The phone rings, a name gets called, and a childhood dream for countless baseball players becomes a reality. The most magical time for many professional baseball players is the MLB Draft. Remarkably, this year’s draft contained many family members of past and present legends of the game, starting with the #1 overall pick, Roch Cholowsky, a shortstop coming out of UCLA. Cholowsky, a Chicago White Sox draftee, is the son of Dan Cholowsky, a current scout for the Cincinnati Reds who also played in the Minor Leagues for many seasons. Several other players who were picked this year had fathers or other relatives who spent significant time in the minors, and they now have the chance to outperform their family members and hopefully make it to the big leagues.

With the 14th pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Miami Marlins selected Jacob Lombard, the son of current Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard, and the brother of Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. Coincidentally, the Lombard brothers both made their debuts on the same day (at different levels of play), leaving their parents with a difficult choice to make – which game would they attend? The Marlins draftee told his parents that it was a no-brainer; they should go support his brother who was making his Major League debut, saying that in a few years, he would do the same and they could come then. They did as their son asked and attended Lombard Jr.’s Yankees debut in the Big Apple, where he made flashy defensive plays and even hit a home run. In Jupiter, Florida, J.Lombard played his first professional game, where he, too, hit a home run. Being an integral part of an organization that won back-to-back World Series rings is impressive, but having 2 sons who got drafted in the first round in back-to-back years might just take the cake.

 For Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, this is a reality. In the first round of the 2025 MLB draft, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Brady Ebel and just a year later did the same thing for Ebel’s second son, Trey. Upon hearing the news, Brady Ebel became emotional and immediately FaceTimed his brother, congratulating him and saying that they will finally be teammates again. In fact, both brothers actually happened to be promoted on the same day: Brady to High-A Milwaukee, and Trey to Single-A Wilson. Both brothers will continue to work hard to pursue their dreams of being major leaguers under the guidance of their star-coach father. Several additional players who were taken in this year’s draft that have family members in Major League Baseball include Landon Thome (son of Hall of Fame slugger Jim Thome), Peyton Bonds (nephew of Barry Bonds), Luke Petitte (son of 5x World Series Champion Andy Petitte), and Carsten Sabathia III (son of Yankees’ legend and Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia) among others. For these guys, baseball runs deep in their blood, which will be an advantage for each of their journeys to the Big Leagues.

Ava Reschke

08/20/26