Tyler Bell loves taking the ball deep at Coors Field in . Now he’s got the opportunity to do it for real after the Rockies selected the switch-hitting shortstop from Kentucky with the 10th overall pick in
“I play a lot of ‘MLB: The Show’ and I play every home game at Coors Field,” Bell said during a call with reporters on Saturday. “So, maybe I knew something — I don’t know.”
What he did know entering Saturday’s draft is that he had an instant connection with the Rockies after a sitdown at this year’s prospect combine. He called getting picked by Colorado “the right fit.”
Bell, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound prospect, bet on himself after being drafted by the Rays at No. 66 overall out of high school two years ago, passing on the money to head to Kentucky to raise his draft stock by competing in the SEC.
“It was a money thing at the end of the day, but I feel like that dollar figure kind of represented who I was as a person or a player, but also how much they wanted to pour into me from their organizational side,” Bell said. “And once I made the decision to turn it down, I was never going to look back at it — whether it was good or bad.”
It turned out great, despite a scare at the start of this season after a standout freshman year. While diving for a ball in the Wildcats’ opener, .
Instead of shutting it down to focus on the draft, Bell opted to play through the injury. He returned to the lineup as a DH after missing 12 games and went 2-for-4 with a double and a two-run home run. He also finished with a .974 fielding percentage after returning to shortstop, with just three errors in 116 chances. Over 41 games last season, he hit .343 with nine home runs.
“I bet on myself and I knew what I was truly worth as a person and a player,” Bell said. “And I really found that true organization that values that same thing with me. The Rockies were my best meeting at the combine. How close I’ve gotten with them, and that family aspect they preach and have. This is the right fit for me. And I’m very pumped that itap the Rockies.”
Not short at shortstop
Bell was the top-rated sophomore-eligible prospect in the country and the third shortstop off the board on Saturday after the and the Rays took Fort Worth Christian High School’s Grady Emerson at No. 2.
He’s also the second straight shortstop taken by the Rockies at the top of the draft, following the franchise’s selection of Ethan Holliday at No. 4 overall in 2025.
Holliday, the 19-year-old son of Rockies legend Matt Holliday, is currently the organization’s top prospect and signed a record-breaking $9 million signing bonus last year. He’s on the mend from a stress fracture in his left foot that will keep him out for the remainder of this season.
Bell is slotted to make $6,393,100 as the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft.
You can never have too many solid middle infielders and reliable bats — which seems to be the rationale for Bell’s selection by Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes.
Bell, for his part, said he’s willing to do whatever it takes to move up in the organization.
“I think I am a shortstop, but if I need to move over to another position for a little while just to help out and win and get my bat in the lineup, I’m all for it,” he said. “I want to take the quickest route to the big leagues and start helping at the big league level as quick as possible.”
A Chicago kid with a chip on his shoulder
Not only is he the second straight shortstop the Rockies have selected first overall, but Bell is also the second shortstop in the organization to attend Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, Illinois, before playing at Kentucky. Ryan Ritter, who made his big-league debut last season, was drafted by the Rockies out of Kentucky with the 116th overall pick in 2022. Ritter, currently at triple-A Albuquerque, has appeared in six games this season.
Bell said Ritter played on the same travel team he did growing up, and that the two had worked out previously.
When asked about playing with an edge, something scouts noted in pre-draft write-ups, Bell said he’s had to fight for every opportunity given to him.
“I think I’ve always had that chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I’ve always been (overlooked) as a Chicago kid. I’ve always been undersized until I truly took all that in and wanted to get bigger and stronger and faster. Playing with that edge. Thatap just me, at my best. Wanting to win and the will to win.”
Bell said he’ll work with the Rockies to determine the best approach for his injured shoulder. He opted not to have surgery before the draft. Playing through the pain this past season, however, shows his grit, he said.
“I didn’t come to college to sit out,” he said. “I didn’t come here to not play. I wanted to be on the field with my boys. I wanted to represent Kentucky. And I found out my shoulder was good enough to keep playing. I had to wear a brace for that, and, you know, there were struggles at times. Wake up with some pain, some stiffness. It didn’t feel great all the time, for sure. But I knew that was all going to come with it, as part of the challenge. I wanted to be out there competing.”
As for reversing the Rockies’ fortunes, Bell is thrilled to be coming to Colorado — where his family often took ski trips when he was growing up. He said his parents will probably move to Colorado at some point, and that his father is overjoyed at the thought of more skiing.
Cholowsky, the top overall pick by the White Sox out of UCLA, has drawn comparisons to Troy Tulowitzki, who was taken seventh overall by the Rockies out of Long Beach State in 2005. Rockies fans can only hope that Bell and Holliday are part of a revival at 20th and Blake similar to the late-2000s teams powered by Tulo and Matt Holliday.
“Itap unreal, just to be that first selection and have that team truly value me,” Bell said. “And, again, the Rockies were the best fit for me. Best meeting I had at the combine. The truest connections.”
Colorado’s other Day 1 picks
The Rockies had four other picks through the first four rounds of the draft on Saturday — No. 37 in the Competitive Balance A round, No. 38 overall in the second round, No. 76 in the third round and No. 104 in the fourth round,
Colorado has 21 selections overall in this year’s draft and ranks No. 9 in baseball with a $15,557,600 salary pool.
The following are the four other prospects the Rockies selected on Saturday.
No. 37: Daniel Jackson, C, Georgia: A hard-hitting, athletic, right-handed catcher for the Bulldogs who also saw time in the outfield and as a designated hitter, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Jackson is slotted to make $2.7 million. He’s the first D-I catcher to hit 25 homers and steal 25 bases in a season. He became the third triple crown winner in SEC history (.379, 32 homers, school-record 87 RBI), led NCAA Division I in runs (88) and total bases (212) and won the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player in the United States.
No. 38: Logan Reddemann, P, UCLA: Reddemann is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander who is slotted to make $2.63 million. He spent two seasons at the University of San Diego before transferring to UCLA. He has a 95-96 mph fastball and has reached 99 mph. His best secondary pitch had been an 84-85 mph changeup, but this past season, he relied more on a hard cutter that hit 87-91 mph. He also unveiled a low-80s slider and will use an 80-82 mph curve to get ahead early in counts.
No. 76, Jack Natili, C, Cincinnati: Another right-handed catcher, Natili is 6-foot-3, 198 pounds and is slotted to make $1.10 million. He ranked second in the Cape Cod League with six home runs last summer and has continued to display some of the best power among the 2026 college catching crop this spring. A well-below-average runner, Natili moves better behind the plate than he does on the bases.
No. 104: Ben Davis, P, Mississippi State: The 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander is due to make $755,300. He began his college career as a two-way player, pitching and catching for two seasons at Itawamba (Miss.) CC before transferring to Mississippi State. His fastball sits between 94-97 mph and tops out at 100 mph, with heavy sink and some arm-side run. He averages 91 mph with his cutter and 87 mph with a slider that features more depth than sweep.
