Kade Anderson may have overtaken Jesús Made for the No. 1 spot, but Made is still a special prospect. The minor leagues are very deep right now, with elite talent at the top. Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photos: Chris Graythen, Rob Tringali, Emilee Chinn / Getty Images
July 23, 2026 Updated 12:38 pm EDT
I think the minor leagues are absolutely loaded right now. The top 13 prospects on this list all feel like they belong in the top 10 — an arbitrary distinction, but I think most of us understand why that matters — and the best players from this season’s draft class aren’t cracking that group.
Aidan Miller and Justin Lamkin were on the previous list I published in late May but are off this one due to injuries — Miller had back surgery and Lamkin has a left shoulder strain. Several others, including Braden Montgomery and Edwin Arroyo, are in the majors and therefore aren’t included in this list (players who are in the big leagues aren’t considered for this ranking even if they have rookie-eligibility remaining).
The MLB Trade Deadline is fast approaching, and while it is rare to see a prospect of the caliber of the players listed below included in deadline deals these days, we did have one just last year when the San Diego Padres traded Leo De Vries to the Athletics in the Mason Miller trade. So while it may not be likely one of these players is moved before Aug. 3, this is certainly a good list to keep handy in case there’s a blockbuster deal.
(Note: Scouting grades are on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale. Ages as of July 31, 2026. Stats through July 19, 2026.)
Team Arizona Diamondbacks Athletics Atlanta Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Washington Nationals
Position 1B C CF LHP OF RHP SS
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Preseason Rank: 28
The minors’ best pitching prospect — and now its best prospect, period — continues to roll through Double A, waiting for an opening somewhere on the Mariners’ big-league staff. It’s plus control and maybe plus command of a four-pitch mix highlighted by one of the minors’ best changeups, which has generated a 50 percent whiff rate when batters have swung at it and given him a reverse platoon split on the season. He’d be in probably 27 or 28 rotations right now, just not the one in Seattle. I’ve never had a pitcher as my No. 1 prospect on any of my preseason top 100 lists.
Preseason Rank: 3
There’s no real change here to Made’s profile, as he continues to hit well for a 19-year-old in Double A, with a .276/.350/.445 line and a strikeout rate under 15 percent, although he’s probably not sticking at shortstop given how much thicker his body has gotten, perhaps ending up a plus defender at third base instead. He’s still twitchy with electric bat speed and quick reactions in the field, and he’s a plus runner, so a position change may come later rather than sooner. His youth, and his outstanding feel for good contact for his age, are what really make him a top-5 prospect.
Preseason Rank: 13
If I weighted this list more heavily towards current-season performance, De Vries would be the No. 1 prospect — he’s outhitting Made, albeit in a better hitters’ park and league, at the same age and level. Through Sunday’s games, he’s at .292/.384/.455, with nearly identical lines from both sides of the plate. He’s also a fair bet to move off shortstop, playing a handful of games at third base this year. De Vries and Made are both outstanding prospects and I would be fine with putting De Vries at No. 2 over Made, given their different skill sets but similar superstar upsides.
Preseason Rank: 12
Arias hasn’t stopped raking all year, hitting as many homers in the first half of 2026 as he had in his entire pro career befoer this season, with plus defense at shortstop. Through Sunday he was at .326/.414/.593, as the power potential he flashed before this year has shown up in just about every way, with more muscle on his body and stronger exit velocities to match. He’s a plus defender at short, he doesn’t whiff much (19 percent on the season), he has power and he’s only 20 in Double A. Sounds like a future star to me.
Preseason Rank: 67
Gillen missed about half of the 2025 season due to injuries, so this has been his first healthy season in pro ball. It’s been a massive breakout for him — he hit .342/.449/.589 in High A before a promotion in late June to Double A. It’s patience, speed and now power as well, along with above-average defense in center field. He hasn’t hit lefties in a small sample this year, and wasn’t great against them last year, which is the only thing keeping him from the top tier on this list.
Preseason Rank: 24
The Yankees have been very aggressive with Lombard the last two years, promoting him after a hot start in 24 games last year and 20 games this year, so he’s spent most of his time at levels that might be a little above his present skills. His performance this season in Triple A is the definition of “holding his own,” as he’s showing good ball/strike recognition and hitting the ball harder than the stat line implies, working the count, but expanding too much with two strikes and generally swinging and missing like you’d expect a guy pushed a little quickly to whiff. He’s a no-doubt shortstop who’s going to post high OBPs and get to 20ish homers at his peak. I hope he gets a long runway to adjust in the majors.
