The 2027 Banana Ball Player Draft took place October 28, 2026, the second straight year the league has used a draft to fill its rosters. The Indianapolis Clowns opened it by taking left-handed pitcher Patrick Wicklander first overall.
Teams made 39 selections in all: five regular rounds of six picks, three supplemental picks, and one entertainment pick per team. The supplemental picks went to the two teams that didn't use all of their Coach Franchise spots. The Clowns had one extra pick and the Loco Beach Coconuts had two.
A few storylines stood out:
- Three former major leaguers were drafted. Shane Greene went to the Party Animals, Charlie Culberson to the Savannah Bananas, and Kelby Tomlinson to the Coconuts.
- Two Frontier League record holders were picked early. Anthony Brocato holds the league's single-season home run record, and Stephen DiTomaso set its single-season hits record in 2026.
- The entertainment round returned, adding a tenor, a juggler, and a fire performer to the league.
Here's how each team's draft played out, in draft order.
Indianapolis Clowns
Round 1, No. 1: Patrick Wicklander, LHP
Round 2, No. 7: Justin Jackson, LHP
Round 3, No. 13: Regi Grace Jr., RHP
Round 4, No. 19: Isaiah Parido, OF
Round 5, No. 25: Jevin Relaford, INF
Supplemental, No. 31: Jayden Mark, C
Entertainment, No. 34: Clark Gilmore, RHP
Wicklander, a former collegiate All-American, was the first player off the board. Jackson comes in after an NAIA Baseball All-American season in 2026.
Parido's 2026 numbers at Messiah University stand out: a .411 average with 20 HR, 71 RBI, and 34 SB. He was named the ABCA/Rawlings Division III National Position Player of the Year.
Gilmore was the final pick of last year's draft, and his trick pitch went viral. This time the Clowns used their entertainment pick on him.
Firefighters
Round 1, No. 2: Joe Adametz, LHP
Round 2, No. 8: Logan Schmidt, RHP
Round 3, No. 14: Jackson Lancaster, TWP
Round 4, No. 20: Blake Morgan, LHP
Round 5, No. 26: Brendan Hardy, RHP
Entertainment, No. 35: John Riesen, RHP
Adametz, taken second overall, pitched in the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers minor league systems. The Firefighters drafted Lancaster as a two-way player.
Riesen is a tenor who also pitches.
Party Animals
Round 1, No. 3: Shane Greene, RHP
Round 2, No. 9: Brendan Bobo, INF
Round 3, No. 15: Dustin Baber, INF
Round 4, No. 21: Bryson Bloomer, INF
Round 5, No. 27: Sean Fluke, RHP
Entertainment, No. 36: Micah Byers, RHP
Greene, a 2019 All-Star with the Detroit Tigers, is returning to Banana Ball. He said the 2026 playoff push and the energy in the dugout brought him back.
Bobo hit 18 HR in the Frontier League in 2026.
Byers pitches and juggles. He teaches physical education in California and is Biola University's all-time strikeout leader.
Loco Beach Coconuts
Round 1, No. 4: Anthony Brocato, OF
Round 2, No. 10: Shane Telfer, LHP
Round 3, No. 16: Jared Guell, LHP
Round 4, No. 22: Jaden Harris, RHP
Round 5, No. 28: Kelby Tomlinson, INF
Supplemental, No. 32: Luc Fladda, LHP
Supplemental, No. 33: Ryan Combs, RHP
Entertainment, No. 37: Kaleikaumaka Grebin, C
Brocato, the Frontier League's single-season home run record holder, went fourth overall. Telfer said he's working on throwing his backflip pitch for strikes.
Tomlinson in the fifth round makes the Coconuts one of three teams to add a former major leaguer. With two supplemental picks, they made more selections than anyone else.
Grebin is a catcher who can play all nine positions and performs with fire, including flaming bats and gloves.
Savannah Bananas
Round 1, No. 5: Tyler Wehrle, RHP
Round 2, No. 11: Stephen DiTomaso, OF
Round 3, No. 17: Livan Reinoso, TWP
Round 4, No. 23: Connor Harris, RHP
Round 5, No. 29: Charlie Culberson, INF
Entertainment, No. 38: Kenshi Sugiya, OF
DiTomaso stole 60 bases during his career at George Washington. With the Down East Bird Dawgs in 2026, he had 145 hits, setting the Frontier League single-season record. In Savannah he'll be reunited with Harris, a former George Washington teammate.
Culberson, a former Atlanta Braves infielder, appeared in a Banana Ball game last season and surprised his family by wearing a Bananas jersey at Truist Park.
Sugiya played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and made his Banana Ball debut on the 2023 World Tour in Rancho Cucamonga.
Texas Tailgaters
Round 1, No. 6: Troy Viola, 3B
Round 2, No. 12: Paxton Thompson, RHP
Round 3, No. 18: Luke Lycette, RHP
Round 4, No. 24: Joe Filomeno, LHP
Round 5, No. 30: Kyle Perry, LHP
Entertainment, No. 39: Elijah White, LHP
The defending BBCL champions took Viola sixth overall. He started all 50 games at third base for Purdue in 2022 and was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year.
White, the final pick of the draft, is a 6-foot-8 left-hander, a two-sport athlete at Grove City College, and a father of four. His tryout featured trick pitches and backflips.
