Women’s pro baseball starts Aug. 1, 2026 draft on Thursday Nov. 20

November 19, 2025

The Women’s Pro Baseball League will launch its inaugural season Aug. 1 at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, marking the first professional women’s baseball league in generations.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston are the four teams for the league’s 2026 season.

The league will hold its first-ever player draft on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, streamed live on the WPBL’s Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels. It will be the first time in history that women’s professional baseball players hear their names called in a formal draft.

The draft order was set by random draw, with San Francisco selecting first, followed by Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.

The WPBL will use a snake-style format with six rounds and 20 picks per round, allowing each of the four teams to select five players per round and up to 120 players total. Although drafted players are not guaranteed roster spots or contracts, teams will have the ability to trade their draft picks beginning Jan. 1, 2026.

The prospect pool represents the highest concentration of women’s baseball talent ever assembled. More than 600 athletes from 10 countries attended open tryouts in August at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., supplemented by official video submissions. From that group, the league compiled its first draft-eligible list of more than 120 players. WPBL officials say the structure gives each franchise an equal opportunity to build a competitive team, with each club ending the draft with 30 selections. Among the most watched names are former Little League World Series phenom Mo’ne Davis, USA Baseball star Kelsie Whitmore, and Japanese ace Ayami Sato. Rising prospect Ashton Lansdell is also expected to draw strong interest for her athleticism and leadership. Springfield, the league’s home base for 2026, was chosen for its central location and its unique history; in 1875, the city hosted one of the earliest paid women’s baseball games. Robin Roberts Stadium seats 5,200 and recently installed a new LED videoboard as it prepares to host the inaugural season.