Preseason Rank: 16
Walcott is back already, sooner than expected in the wake of February elbow surgery to get an internal brace installed on his UCL, returning to Double-A Frisco out of the All-Star break. He hasn’t shown the big power in games yet, but it’s coming, and he’s already shown solid ball/strike recognition for his age, while needing to work on overall pitch selection so he can drive the ball more. I was already concerned he might end up in right field once he fills out, and the elbow question doesn’t help. The bat will play anywhere.
Preseason Rank: 21
Sloan and Seth Hernandez are neck-and-neck for me: Hernandez has better pure stuff, while Sloan’s pitching at a higher level with better results while working with pretty elite stuff of his own. Sloan is 96-100 with a hammer sweeper that’s a plus pitch already and a kick-change that’s above-average. He throws everything for strikes, walking just 4.6 percent of batters through Sunday’s games. It’s just about health at this point, with No. 1-2 starter upside.
Preseason Rank: 100
If you missed the Futures Game, don’t worry, everyone did, but do yourself a favor and go find highlights of Hernandez’s inning, where he was 99-101 with about as good a changeup as you’ll ever see a 20-year-old throw. The changeup has a 64 percent whiff rate in High A so far, which, yeah, you just don’t see that number very much at any level of pro ball. He has a slider and a curveball with good spin on both, giving him a chance for four above-average pitches. He ripped through Low A, then has had a little more of a challenge with High-A hitters who don’t chase his stuff out of the zone the way younger hitters do. This is still just his first year out, and the Pirates are taking it slow with him. It’s No. 1 starter upside if he stays healthy.
Preseason Rank: 53
I was light on Willits last year in the draft, in large part because I didn’t expect (gesticulates wildly at the batter’s box) this. Willits went home for the offseason and put on maybe 10-15 pounds of muscle, so now he’s driving the ball far more without any loss of plate discipline or bat-to-ball skills. He’s already in High A at age 18, and continues to hit and get on base, although the four homers he hit in his first series at that level came at the bandbox in Greensboro and I don’t think that’s indicative of his actual power level. He’s a fabulous defender at short with plus range and excellent hands. Add that to what might be a .400ish OBP guy with at least serious doubles power and you have an All-Star.
Preseason Rank: 70
Salas continues to show plus defense and a good approach at the plate with strong contact skills, although the power he flashed early in the season hasn’t held up — he hasn’t homered since May 26, missing about two weeks with an oblique strain in the interim. He’s always shown more power in BP than in games, but he only turned 20 on June 1 and may get to more home runs in time. This season has already been a success after he played 10 games all of last year due to a lower back injury. He’s re-established himself as a future everyday catcher with All-Star upside if the power shows up after 5 pm.
Preseason Rank: 38
It’s hard to argue with anything Gonzalez has done on the field this year in the Arizona Complex League, as he’s hitting .348/.459/.506 and getting raves from scouts for his defense. He’s only played 27 games so far, however, as he started the season late due to a hamstring strain, played a month, then re-aggravated it and missed four more weeks. He still looks like a future two-way star, although it’s never great to see a young player missing this much time with injuries.
Preseason Rank: 5
Clark isn’t showing as much in-game power as expected, although he’s only 21 in Triple A and his exit-velocity data implies that there’s more in there. He’s already swiped 20 bags in 22 attempts and should set a new career high (he had 29 in 2024). He’s also still playing above-average to plus defense in center field.
Preseason Rank: 31
I said in my preseason top 100 that I thought Genao wasn’t completely recovered from the shoulder injury when he played last year, and that seems like it may have been true given how much harder he’s hitting the ball now. He’s putting the ball on the ground too often, but that’s really the only hiccup in the profile, and that is often (not always) fixable with the kind of swing-path optimization that’s become fairly common around the sport. Even without that, he’s going to be an above-average regular at second.
Preseason Rank: 9
Quintero had a rough April, hitting .195/.305/.280 for the month, but hasn’t stopped hitting or getting on base since, and he’s now hit six homers since June 1 on top of everything else. It might be an elite bat in center field, which would make him an All-Star, and could mean some other Dodgers outfield prospects like Mike Sirota or Zyhir Hope are more expendable in a trade.
