The 2022 MLB draft is this weekend!? Here's everything you need to know

The MLB draft is a bewildering blend of college prospects and high school prospects, present ability weighed against future projection, taking the best player available or spreading your bonus pool money throughout the draft. It's less exact than the NBA or NFL drafts because, frankly, baseball is a harder sport to play. Teenagers can step right into the NBA and contribute. Players go from college to the NFL and become immediate stars. In baseball, the vast majority of players require years of minor league seasoning.

This year's draft has some familiar names to longtime fans of the sport, sons of former major leaguers who should go high in the first round — maybe even first overall. The Orioles have the first pick and after years of rebuilding, the big league club has been one of the bigger surprises of the season and now they have the opportunity to add an impact talent to go with rookie catcher Adley Rutschman, who was the top overall pick in 2019.

Let's dig into some of the storylines of the 2022 draft — the first two rounds of the three-day event will take place Sunday night in Los Angeles starting at 7 p.m. ET. You can catch the first round on ESPN.

Draft coverage: Mock Draft 3.0 | Top 300 | Guide for all 30 teams

Watch MLB draft: Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

Is there a theme to this year's draft?

Yes — the lack of pitching, especially the lack of college pitching. In Kiley McDaniel's latest draft rankings, his top-rated pitcher is high school right-hander Dylan Lesko at No. 8 — and he had Tommy John surgery, which will probably knock him out of the top-10 selections. Kiley's top-rated college pitcher is Alabama lefty Connor Prielipp — and he also had Tommy John surgery, in 2021, and pitched just 28 innings in his