​Several players with ties to Illinois or Northwest Indiana were selected in the 2026 Major League Baseball amateur draft. Two Illinois natives landed in the top 10, marking the 29th and 30th players from the state to go that high. The Kansas City Royals drafted Zion Rose at No. 6 and the Colorado Rockies picked Tyler Bell at No. 10. They are only the second and third top-10 picks from Illinois since 2000, following Tyler Jay from Lemont who went to Illinois in 2015 at No. 6 to the Minnesota Twins.
Here’s a look at how teams with local connections fared in the draft and how their picks lined up with their predraft MLB Pipeline top 250 rankings.
Zion Rose, 21, surged from No. 30 on MLB Pipeline’s top 250 to No. 6 overall, signaling the Royals that he was willing to sign for less than the slot value. The Chicago native played three seasons at Brother Rice, earning Daily Southtown Player of the Year as a junior before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior year. Rose is a 6-foot-1 outfielder who posted a .358/.438/.585 line with 24 home runs, 146 RBIs, and 65 stolen bases over three seasons at Louisville. He also spent time in the Cape Cod League and with the USA Baseball collegiate national team.
Tyler Bell, 21, arrived in the draft ranked No. 10 by MLB Pipeline and was selected by the Rockies at No. 10, a rare instance of a player going exactly at his projected slot. Bell is a switch-hitting shortstop from Lincoln-Way East who raised his stock during two seasons at Kentucky, highlighted by Cape Cod League and USA Baseball collegiate national team appearances. He slashed .314/.438/.556 with 75 RBIs in two years with the Wildcats and earned first-team All-SEC honors this season despite a shoulder injury. He had previously been selected at No. 66 by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2024 draft but was the highest pick not to sign.
Bell is the sixth player from Lincoln-Way East to be drafted, continuing the program’s notable pipeline. He follows in the footsteps of recent alumni like Ryan Ritter, who was drafted by the Rockies in 2022 after also attending Kentucky. Ritter, previously Lincoln-Way East’s top draftee, debuted in MLB for the Rockies in 2025.
Landon Thome, a Nazareth Academy infielder known for his left-handed swing, boasts a name that echoes Hall of Fame connections. Thome was Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, helped Nazareth win the 2023 Class 3A state title, and earned multiple high school All-America accolades after a standout senior season. He hit .535 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs in 2026 and was 49-for-50 in stolen-base attempts. MLB Pipeline had him ranked No. 34, and he was selected at the slot associated with the White Sox in the draft one day before the actual draft event.
Thome’s selection put him alongside Jaden Fauske, a Nazareth teammate who had been drafted No. 44 by the White Sox in a recent draft, continuing a strong local connection between Nazareth Academy and major league opportunities. The overall theme of these selections underscores the continued talent coming from Illinois and the surrounding Northwest Indiana region, with several players drawing significant attention from MLB scouting and ranking services as they move from high school and college programs to the professional level.