Preseason Rank: 77
Celesten’s breakthrough — I wouldn’t say breakout, since he was so good in the Arizona Complex League in his pro debut — continues apace, with power, patience and better defense at shortstop. He’s playing harder and making better decisions at the plate, improving his walk and strikeout rates over 2025 while more than doubling his career home-run total already.
Preseason Rank: 51
I spoke to Sirota before the Futures Game to get the true story of what happened during his draft year to take him from a potential top-10 pick to the third round. He got sick about two weeks before Northeastern’s season started, lost 17 pounds and didn’t feel right for weeks, until about halfway through the season when he felt like he got his strength back. He joked that his mother called it the “$4 million virus.” I mean, she’s not wrong, but fortunately for him I think he’s going to make a lot more money than that in the future. It’s plus hit, elite swing decisions, above-average power and above-average defense in center field. Maybe his presence makes Zyhir Hope or Eduardo Quintero more expendable in a trade.
Preseason Rank: 20
De Paula has the best overall hitting package in the Dodgers’ system, ranking below a few other guys because of defense and position — he’s probably a first baseman, maybe a poor right fielder, and could end up having to DH. It’s plus power and patience to the point of bordering on passivity, which has only helped him so far through Double A.
Preseason Rank: 11
Good when healthy. Can he please be healthy? It’s big-time power in a guy who’s a true hitter first, using the middle of the field so well that he may lose a little in-game power by not just pulling everything. As he matures and gets more reps — again, please be healthy — he should be able to find those 15-20 pitches a year where he can sell out a little to hit the ball out to right. I am definitely concerned about the frequency of injuries, though.
Preseason Rank: NA
I’m putting Lackey and Roch Cholowsky back-to-back here on purpose, as I saw them as extremely close in the draft and ended up with Lackey just slightly ahead because I think there’s more upside here given the position and the athleticism. Lackey might end up a plus defensive catcher with plus power and a plus hit tool, which may as well be a jackalope given how rare that profile is. We’ll have to see how his power surge this spring holds up in pro ball, and whether his long-term future really is behind the plate given the rigors of the position.
Preseason Rank: NA
Mr. Cha-LOO-skee was the first pick in this month’s draft and offers more certainty than Lackey does: Cholowsky is a no-doubt shortstop who’ll control the zone and hit for some power, at the very least. He has a track record of performance that goes back to high school, when he was a first-round talent who chose UCLA over pro ball. He does bar that lead arm a little, and the few times he saw real velocity this spring, he wasn’t able to drive it because he doesn’t meet the ball out front enough. That bears some watching when he gets to Double A or Triple A and starts seeing high velocity on a regular basis. If he can make that adjustment — and the White Sox have done some amazing work on guys who had much bigger swing problems, including Colson Montgomery and Jacob Gonzalez — he could be a 25-homer shortstop with plus defense who’s the best player on his team.
Preseason Rank: 27
Peña has continued to hit this year while stealing more than 20 bags and playing much better defense at short than I anticipated. That said, his season has mostly been marked by health issues — he fainted in the dugout in April, came back after a month, “fell ill” on the field in early June, came back in two days, then strained a hamstring and missed two weeks. I’m ranking him here on the assumption that whatever is going on with him is not chronic or serious, but I don’t know anything more than what I’ve said here about it.
Preseason Rank: 61
Chourio has the best command in the minor leagues, at least among actual prospects. This baby-faced assassin won’t even turn 19 until October. Chourio has legit stuff, hitting 99 in the Futures Game, with a hammer curveball and above-average changeup for lefties. He’s so efficient, he’s thrown six complete innings three times this year, but has never thrown more than 90 pitches. On Sunday, he needed just 77 pitches to throw five hitless innings in which he struck out 10. He’s on the smaller side for a starter, although he is pretty strong for 6-foot-maybe, and if he holds up he’s at least a No. 2 starter.
Preseason Rank: NA
The Rockies landed Bell with the 10th pick, getting a screaming bargain there because Bell injured his non-throwing shoulder in February and will probably have to have surgery after signing. I don’t care, because he hit .343/.510/.608 this spring for Kentucky despite missing a chance to beat up on Pencil State and the University of West Nothing the first few weekends of the season, and did it all with one working shoulder. He’s a true switch-hitter, a high-probability shortstop and a patient enough hitter to see high OBPs down the road. I think he would have been a 1-1 candidate had he been healthy all spring.
