Back in October, I looked at Paul Toboni’s history of drafts with the Boston Red Sox, hoping to find a clear trend in his draft philosophy. What I found was a tendency to target first-round hitters, center position players, and big strikeouts when going after pitchers. I laid out four prospects that I thought fit this criteria, and the first I mentioned was Kentucky switch-hitting shortstop Tyler Bell, who coincidentally was selected by the Nats in my first mock draft of this 2026 draft cycle, which you can check out here.
Bell differs from most other college prospects due to the fact that not only was he picked in the MLB Draft coming out of high school, but he was also picked very highly, going 66th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays took a risk by signing enough draft prospects with their bonus pool money, and it resulted in not enough money left to convince Bell to give up his commitment to the Kentucky Wildcats, where he was able to play two seasons and enter the 2026 draft because he was 21 years old the year of his sophomore season. As far as stamps of approval go, it doesn’t get much better than them being highly coveted by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bell played in 56 games in 2025, and in that time he proved why he has what it takes to be a first-round pick in 2026. As a true freshman in the toughest conference in college baseball, Bell posted a 100 wRC+ (which equates to a .907 OPS, but college baseball is also a hitter’s paradise), fired 10 bombs and played incredible defense in short order for the Wildcats. While the results don’t jump off the page, what many scouts and analysts are excited about Bell are his underlying numbers, which suggest a big break will happen in 2026.
Bell’s exit velocities were among the best of anyone in the country, ripping the ball from both the left and right sides of the plate. He also does an excellent job pulling fly balls, which allows him to maximize his power output. Bell has a very patient approach at the plate, sometimes even too patient, causing him to miss his pitches. The hitting tool will be the determining factor in how high Bell goes in July’s draft, as he hit 22.3% of the time in 2025 and had a BB/K ratio of just 0.41. I am confident that in his second go-around against SEC pitching this spring, he will improve on these numbers and give me even more confidence in his future ability to hit at the next level.
Defensively, Bell has both a great arm and great range at shortstop, allowing him to handle the position beautifully for Kentucky in 2025. Fans may have concerns about taking another shortstop when Willits was our first-round selection last year, but the reality is that the best athletes on the field generally end up playing shortstop, and they should be able to transition smoothly to other, easier positions when they move on to pro ball. Bell has both the defensive ability and athleticism to move to second or third base if necessary in pro ball, and I expect him to also be able to handle corner in the outfield if that’s where his career takes him.
Everything about Bell’s game, from his athleticism, to his defensive ability at shortstop, to his top exit velocities, makes me believe he’s the kind of prospect Paul Toboni will target in his first draft with the Washington Nationals. I expect Toboni and his staff will keep a close eye on how he develops in his second season at Kentucky, perhaps even heading to Lexington to check him out while the 2026 college baseball season is underway.
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