Royals take Louisville OF Rose with No. 6 pick, add Ole Miss RHP Rabe at No. 30

BALTIMORE -- As Day 1 of the MLB Draft began Saturday afternoon, the board started falling the way the Royals thought it might. And by the fourth pick, when the Giants took right-hander Jackson Flora, the Royals had a much better idea of who they were going to select two picks later.

That player ended up being Louisville outfielder Zion Rose with the No. 6 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, a standout athlete with good contact skills at the plate who has a chance to be at least an above-average hitter.

Ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 30 Draft prospect, the 21-year-old Rose did nothing but hit across three years at Louisville. He finished his college career with a .358/.438/.585 slash line and a 1.023 OPS in 146 games. Ankle and hamstring injuries cost him playing time this past spring, but he still slashed .417/.491/.646 with six homers and 24 stolen bases in 36 games – most of which were in ACC games against better competition.

“Coming into this year, heck, who knows where he would have ended up having a full season?” Royals scouting director Brian Bridges said. “He’s a 55 runner. He’s got good bat-to-ball [skills]. I mean, the kid can do a lot.”

The quality of contact stands out the most with Rose, a skill that dates back to his time at IMG Academy in Florida. The Royals believe that with swing adjustments, Rose will be able to tap into his power more, lifting the ball and taking advantage of high exit velocities.

This isn’t the first time that Rose went through the Draft process. He was a decorated catching prospect out of high school in 2023, having led IMG Academy to its first undefeated season. As a high school player, Rose participated in several MLB Develops youth events, including the Elite Development Invitational (2018), Hank Aaron Invitational ('19, '22), Dream Series ('20, '23), Breakthrough Series ('19, '22) and the High School All-American Game ('22).

That exposure and his talent had Rose ranked as the No. 144 prospect in the 2023 Draft class, but he went undrafted due to his unwavering commitment to Louisville.

Three years later, he is a vastly improved player.

For one, Rose embraced his natural athleticism by transitioning into a full-time outfielder; he has not spent time behind the plate since his freshman season, which Bridges was happy to see after watching him as a prep player and thinking he should be in the outfield to take advantage of that athleticism. Rose spent most of his time in left field for Louisville in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Even at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Rose is a dynamic player with a rare combination of gap-to-gap power and plus speed. In 2025, Rose was one of six players in Division I to have at least 30 extra-base hits (Rose had 32) and 30 stolen bases (Rose had 31). In his three years at Louisville, he recorded as many walks as strikeouts (69).

The offensive profile is intriguing with upside even as an advanced college hitter, but selecting him sixth overall signaled the first surprise moment of the opening round Saturday, especially because high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr., Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress and prep shortstop Jacob Lombard were all still available when the Royals were on the clock.

Ahead of the Draft, they were linked especially with those two outfielders, who immediately went to the Orioles and A’s, respectively, right after Kansas City’s pick.

But Rose’s selection set the Royals up to sign him under the slot value of $7,746,100, and allowed them to potentially go over slot with their Competitive Balance A selection, which they used to select Mississippi right-hander Taylor Rabe at No. 30 overall.

“There was some influence there,” Bridges said. “To be honest with you, I was trying to be bullish in other spots, too.”

A Draft-eligible sophomore, Rabe has a big fastball that averages 96 mph and tops out at 100 mph with lots of swing and miss. He’s ranked No. 40 overall by Pipeline because of that fastball, his ability to pound the strike zone and the fact that he pitched his way into the No. 1 starter spot for Ole Miss’ College World Series team this year. The 6-foot-5 Rabe struck out 105 batters this season compared to just 15 walks across 76 innings for the Rebels.

So the pool money – the Royals have $15,954,000 total this year – played a factor Saturday and could continue as Sunday’s picks unfold. But the Royals were convinced by Rose and Rabe at the top of their board, general manager J.J. Picollo said, because of their talent, their makeup, their maturity – and their potential to impact the big league team.

“Our philosophy is that we want to take the best players on the board,” Picollo said. “At some point, the money comes into play, because we’ve got a pool to be conscious of. And if you take a kid later, especially a high school kid later, it may mess with the pool money down the road. So you have to be conscious of it.

“But I’ve been saying it with Brian all week long: 'We can’t miss on our first pick. We have to hit on our first pick.' And really, you want ceiling and you want stars, but the bottom line is, they’ve got to play in the big leagues and impact the Major League team. So the board lined up. … Your best way to go is make sure your first pick is a slam-dunk big leaguer, and I think we did that today.”