Preseason Rank: 29
Rodriguez is a bat-first catcher, but he is a catcher, to answer a very common question from readers. (Old-school statheads will recall Nichols’ Law of Catcher Defense, which said that there was an inverse relationship between how well a catcher hit and what people thought of his defensive skills, so in this case, the more Rodriguez hits, the worse a defender people seem to think he is.) He spent all of 32 games in High A before the Cardinals bumped him up to Double A, where he’s one of the youngest hitters at 19 and is still hitting well across the board, albeit with some yellow flags under the hood that would point towards letting him stay at the level for a while to improve his pitch selection and discipline. The bat would still make him a regular at first base, but let the man catch unless it proves impossible.
Preseason Rank: 36
Hope started at Double A this year (after just six games there to finish 2025) and has already hit 21 homers, blasting past his previous high of 13, while cutting his whiff rate and his strikeout rate year-over-year. He’s only played the outfield corners this year, as he has the speed for center field but not the instincts or reads to stick there. His continued success could potentially make Mike Sirota or Eduardo Quintero more expendable in a trade.
Preseason Rank: 26
Doyle continues to show an elite fastball, up to 100 mph with big ride that has had Double-A hitters whiffing on it on more than a third of their swings. He’s working on three varieties of breaking ball, led by a slider, a cutter and a slow sweeper that’s slurvy. The slider looks like it’s going to be the best pitch of the three, and added to the four-seamer and his splitter — which has been just OK this year after flashing plus in college — he’ll have three 55 pitches or better. His stat line hasn’t been great this year in large part because he’s been working on three new or altered pitches, and also because his fastball command has lagged — he could get away with some stuff in college he can’t in pro ball. I still see No. 2 starter upside.
Preseason Rank: 80
Duno already has 19 homers, a new career high, and continues to show excellent ball/strike recognition, but he is starting to swing and miss much more often than he did in Low A or prior, which is something of a surprise. He doesn’t chase stuff well out of the zone much, but he can’t touch those pitches at all. My concern with him has always been his body, as he’s huge already and is going to have to do a ton of work to stick at catcher, but the power/walks combination would make him a regular at first or even DH if worst comes to worst.
Preseason Rank: 60
One swing doesn’t define a player, but if you saw the Futures Game, Parker’s last swing might give you some indication of why I’m so high on a hitter whose surface stats this year aren’t that impressive. He turned on a 101-mph fastball and lined it off the right field wall for a double, and that came after an eight-pitch at-bat in his previous trip to the plate. He is an advanced hitter for a teenager, and sneaky strong, which is going to lead to at least above-average power now that he’s working more on choosing those pitches to stay back and drive. He’s still mostly playing shortstop but has played a few games at third base; I think he moves there or to second.
Preseason Rank: 44
Bonemer hit 11 homers in April, which is good, in case you were curious, but did strike out over 30 percent of the time, which carried into a slump in May. He worked with the White Sox to get to more contact and generally more consistency to his swing. Voila! He took off in June and more than earned a promotion to Double A, even though he won’t turn 21 until October. His batting average isn’t great this season, but I think there’s more hit tool than he’s shown, and I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t have a better second half than first, even with the move up in levels. A natural shortstop, he’s playing more third base at this point, and that was before they drafted Roch Cholowsky.
Preseason Rank: 57
I believe the only Twins prospect on this list who hasn’t spent time on the IL this year is Vahn Lackey, and that’s because he was in college. Rodriguez has had a very typical season for him — walks, power, a few more strikeouts than you’d like and an injury. He had surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament and hasn’t played since May 1. He would be an above-average regular if he could play 130 games. O come, o come, Emmanuel, to the majors, and not the trainer’s room.
Preseason Rank: NR
Velazquez finished the 2025 season with a month in Double A, where he hit far better than he had at the previous stop, then returned there to start this year and kept smashing, giving him a .323/.410/.576 line in 64 total games there. He’s in Triple A now and struggling a little with offspeed stuff, not shocking since he reached the level so quickly, but is still showing 70 raw power and should be a 25+ homer guy at his peak.
Preseason Rank: 35
Caminiti is still working on his breaking stuff, primarily his slider, but he has two legitimate pitches already in his 92-95 mph fastball and plus changeup with outstanding deception and late fading action to it. He’s super athletic and repeats his delivery well. Even if the slider is just a fringe-average pitch, he’ll be a fourth starter. I think it’s going to improve, and he has thrown a dozen or so cutters this year that could also fill the role of a pitch that breaks away from lefties.
