The 2026 MLB Draft begins Saturday, July 11, as part of MLB All-Star Week in Philadelphia, giving baseball fans a full weekend look at the next wave of amateur talent. The opening rounds will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Grand Hall, with coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET. NBC will carry the start of the event, with additional coverage available on Peacock, MLB Network and MLB.com.

For fans trying to plan out the day, the broadcast schedule is broken into three windows. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC and Peacock will air the preview show and picks 1 through 10. From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET, picks 11 through 40 will shift to MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+. From 4:30 to 7:45 p.m. ET, the rest of Day 1, picks 41 through 135, will continue on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+.

The Tigers have the 22nd pick so since that selection falls in the picks 11-40 window, the Tigers’ first pick should come during the 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET portion of the broadcast. Exact timing can shift depending on how quickly teams make their selections, but Detroit’s first-round pick will not be part of the first 10 picks on NBC. It will come during the MLB Network and streaming portion of the day.

Detroit enters Day 1 with four selections: No. 22 overall, No. 61, No. 69 and No. 125. The No. 22 pick is the Tigers’ first-round selection. No. 61 comes in the second round, No. 69 comes in Competitive Balance Round B, and No. 125 comes in the fourth round. MLB.com lists Detroit’s bonus pool at $9,165,100, which ranks 22nd among all clubs.

The bonus pool will shape how Detroit approaches the board. The No. 22 pick carries a slot value of $4,082,700, while No. 61 is valued at $1,523,600, No. 69 at $1,254,200 and No. 125 at $614,500. Detroit’s fifth-round pick, which opens its Day 2 selections, is No. 158 and has a slot value of $445,200.

The Tigers’ recent draft identity under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, assistant general manager Rob Metzler and amateur scouting director Mark Conner has leaned toward high-upside position players early. The organization has been linked in mock draft conversations to players such as Trevor Condon, Landon Thome, Bo Lowrance, Tyler Spangler, Archer Horn and Aiden Ruiz, while pitching remains an area to watch given the current shape of the system. But the Tigers keep themselves pretty quiet so the rumors surrounding who they may draft are moot. 

Day 2 of the draft is Sunday, July 12, and it will look much different from the made-for-TV feel of Saturday’s opening rounds. Rounds 5 through 20 will run from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+. The pace is faster, the names become less familiar to casual fans, and this is where scouting departments can create value by finding college performers, prep players with signability questions, relievers with one carrying pitch, catchers with defensive value or injured players who may have slid down boards.

For Detroit, Sunday will begin with pick No. 158 in the fifth round and continue through the remaining rounds. Since the Tigers forfeited their third-round selection after signing Framber Valdez, their Day 1 total is four picks instead of five, but Day 2 still gives the organization a long runway to add pitching depth, athletic position players and potential senior-sign options to manage the bonus pool. MLB’s official draft order also lists Houston receiving the compensation pick after the fourth round for Valdez, while noting Detroit’s forfeited third-round pick.

The draft has become one of the clearest paths for Detroit’s roster-building model. Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and Kevin McGonigle all reaching the 2026 All-Star Game reinforces how much of the current Tigers core has come through the amateur draft and player development system. 

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