Auburn second baseman Chris Rembert heard his name called early Saturday in Philadelphia, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2026 MLB Draft.
The selection gives the Pirates a player who has been one of the most productive hitters in Auburn’s recent run. Rembert is now the sixth-highest draft pick under head coach Butch Thompson, and this year’s draft has already been kind to the Tigers, who had at least one top-five-round pick.
Rembert’s numbers tell the story of a bat that kept getting louder. In 2024, he was named Freshman All-America by both D1Baseball and the ABCA/Southeast Region.
He then turned in a huge 2025 season for Auburn, hitting .363 with a 1.082 OPS and 60 hits as a sophomore. He scored 35 runs and added 15 doubles, one triple, four homers, 32 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
By the end of the year, he had put together a 17-game hitting streak, the longest by an Auburn player since Anfernee Grier’s 22-game streak in 2014.
His rise has been steady and fast. In 2024, Rembert played in 53 games for Auburn and started 43 of them, hitting .282 with 64 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 32 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 227 at-bats. He also earned 35 runs in that span.
The 2026 MLB Draft wrapped up Sunday with rounds 3 through 20 starting at 11:30 a.m. CT on MLB.com.
In Other News...
Auburn Is Closing In On Another Quarterback For Its Future
Auburns quarterback pipeline keeps taking shape for the future, with Alex Golesh already working on 2027 three-star Gary Chatmon and now appearing to be in good position with another young passer. Sam Sollie, a sophomore starter at Gadsden City in Alabama, has an Auburn offer and is regarded as one of the better quarterbacks in his class, giving the Tigers another name to track as they build beyond the current roster.
Rivals Steve Wiltfong has Auburn trending for Sollie, though the race is not finished and there are still other programs in the mix. If the Tigers do land him, Sollie would join Chatmon and Oregon State transfer Tristan Tia as part of the group expected to compete for the job after Byrum Brown moves on, which is exactly the kind of long-range planning Auburn has been trying to stack up at the position. [Read more 🡒]
Why Auburn Just Became The Peach Bowl's NIL Blueprint
Auburns trip to the Aflac Kickoff Game against Baylor is now carrying a lot more than early-season stakes, because Peach Bowl, Inc. has turned the matchup into a $10 million NIL package at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. More than half of that money is slated to go directly to Auburn players for promotional work, while the rest will flow to the athletic department, giving the Tigers a rare spotlight in a deal that blends game-day exposure with modern roster economics.
Peach Bowl CEO David Epps framed the Tigers as a natural fit because of their place in the South and the willingness of their fan base to travel to Atlanta, and he also made clear this could be a template for more schools down the line. Auburn may be the first to benefit from the arrangement, but the idea is clearly built for other programs with similar draw and geography, which means this one game could end up shaping how future neutral-site showcases are sold. [Read more 🡒]
Alex Golesh Just Set A Tone Auburn Fans Have Been Craving
Alex Goleshs first SEC Media Days appearance as Auburns new head coach offered a clear glimpse of the tone he wants to set. The message was less about splash and more about structure, with Golesh talking about building a new identity and a new standard for the program while carrying himself in a serious, businesslike way that fit the moment in Tampa.
For Auburn fans, that kind of approach matters because it feels like a reset built on discipline rather than noise. The Roundtable also noted the strong presence of Byrum Brown and Alex McPherson, giving the day a little more substance beyond the coachs podium turn, and Goleshs emphasis on standards over empty talk suggests this staff wants the program to look and sound different from the start. [Read more 🡒]