No. 3 Draft pick Lackey gets grand tour after signing contract

MINNEAPOLIS -- Vahn Lackey didn’t get into baseball until he was close to 11 years old, and 10 years later he was selected third overall in the 2026 MLB Draft by the Twins. And it’s all thanks to his mom giving him one of the biggest surprises of his life.

“I think I went to watch this one travel team who I ended up playing for, and my mom just brought me one time and surprised me to try out for the team,” Lackey said before Friday's game against the A's at Target Field.

His primary sport as a kid was basketball, and when he started playing baseball, he was a third baseman. That was until parents from one of his teams got fed up with having a left-handed catcher, and Lackey’s dad, Bobby, volunteered him to go behind the dish.

“The parent group chat was complaining, saying, ‘Why do we have a lefty catcher?’ – shoutout Hayden Shelton – and my dad was basically like, ‘Vahn can catch,’” Lackey said. “And then Nasim Nuñez from the Nationals – at least this is what I was told – basically started chucking me baseballs in the cage.”

Lackey, a breakout catcher from Georgia Tech, signed with the Twins on Wednesday, receiving the third-largest bonus in Draft history. His deal is reportedly for $9,497,500, behind only 2026 No. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky (White Sox) and No. 2 pick Grady Emerson (Rays). The slot value for the No. 3 pick was $9,740,100, and the Twins’ total bonus pool is $16,929,600.

On Friday, Vahn visited Target Field, getting the grand tour from the organization that took him third overall.

He met many of the players and coaches for the first time; he already knew starter Taj Bradley, who, along with Reds righty Zach Maxwell, spent the winter of Lackey’s freshman year throwing bullpens at Georgia Tech. With Lackey spending plenty of time on campus, he took advantage of the opportunity to catch big league arms with his teammates and learn from their process.

“It’s not always 100% intentional with everything they do," Lackey said. "And Taj’s catch play is crisp and perfect, honestly. He’s really heavy with his fastball; he knows what he’s doing with his fastball, and it’s kind of cool to see what different guys have to offer.”

Friday’s tour allowed Lackey to get acquainted with plenty more Twins players, including All-Star and fellow Georgia native, Byron Buxton. Lackey grew up watching highlights, mostly those of Buxton and former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

While Lackey may not have been on many Draft lists as a top 10 pick or a first-rounder when the Yellow Jackets began this year’s season, he had been told by coaches since his freshman year he would be a first-round pick someday.

With the work he put in over the offseason on his swing mechanics, he was able to put up unreal offensive numbers from a college catcher, slashing .397/.519/.772, with 20 home runs and 78 RBIs.

“I just learned myself more and the mental cues I needed to hit to get the swing I really wanted to produce,” Lackey said.

Lackey said the Twins plan to give him a week or two to ramp up baseball activities and get into game action before sending him to High-A Cedar Rapids before the season is over.

Lackey has not played since June 1, when Georgia Tech was eliminated from the NCAA Atlanta Regional with a heartbreaking 8-7, extra-innings loss to the University of Oklahoma. He has been itching to get back into game action and showcase what’s made him an elite talent in this year’s Draft class.

“I say it all the time, but I feel like I’m an exciting player," Lackey said. "I feel like I bring a lot to the table and I feel like if you come to watch me play, you’re going to keep wanting to come watch me play. Next week we’re going to be ramping up a lot more for the baseball side, so I’m excited to get started with that.”