Preseason Rank: NA
I was a touch lighter on Emerson than the industry, but I still think he’s an outstanding prospect, with a chance to have a 55 or 60 hit tool and above-average power at shortstop. He was among the best hitters at showcases in the summer and fall of 2025, which proved extremely important because he played against weak competition after transferring to a smaller high school this spring to play for head coach Rusty Greer.
Preseason Rank: 17
Rainer missed most of last year after shoulder surgery and did not look ready to come back when this season started, with a 39.3 percent strikeout rate at the end of April. Like the man turned into a newt, he got better, and now looks much more like his pre-surgery self, hitting .327/.446/.593 since June 1 (through Sunday’s games), while bringing his ground-ball rate down from about 60 percent before then to 50 percent since. He’s still too upright and needs a better stride so he can be on time consistently. The counterargument is, however, look how he’s hitting now with all of those issues. He’s also a plus defender at short, if you were worried.
Preseason Rank: 94
King hit the IL on July 1 with an oblique strain, so he could be out for a little while, but prior to that he was hitting .275/.338/.443 in Triple A, with pitchers taking advantage of his willingness to expand the zone. He has outstanding bat speed and after last year’s shenanigans he’s back in a much better hitting position. His defense at shortstop remains outstanding. Even if he’s a lower-OBP guy, which is possible if he doesn’t adjust from his college “I can hit everything!” approach, he’s still at least a regular thanks to his defense and hard contact.
Preseason Rank: 39
Holliday broke his foot and had to undergo surgery on it that ended his season, although I’m hoping he might show up in the Arizona Fall League. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the 2025 No. 4 pick was on fire, lifting his season line to .262/.395/.557, although he still was swinging and missing too often even for a teenager in Low A. There’s big power in there, and I’m in the camp that says he’ll end up at third base rather than right field. Here’s hoping he gets some at-bats somewhere later this season to make up for some of the lost time.
Preseason Rank: NR
The Cubs took Hartshorn in the sixth round last year, paying him more than everyone but their first rounder, and it looks like he’s going to be their best pick in that draft, as he’s demolished two levels of A-ball so far. Just a year out of high school, he’s hitting .278/.368/.532 in High A through Sunday’s games, showing improved power already, and making way more contact than I’d expect for one of the only high school draftees from last year in High A. His defensive value is pretty limited, right field or maybe first base, but he could be where Josue De Paula is a year from now.
Preseason Rank: NR
Hernández signed with the Giants in January, a month after he turned 17, and he’s hitting .293/.378/.537 in the Arizona Complex League as the league’s youngest regular, ranking in the top 10 in slugging. He’s more of a hitter than a power guy, with maybe 15-20 homer upside, but he has the potential to hit for high averages with his impressive feel for contact. He’s a true shortstop and would stay there in many organizations, but he’s already splitting time between short and third base because he’s playing with a superior defender in Josuar Gonzalez.
Preseason Rank: 66
Carlson is an outstanding defensive shortstop, maybe a 70 glove with an 80 arm. He has real power, but bars his lead arm and loads his hands so deep that he doesn’t meet the ball out front enough to pull it. He missed about seven weeks with a torn thumb ligament, which isn’t going to help his power anyway, returning just a few days ago. The good news is that he’s hitting .275/.408/.373 with very low whiff and chase rates, not shocking for a California high school product but still a very positive sign. If the White Sox can clean up his swing, he might be a monster, with plus-plus defense, strong OBPs and 20+ homers a year. That’s No. 1 prospect in baseball stuff.
Preseason Rank: 55
Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before — River Ryan is hurt, although this time it’s not his arm, it’s a hamstring, and possibly a biking accident involving the crossbar. If he weren’t on the IL, he’d probably be on his way to the majors to fill in for Shohei Ohtani in the Dodgers rotation, as he’s been sitting upper 90s again with a plus slider and walked just 5.1 percent of batters. If he’s healthy in time to reach the big leagues this season, he could be the Dodgers’ fifth starter, and I imagine they’ll get a lot of trade interest in him even with his injuries because he’s major-league ready.
