For the second-straight year, seven Missouri Valley Conference baseball student-athletes were selected over 20 rounds in the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft, July 10-12.
In the last five years, there have been 42 selections from The Valley overall, and there have been at least seven picks in each of those five years.
Indiana State's Carter Beck became the 32nd draftee in league history to be taken in the first round, and the highest pick since the 2017 draft, being taken 26th overall by the Atlanta Braves.
Illinois State had three players drafted - the most Redbirds since the 2019 MLB Draft - with Michael Addari going in the sixth round (182 overall) to the Houston Astros, Brayden Bakes going to the Philadelphia Phillies (399 overall) and Carson Cormier headed to the Toronto Blue Jays (492 overall).
Evansville's Max Hansmann was selected in the eight round, and 226 overall, by the Washington Nationals, while UIC's Mason Lei joined Bakes in the 13th round, going 394 overall. Southern Illinois' Andrew Evans became the second Saluki drafted in the last three years, going 446th overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
MVC MLB Draft History
2026 MVC MLB Draft Selections
| Round |
Pick |
Name (School) |
MLB Organization |
| 1 |
26 |
Carter Beck (Indiana State) |
Atlanta Braves |
| 6 |
182 |
Michael Addari (Illinois State) |
Houston Astros |
| 8 |
226 |
Max Hansmann (Evansville) |
Washington Nationals |
| 13 |
394 |
Mason Lei (UIC) |
Boston Red Sox |
| 13 |
399 |
Brayden Bakes (Illinois State) |
Philadelphia Phillies |
| 15 |
446 |
Andrew Evans (Southern Illinois) |
Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 16 |
492 |
Carson Cormier (Illinois State) |
Toronto Blue Jays |