Rockies select Kentucky shortstop with first-round pick

The Rockies didn’t open their drafting Saturday until the No. 10 pick, thanks to MLB’s rules that prohibit teams from holding top-six selections in three consecutive drafts. Thus, they had to sit and wait a bit, despite posting one of the worst records in major-league history last year.

When their turn came up, the Rockies opted to open with a position player for the third-consecutive year, drafting switch-hitting Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell with their pick.

Bell was a first-team All-SEC choice this season despite tearing the labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder during the season’s first game. He missed 12 games, returning on March 6, and then didn’t take long to heat up, recording five hits in nine at-bats in his first three games back. He gritted his way through the rest of the season, but will likely face surgery at some point, which would sideline him for several months.

Ranked as the No. 10 prospect in this year’s draft class by MLB Pipeline, Bell posted a .343/.510/.608 line and a 1.119 OPS last season at Kentucky, which followed a freshman campaign in 2025 when he logged a .296/.385/.522 line with a .907 OPS.

In between the two seasons, he played for the United States Collegiate National Team and also saw 22 plate appearances in five games for the Harwich Mariners of the summer wood-bat Cape Cod League, posting a .316/.409/.474 line in that brief cameo.

Bell was selected with the No. 66 overall pick in 2024 by the Tampa Bay Rays, but opted to sign with Kentucky, committing himself to the college level for two seasons.

👋@BellTyler28 left ZERO doubt.

B4 | 6-5, WVU pic.twitter.com/9X01UuNy7d

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 31, 2026

ROCKIES’ QUEST FOR PITCHING WILL HAVE TO WAIT

Pitching was thin at the top of the draft this year. Just three of the top-15 players in MLB Pipeline’s pre-draft rankings were pitchers, and only one pitcher went in the first 15 selections — UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora to the San Francisco Giants at the No. 4 spot.

Nine of the first 11 players selected were from the college ranks.

In the last two years, the Rockies selected outfielder Charlie Condon and shortstop Ethan Holliday with their initial selections. Condon appears to be at the brink of promotion to the major-league level with a .998 OPS at AAA Albuquerque headed into Saturday’s play. Holliday’s season ended due to a foot injury in May.

The Rockies will go on the clock again with consecutive choices: a competitive-balance pick at No. 37 and their second-round choice at the No. 38 overall spot.

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