool is determined by the slot values of each pick in the first 10 rounds of the draft. For example, the Marlins’ No. 14 overall pick comes with a slot value of $5,444,900. That’s the signing bonus value MLB gives to a player taken with that pick. Teams are allowed to give a player a signing bonus larger or smaller than the slot value, but the team can’t spend more than 5% above its bonus pool — so, for the Marlins, $12,558,105 in total — or else they will lose future draft picks. Also, if a player in the top-10 rounds does not sign, his pick’s value is subtracted from the team’s bonus pool total.
Teams are able to spend up to $125,000 on draft picks in the 11th through 20th rounds without it counting toward their bonus allotment. However, any signing bonus above $125,000 for those selections comes out of the team’s bonus allotment.
Also, as of 2020, nondrafted free agents are limited to $20,000 bonuses.
Nine of Miami’s current top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline were selected in the past two drafts, both overseen by current vice president of amateur forecasting and player evaluation initiatives Frankie Piliere: 2025 first-round pick shortstop Aiva Arquette (No. 3), 2025 competitive balance A pick and outfielder Cam Cannarella (No. 7), 2025 second-round pick outfielder Brandon Compton (No. 11), 2025 third-round pick outfielder Max Williams (No. 16), 2024 fourth-round pick outfielder Fenwick Trimble (No. 18), 2024 18th-round pick left-handed pitcher Nate Payne (No. 20), 2024 first-round pick outfielder PJ Morlando (No. 26), 2024 competitive balance B pick and right-handed pitcher Aiden May (No. 27) and 2024 fifth-round pick right-handed pitcher Grant Shepardson (No. 28).
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