The seventh overall pick has produced a few real prizes over the years, and the Baltimore Orioles are about to test that history again. With the 2026 MLB Draft approaching, Baltimore will sit in that slot for the fourth time.
The Cincinnati Reds have been there seven times, while the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals have each made four picks from No. 7.
The headline name at that spot is Frank Thomas, the only seventh overall pick in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Chicago took Thomas in the 1989 MLB Draft, and he went on to build a monster résumé with the White Sox: 448 home runs, 447 doubles and 1,465 RBIs, all franchise records that still look safe for a long time.
From 1990-2008, Thomas piled up the best career numbers among seventh picks in home runs (521), batting average (.301) and OPS (.974). He also won MVP awards in 1993 and 1994 before earning first-ballot Hall of Fame induction in 2014 with 83.7 percent of the writers’ vote.
Even with all that, Thomas does not own the top spot in value among seventh picks. That distinction belongs to Clayton Kershaw, who is headed to Cooperstown soon enough.
The Dodgers chose Kershaw seventh in 2006, and he became the standard for pitchers selected there. He leads Dodgers pitchers in WAR (80.9) and strikeouts (3,052), and his career totals at the position are elite: 223 wins, a 2.53 ERA and 3,052 strikeouts, which rank 20th all time among pitchers.
In 2014, Kershaw put together one of the rarest seasons in the sport, winning both the Cy Young Award and MVP after posting a 1.77 ERA and 21 wins. He also won Cy Youngs in 2011 and 2013 and picked up World Series titles with Los Angeles in 2020 and 2025.
The latest seventh overall pick to reach the majors is St. Louis Cardinals shortstop JJ Wetherholt, and he has a chance to join that upper tier.
Among rookies, Wetherholt ranks second in WAR (3.7) and runs (49), fifth in hits (80) and is tied for fourth in home runs (12). By season’s end, he could be in the National League Rookie of the Year conversation.
For Orioles fans, the most productive No. 7 selection in club history remains Nick Markakis, the 2003 pick. Markakis played in the majors from 2006-2020 and spent nine seasons in Baltimore, where he finished seventh in franchise history in doubles (316) and eighth in hits (1,547).
He won Gold Glove Awards in 2011 and 2014, then kept producing after leaving for Atlanta in 2015. In 2018, he added a third Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and an All-Star selection.
Had Baltimore held onto him, his career totals of 2,388 hits and 514 doubles would have ranked third and second in team history, respectively.
Markakis also stands out in the broader seventh-pick picture. He finished fifth among all players taken seventh overall in WAR (33.7), fourth in home runs (189) and third in batting average (.288).
Not every Orioles seventh pick came close to that level. Left-handers Chris Myers in 1987 and Chris Smith in 2001 both fell short of the majors.
Myers reached Triple-A before being traded for pitcher Richie Lewis, who later found some success with the Miami Marlins. Smith never got past Double-A.
The Myers pick is the one that really stings, especially with right-hander Kevin Appier going two picks later. Appier put together a 16-year career, won the American League ERA title in 1993 with a 2.56 ERA and made the All-Star team in 1995.
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