BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU All-American outfielder Derek Curiel was selected No. 5 overall Saturday by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft.
Rounds 1-4 of the draft are being conducted Saturday in Philadelphia. Rounds 5-20 will be held starting at 10:30 a.m. CT Sunday, and the draft may be viewed at MLB.com.
Curiel, a sophomore from West Covina, Calif., is the sixth LSU player in the last five seasons to be selected in the first round.
The other LSU first-round picks since 2022 are left-hander Kade Anderson (No. 3, 2025), right-hander Paul Skenes (No. 1, 2023), outfielder Dylan Crews (No. 2, 2023), right-hander Ty Floyd (No. 38, 2023) and infielder Jacob Berry (No. 5, 2022).
"Derek is elite at so many things that will translate to professional baseball,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “He has terrific plate discipline, the highest level ability to make contact, and he is an elite defensive centerfielder. I am proud of Derek leaving LSU as a National Champion and a first-round pick. He accomplished what we set out for him to do here."
Curiel, the 2025 National Freshman of the Year after helping lead LSU to the College World Series title, has a .349 (171-for-490) career batting average in two seasons with the Tigers. He has started all 126 games in which he has played, collecting 38 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 101 RBI, 131 runs, 16 steals and a .452 on-base percentage.
A 2026 Third-Team All-American, Curiel hit a team-high .353 (82-for-232) this season with 18 doubles, two triples, six homers, 46 RBI, 64 runs and 13 stolen bases. A Second-Team All-SEC and First-Team ABCA All-South Region selection, he finished No. 4 in the SEC in batting average, No. 5 in hits, No. 10 in doubles, No. 10 in triples and No. 10 in runs scored.
Curiel, who was also voted to the 2026 SEC All-Defensive Team and the ABCA Gold Glove Team, completed this season with a 10-game hitting streak, batting .447 (17-for-38) during the streak with seven doubles, three RBI, 13 runs, nine walks and a .542 on-base percentage.
Curiel is a member of the 2025 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll and of the 2026 SEC Academic Honor Roll as a sport administration major.