‘All smiles.’ Mariners select college slugger Ace Reese in first round of MLB Draft
The Seattle Mariners drafted one of college baseball’s premier sluggers, selecting Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese with the 24th overall pick in the 2026 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Saturday afternoon.
Reese, 21, was named a D1Baseball Second-team All-American after batting .336 (83-for-247) with a career-high 24 home runs and 74 RBI for the Bulldogs this spring.
“He’s got a track record of success,” Mariners Vice President of Amateur Scouting Scott Hunter said inside T-Mobile Park’s main interview room. “He’s done it at every level. To be that successful and that impactful in the SEC right now… hits right-handers and left-handers, and we’re very fortunate he slipped to us at this part of the draft.”
Reese was “all smiles” on a FaceTime call with Hunter, who considers the 6-foot-4, 220-pound slugger one of the SEC’s scariest bats. Reese’s 24 home runs are the fifth-most in a single season in Mississippi State history, becoming the program’s third-ever player to record consecutive 20-homer seasons.
There’s one moonshot, in particular, that Reese considers his all-time favorite. Hunter joked that “it’s still going.”
In a tied Super Regional at Georgia on June 6, Reese worked a 3-0 count in the eighth inning and received both the green light and the meatball he was hoping for — obliterating a go-ahead, solo home run to straightaway center field. Mississippi State lost, 13-12, in a game that had 11 total homers.
“That’s what brings out the emotion in the big moments,” Reese said Saturday. “Hitting a home run mid-week is cool, but when you hit a homer in the bottom of the eighth of a Super Regional to take the lead, that’s when it starts to come out.
“Just the moment. I mean, the biggest game I’ve played in, and doing it in that spot on a 3-0 count was pretty cool.”
Hunter and the Mariners expected an unpredictable draft ahead of their 24th pick, writing roughly a dozen names on their board. If any fell, it’d make for an easy decision, Hunter said.
Reese, considered the 12th overall draft prospect by Baseball America, was one of them.
“The information that comes back from our analysts show that he’s probably one of the top three hitters in the country, and it profiles as a guy that’s going to go out and have success right away,” Hunter said. “I don’t want to put a timetable on a player, but to do the things he was doing in the SEC, which is a totally different animal of baseball these days for college sports, it’s really impressive.”
Seattle has used each of its last three first-round selections on college talent dating back to 2024, including switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje (15th, 2024) and left-hander Kade Anderson (3rd, 2025).
“It was an awesome experience, everything I’ve dreamed of,” Reese said of his selection. “It was amazing.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things (about the Mariners) with the development side, coming up through the ranks. I definitely had them on my list of teams I wanted to go to, so I was pumped when I got that opportunity.”
Reese and the Mariners agreed to terms on a $3.5 million signing bonus, MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer reported, slightly below the assigned slot value ($3.8187 million) for the 24th overall pick.
“Knock on wood, we’re doing OK with our pitching, and want to continue this movement that we’ve had with Cole (Young) and Colt (Emerson), and obviously Cal (Raleigh) a few years ago,” Hunter said. “If we can continue to add bats like that, it really helps our organization really build up a foundation.”
As for the origin of Reece’s first name, Ace?
“People ask me all the time,” he said. “I don’t even know.
“My dad just knew I was gonna be a ballplayer. Turned out I was a hitter, not a pitcher.”
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 2:21 PM.
