Up in 2 years? Rays take Emerson with No. 2 pick, and he's got bold goals

ST. PETERSBURG -- Sitting inside Marty B’s restaurant in Bartonville, Texas, surrounded by everyone who helped shape him into the top-ranked prospect in this year’s MLB Draft class, Grady Emerson couldn’t hide his emotions.

He was seated next to his mother, Deanna, when the Rays made his lifelong dream come true by selecting him with the No. 2 pick. He covered his face with his hands, stood up and leaned in to hug his mom before embracing his father, Brandon.

“It was just such an emotional time,” Emerson said. “I'm very thankful for this opportunity, and I'm really happy that the Rays believe in me.”

A few hours later, Emerson couldn’t conceal his confidence. Asked how quickly he hopes to move through the Minor Leagues and join the Rays, the 18-year-old shortstop from Fort Worth (Texas) Christian School set an aggressive timeline.

“My goal is to be in the [Majors] by 20 years old, so maybe a year and a half, two years,” Emerson said. “I want to prove that I can develop. I really trust in this Rays organization to develop me and to put everything they’ve got into me, just like I'm gonna do for them.”

It’s a lofty goal for a player with potential to spare. Generally considered to be the best pure hitter and the prospect with the highest ceiling in this year’s Draft, Emerson is the Rays’ highest selection since they had back-to-back No. 1 overall picks in 2007 (David Price) and ’08 (Tim Beckham).

The Rays are enamored with Emerson’s ability to hit, and they were thrilled to land the 6-foot-3 left-handed batter between the White Sox taking UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky first overall and the Twins selecting Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey third. They had been in contact with Emerson for a long time, led by the work of area scout Chris Hom, and they sealed a strong relationship about a month ago with a private workout and dinner with him and his family.

But they’re not going to estimate the time of his arrival just yet, even while spending the weekend celebrating a player who executed Emerson’s preferred timeline 20 years ago: Evan Longoria.

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“I think he'll be up here when he's ready. A player of this caliber, you never want to limit, but you never want to put expectations on, either,” Rays amateur scouting director Chuck Ricci said. “I think if Grady Emerson is Grady Emerson, that's all we can ask. He doesn't try to have to be somebody he's not. We're pretty happy with who he is.”

Emerson has a tremendous toolset that is reminiscent of Royals superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. In fact, after Emerson transferred from Argyle High School to Fort Worth Christian, Texas, he came under the tutelage of one of Witt’s former mentors: former Major League outfielder and current Fort Worth Christian head coach Rusty Greer. Emerson has even said he considers Witt a mentor after meeting him while Witt was in high school in nearby Colleyville.

“Even though he might not realize it, he's been a huge influence on me,” said Emerson, who noted he received a congratulatory text message from Witt on Saturday. “Getting to watch him, getting to see how he goes about his business, it's kind of set the standard for me, especially with Rusty being my coach.”

• All you need to know about Grady Emerson

Emerson was named the 2026 Gatorade Player of the Year for Texas and also the National Gatorade Player of the Year. In May, he was named a semifinalist for this year’s Golden Spikes Award, becoming only the second high school player since 1948 to be nominated for the prestigious honor, joining Witt.

This is the fifth time in the last six years that the Rays selected a high school hitter with their top first-round Draft pick, as they previously did with Carson Williams (2021), Xavier Isaac (2022), Theo Gillen (2024) and Daniel Pierce (2025).

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During his senior year at Fort Worth Christian, Emerson posted a .532/.648/1.013 slash line with seven home runs and 21 steals. With a smooth, potent swing from the left side, he has an advanced plate approach that leads to good swing decisions and hard contact to all fields and could project as a 25-homer player in the Majors thanks to his bat speed and potential strength.

“We really liked Grady's hit tool,” Ricci said. “That kind of separated him from the majority of guys in this Draft, I think.”

Defensively, Emerson is a rangy shortstop with an ability to make difficult plays look easier than they really are. MLB Pipeline considers him a “lock” to remain at short in the big leagues, and he’s expected to add value on the basepaths as well.

“My dream is to be like a Bobby Witt Jr., win a Platinum Glove and Gold Glove and all that stuff,” Emerson said. “Overall, I think I’m just a hard-working player who’s going to impact the game on both sides of the baseball.”

And the way he sees it, he’ll do that sooner than later.

“It’s a true blessing. I’m honestly speechless,” he said. “I feel like the Rays are giving me a unique opportunity to get through the system fast, develop as a player and hopefully help the big league team win ballgames.”