Preseason Rank: 89
Nimmala missed a month with a strained hamstring but returned to Double-A New Hampshire just before the All-Star break, homering in his first two games back with the club. He was the Jays’ 2023 first-round pick but is still only 20, making him young for the level, and he still has plenty of projection left ahead of him. He offers 20+ homer upside at shortstop, where he’s an above-average defender despite a lack of speed. He really should spend the rest of 2026 in Double A, not least because pitchers there are attacking him with sliders and he has yet to adjust, whiffing on them over 40 percent of the time.
Preseason Rank: 42
Florentino hits the ball as hard as anyone, and has continued to hit for power after an aggressive promotion to High A, but he has run into some contact issues — much of it on stuff in the zone, as he remains disciplined but has been getting beat on fastballs middle-up more often than he had before. He’s still 19 and has the bat speed to catch up to velocity, but that’s still a significant adjustment he’ll have to make before he moves to Double A. Even with all of that, he has hit 14 homers for Greensboro, six of them on the road, and he has the patience to be a high OBP/power hitter in an outfield corner if he ends up moving off center field.
Preseason Rank: 85
I’m surprised Irish is still in High A, as the Orioles’ first pick in the 2025 draft has been among the best hitters in their system and has checked any box I can think of for a hitter of his age and experience. If he’s frustrated, he’s taking it out on High-A pitchers, as he came out of the break and went 9 for 19 with two doubles and three homers in Frederick’s weekend series at Greenville. He hasn’t hit lefties at all, but has destroyed right-handed pitching and played competent defense in right field. At worst, he’s a platoon outfielder, but I’d give him a few hundred more PA against lefties before moving him away from an everyday role.
Preseason Rank: NR
Flora was the first pitcher taken in the 2026 draft (No. 4 pick) and there wasn’t any real competition for that honor as the next pitcher didn’t come off the board until pick 16. Flora dominated for UC Santa Barbara thanks to a plus-plus changeup, a fastball that’s routinely 96-100 and a plus slider, all bolstered by above-average control. He was among the Division 1 leaders in strikeouts this spring, and while the fastball is kind of flat, he gets a little more boost from a lower arm slot. He looks like a future No. 2 starter right now, and could be a No. 1 if he improves his fastball command or maybe adds another type of fastball to keep hitters from sitting on the four-seamer.
Preseason Rank: NR
Tibbs was outstanding during the season’s first two months, picking up where he’d left off last year. In the last top prospect ranking, I noted that his hard-hit rate in Triple A this year was 56.5 percent, and he was showing power even outside of the Pacific Coast League’s ballparks that might as well be situated atop Mt. Everest. Since that date, Tibbs has been more ordinary, with a respectable hard-hit rate of 48 percent, maxing out at 110.2 mph with a 90th percentile EV of 105 mph (sample size of 98 balls in play), all very good data that’s just not elite like it was in April and May. He did suffer a minor forearm injury in early May, DHing for the rest of that month and mostly playing first base since he returned to the field at the beginning of June. He’s still a future regular who could probably play every day for a dozen teams right now, but a ceiling beyond that requires him to get back to showing above-average to plus power and playing somewhere in the outfield.
Preseason Rank: NR
Eyanson hasn’t held the upper-90s velocity he flashed earlier in the season, sitting 90-94 when I saw him a month ago, 91-95 at Double-A Hartford in late June and 93-94 in his one inning in the Futures Game. Instead, he has relied heavily on his wipeout slider to continue racking up strikeouts in Double A, with 15 in 10 innings in his last two starts. That slider is a 70 when he’s on, with very late downward break that has had Double-A hitters swinging at a pitch that is no longer there. Data from Synergy has hitters whiffing on the slider 59 percent of the time they swing, although I think they’ve got some curves tagged as sliders and vice versa. His secondary stuff is good enough to make him at least a fourth starter, and probably more with an approach that’s 40 percent fastballs or less. I had him ranked higher in late May because it seemed like he was going to pitch consistently at 95+, which would make that pitch more effective and give him more upside.
Preseason Rank: NR
Caba is a wizard on defense, one of the best defensive shortstops I’ve ever seen in the minors, and has shown good feel for the strike zone in his brief pro career. He started to gain some strength last year, hitting the ball harder without much in the way of results in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League, but he’s carried that into High A this year with a .251/.399/.395 line through Sunday. That includes five homers, more than he had in his two-and-a half seasons prior to this. With his defense, he doesn’t have to hit a ton to be a big-league regular, and so far he’s shown he can at least make enough hard contact to prevent pitchers from attacking him in the zone with impunity.
