Will History Repeat Itself with Marlins Landing 14th Overall Pick in Lottery?
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The Miami Marlins have something to cheer about because they landed the No. 14 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.
Although the Chicago White Sox landed the No. 1 pick, we have seen time and time again that teams can get a quality player even outside of the Top 10 of the draft.
The Last Marlins Player Selected As No. 14 Pick in the Draft
Everything has come back to full circle for the Marlins. The last time the Marlins had the 14th overall pick in the MLB Draft was in 2011, when they selected Jose Fernandez.
The only other time in franchise history that the Marlins picked 14th, they drafted José Fernández https://t.co/1UQYu1WXDF
— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) December 9, 2025
Fernandez got picked as No. 14 in the 2011 MLB Draft. When Fernandez made his presence in 2013, he brought a lot of electricity and excitement to the Marlins organization. The fans adored his passion for the game. His teammates loved his personality.
In his short 4-year career with the Marlins, he became a 2-time All-Star and won the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year Award. His life was cut short at the age of 24. If he had still been alive, the Marlins would’ve probably made the playoffs in 2017 or 2018. Also, he had everything to become a Cy Young Award winner.
His death changed the team's direction. Now, the Marlins are hoping to land a player who can take this team to an elite level.
The Marlins might target players such as Chris Hacopian or Roch Cholowsky. Hacopian is a 21-year-old shortstop out of Texas A&M. He has a lot of talent and makes it look easy when he’s in the batter's box—a confident player who is a pure hitter. He loves hitting fastballs and barely misses them. During the 2025 season, he hit .375/.502/.1.158 with 14 homers and 61 RBIs in 52 games for the Maryland Terrapins.
Hacopian entered the transfer portal and committed to Texas A&M. He played for two seasons at Maryland.
As for Cholowsky, he’s another dynamite. The 20-year-old had a sensational season with the UCLA Bruins. In 66 games, he connected 23 homers and 74 RBIs with a career high .353 batting average and 1.190 OPS. He can play shortstop and third base.
He has leadership skills that began when he was a high school quarterback. Therefore, he knows how to lead in the infield. He’s an all-around shortstop who is dangerous mainly on offense, but he also has good instincts on defense.
The Marlins have quite a tough decision to make because they have drafted either-or players, or they might go a different route. We have two talented infielders who can impact this team in ways we can’t imagine.
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After graduating from City College of New York in 2014, Miguel created his own blog. Since 2021, he has written for FanSided, where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays, College Football and Utah Mammoth hockey team. He also wrote for Miami Heat on SI and Cleveland Sports Talk. Miguel is the creator and host of his podcast, Baseball Heat Podcast with Mike.