MLB draft 2022 tracker: Live updates, takeaways after Orioles take Jackson Holliday, Rangers pick Kumar Rocker
The Baltimore Orioles made shortstop Jackson Holliday the No. 1 pick in the MLB draft Sunday. Shrouded in secrecy until the moment the pick was made, the pick could be the final top selection in a long rebuild finally bearing fruit.
The Arizona Diamondbacks picked Druw Jones (son of legendary Atlanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones) with the No. 2 pick, as top prospects whose fathers were MLB stars dominated the top of the board. Justin Crawford went at No. 17 to the Philadelphia Phillies and Cam Collier went at No. 18 to the Cincinnati Reds.
A draft-shaking surprise came at No. 3, where the Texas Rangers selected Kumar Rocker, a star pitcher from Vanderbilt who the New York Mets drafted at No. 10 last year but didn't sign over health concerns. At No. 11, the pick they got for failing to sign Rocker, the Mets took Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada.
Follow the rest of the storylines in Day 1 below.
2022 MLB draft order
1. Baltimore Orioles: Jackson Holliday, high school shortstop
2. Arizona Diamondbacks: Druw Jones, high school outfielder
3. Texas Rangers: Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt pitcher
4. Pittsburgh Pirates: Termarr Johnson, high school shortstop
5. Washington Nationals: Elijah Green, high school outfielder
6. Miami Marlins: Jacob Berry, LSU third baseman
7. Chicago Cubs: Cade Horton, Oklahoma pitcher
8. Minnesota Twins: Brooks Lee, Cal Poly shortstop
9. Kansas City Royals: Gavin Cross, Virginia Tech outfielder
10. Colorado Rockies: Gabriel Hughes, Gonzaga pitcher
11. New York Mets: Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech catcher
12. Detroit Tigers: Jace Jung, Texas Tech second baseman
13. Los Angeles Angels: Zach Neto, Campbell shortstop
14. New York Mets: Jett Williams, high school shortstop
15. San Diego Padres: Dylan Lesko, high school pitcher
16. Cleveland Guardians: Chase DeLauter, James Madison outfielder
17. Philadelphia Phillies: Justin Crawford, high school outfielder
18. Cincinnati Reds: Cam Collier, Chipola third baseman
19. Oakland Athletics: Daniel Susac, Arizona catcher
20. Atlanta Braves: Owen Murphy, high school pitcher
21. Seattle Mariners: Cole Young, high school shortstop
22. St. Louis Cardinals: Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon State pitcher
23. Toronto Blue Jays: Brandon Barriera, high school pitcher
24. Boston Red Sox: Mikey Romero, high school shortstop
25. New York Yankees: Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt outfielder
26. Chicago White Sox: Noah Schultz, high school pitcher
27. Milwaukee Brewers: Eric Brown, Coastal Carolina shortstop
28. Houston Astros: Drew Gilbert, Tennessee outfielder
29. Tampa Bay Rays: Xavier Isaac, high school first baseman
30. San Francisco Giants: Reggie Crawford, UConn two-way player
Compensation round
31. Colorado Rockies: Sterlin Thompson, Florida outfielder
32. Cincinnati Reds: Sal Stewart, high school third baseman
How the MLB draft works
If you’re not familiar with the MLB draft, it isn’t quite as simple as the NFL or NBA versions. Because almost every player requires significant time in the minor leagues, teams usually aren’t drafting for “needs” so much as to stockpile the best overall crop of talent they can.
They also aren’t making each pick in a vacuum. Teams have budgets for total draft spending tied to how many picks they have and where those picks are. Each pick in the draft has a “slot” of money assigned to it. But teams can move that money around to accomplish goals. The most common example would involve a team taking a college player in the first round they believe they can sign for less than slot, then using the savings to expand the bonus of a later high school player who might require convincing to go pro instead of attending college.
When is the rest of the 2022 MLB draft?
The MLB draft began Sunday with the first two rounds and compensation picks. But it is a much larger draft. In total, it runs 20 rounds across three days. Days 2 and 3 will be streamed on MLB.com on Monday and Tuesday.
