What The Top Two MLB Draft Picks Teach Us About Growth, Maturation and Talent

It’s another weekend of showcase baseball. This weekend you attend a 13U event.

You lather on the sunscreen, pay your spectator fee and walk up to the chain link fence alongside several anxious dads ready to offer coaching advice.

As the team of all-stars from Texas takes the field, Player A, a tall, lanky 5-11 150 pounder, fluidly and confidently trots out to take his defensive position at shortstop. As he makes throws across the infield, you notice his great footwork and rocket for an arm. You think to yourself “this kid is going to be something special”.

The pitcher finishes his warm-up pitches and the catcher throws the ball down to second base. It’s game time.

The leadoff hitter for the visiting team, comprised of kids from Arizona and California, is Player B. He is also a shortstop - but compared to his peer, now kicking the infield dirt, he looks like a boy - standing 5-6 and weighing 110 pounds.

Here’s what you don’t know about these two 13 year olds. Player A is on the backside of PHV or Peak Height Velocity at 96% of adult height, and Player B is on the upslope at about 89% of adult height. [Based on available data, the estimated age of PHV for Player A = 12.5 yrs and for Player B = 13.7 yrs, which is still an average or on-time maturing boy.]

The following summer, you see both 14-year old youngsters play a month after completing eighth grade (grade 8). They both now stand nearly eye-to-eye at about 6 feet tall. And, that 40 pound weight difference from last summer is now only 10 pounds.

As they enter into and play throughout their high school careers, they both grow to 6-2 and weigh in at about 180-185 pounds.

As rising seniors (age 17.3 yrs), they attend the invite-only Perfect Game National Showcase, and put up the following performance numbers. Both are highly ranked and recruited by major university programs (i.e., Texas, UCLA, etc.).

Here’s the thing…. these events did not happen concurrently. The two stellar performing shortstops did not compete against each other. Player B (b. 04/07/05) is 3 years older than Player A (02/21/08).

The 2026 MLB Draft

So here we are in real-time. For the last several weeks, there has been a lot of discussion about these two shortstops in terms of ‘who will be the number 1 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft?’.

And as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stepped to the mic and announced, “With the first pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox select Roch Cholowsky, a shortstop from UCLA.”

And a few minutes later, “With the second overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Tampa Bay Rays select Grady Emerson, shortstop from Fort Worth Christian.”

Key Take Aways and Lessons Learned (again)

The number of times that this story (and versions of it) have been told and played out is countless. However, we continue to see a copious number of social media posts about “elite” young athletes, and in addition, national rankings of youth players and even a USA Baseball 12U national team (and yes, most, if not all, of the selected players are often early maturers). Meanwhile, several later maturing youth are getting cut, deselected and/or discouraged prior to high school.

We need to continue to raise awareness and educate parents, coaches and all stakeholders about the importance of considering and understanding the concepts of physical growth and maturation in talent identification and development in the United States.

You never know … maybe a kid will be a number 1 draft choice .. or even your starting shortstop or second baseman on the high school team. Or perhaps just another kid who gets a chance to develop as an athlete and person on your high school team.

[Data for this article were publicly available from an independent scouting and event services on July 11, 2026.]

Related Blogs

Then and Now: How Two 12-Year-Olds Became MLB Stars—For Different Reasons

Maturity Matters: What 12U USA Baseball National Team Data Tell Us

Little League Legends: Navigating Growth, Maturation, and Youth Sports

The Next Bobby Witt, Jr? Growth & Development of Grady Emerson