After waiting two decades between selections of Kansas baseball players in the MLB Draft, the Detroit Tigers only took a few rounds to double up on Jayhawks in 2026.
Detroit picked Brady Ballinger, a two-year starter for KU at first base and in left field, No. 216 overall in the seventh round of the draft on Sunday afternoon. The pick has a slot value of $274,300.
Ballinger follows past and future teammate Tyson LeBlanc, who was a second-round pick of the Tigers’ on Saturday. It’ll be the third time the pair has worn the same uniform, as they were also summer baseball teammates for the St. Cloud Rox of the Northwoods League prior to LeBlanc’s arrival at KU.
Ballinger, a Las Vegas native who started his career at the College of Southern Nevada, didn’t take long to become a fan favorite when he joined the Jayhawks prior to the 2025 season.
He was one of the best hitters in the Big 12 Conference as a sophomore first baseman, when he batted .353 with a 1.165 OPS, 16 home runs and 56 RBIs; he also led the league with 56 walks, demonstrating the discipline that has been key to his approach. Perhaps his defining moment that year was a three-run home run to even the score against Oklahoma State in a Big 12 tournament quarterfinal game that KU eventually won in walk-off fashion.
Ballinger was the first-ever Jayhawk to become a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy given to the nation’s best player. He received several All-American honors and went to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp, fashioning himself into a marquee draft prospect ahead of his junior year.
Moved to left field amid a glut of Jayhawk infielders, Ballinger didn’t quite achieve the same production in what was still a solid junior season. He hit .283 with seven homers and 45 RBIs, at one point reaching base in 25 straight games, and at one point helped KU earn its Sunflower Showdown sweep with a big ninth-inning home run in Manhattan. Ballinger missed the Big 12 tournament with a hamate bone injury before returning to supply a few significant hits as the Jayhawks won the Lawrence Regional title.
“Ballinger was one of the most devastating junior college hitters in the country at the CC of Southern Nevada in 2024, then encored with one of the best offensive performances in Kansas history last year,” his writeup on MLB.com reads. “But he slumped to .283/.401/.466 with seven homers in 60 games this spring as his timing got out of whack and he couldn’t get to his plus raw power. All of his value comes from his bat, so he’ll have to up his production in pro ball.”
The last pair of KU players picked by the same team in the same draft were Kodey Shojinaga and Tegan Cain, who went to Philadelphia in 2024. (Reese Dutton also joined the Phillies as an undrafted free agent that year.)