Preseason Rank: NR
Flewelling homered in the Futures Game, winning the MVP award, fitting for a hitter who has seen his raw power explode into in-game power this year, as he’s at 16 homers through Sunday. Some of it is the South Atlantic League’s lively baseball, but Flewelling has this kind of strength, along with a strong idea of the strike zone and generally above-average skills behind the plate. He and Caden Bodine, briefly his teammate in High A, give the Rays an embarrassment of riches at catcher. Flewelling has much more upside than Bodine thanks to his power, while Bodine is the safer bet to be at least a soft regular.
Preseason Rank: NR
Hartman can hit and run and go get it in center field, all of which probably gets him to everyday status. He was Atlanta’s 2024 20th-round pick out of a high school in Alberta, Canada. After a fairly unremarkable debut in Low A in 2025, he’s broken out across the board this year. He’s hit a surprising 22 homers already, although some of that is environment — homers in the South Atlantic League are way up this year, and nine came in the hitters’ havens of Asheville and Greensboro — and some is him just getting stronger in his age-20 season. He’s looking to lift and pull the ball, with all of his homers out to right field, and is probably looking fastball too much as a result. He has bat speed, solid ball/strike recognition and the added value of his speed and defense to make him a potential regular. If some of this power holds up, he could be an above-average regular or even a star.
Preseason Rank: NR
Franklin is a converted reliever who was dominating to start the year and has been merely effective in the last month-plus. He is perhaps a little further away from the majors than I thought when I ranked him 25th at the end of May but still maintains the same upside of a No. 2 starter. He’s still 96-100, the slider is still plus when he finishes it and he’ll show five different pitches. His arm is so quick that he isn’t always at the same place when he finishes, and that’s affecting his overall command and his ability to keep the slider and curveball down in the zone or below it. He pitched in such short stints at Kennesaw State and Tennessee that he’s already thrown more innings this year (62 1/3) than he did in any calendar year in college. He’s in a good spot, even if he’s more like two or three years from being able to help the big-league team.
Preseason Rank: 69
Kilen was the Giants’ 2025 first-round pick and he had kind of a lousy debut in Low A last summer due to a hip injury he’d suffered at Tennessee. He’s righted the ship this year, hitting .282/.350/.462 in High A with a 13.2 percent strikeout rate, earning a promotion to Double A out of the All-Star break. That stat line lines up with expectations — high contact, doubles power (he’s third in the minors with 29, through Sunday’s games), solid on-base skills. He’s playing mostly shortstop now but is much more likely to end up at second base, even before we discuss the two shortstops on the Giants’ Arizona Complex League roster. I see an above-average regular, probably not more, but also probably not much less.
Preseason Rank: 82
You know Culpepper is a Twins prospect, because he’s hurt. Prior to hitting the IL with a glute injury, he hit .272/.376/.492 in Triple A, cutting his ground-ball rate from 50 percent last year to 44 percent this year to get to more extra-base power. He’s an above-average defender at short, getting by on twitch and strength as his reads on balls hit towards him are still improving, and the Twins have dabbled with him at third and second base. Given their void at shortstop, I assume he’s going to have a crack at that job a few weeks after he’s healthy again.
Preseason Rank: 49
Arroyo hit .287/.364/.456 in Double A to start the year, earning a promotion to Triple A in early July alongside Lazaro Montes (who has 27 homers on the season now, but has struck out 31.3 percent of the time). The Mariners have given Arroyo some reps in left field, although he is still a second baseman and could be someone’s regular there, even if that’s not in Seattle. He’s an offensive second baseman who’ll hit for average with some doubles thanks to his excellent contact skills — he’s whiffed on 19 percent of his swings this year — and he’s pretty close to major-league ready, which might make him very valuable at the trade deadline.
Preseason Rank: NR
Arguelles turned 19 a few weeks ago and is among the Arizona Complex League’s leaders in average, OBP and slugging, with his eight homers also ranking in the top 10. He’s a left-handed hitter with a very rotational swing that is already producing power even though he’s going to get stronger from here, and he shows good instincts on both sides of the ball, including in his pitch selection. He’s not a runner at all and will probably end up bumped from center field by a plus defender. I think he is a really advanced bat and he should get a cup of coffee in the Low-A California League before the season is out.
Preseason Rank: NR
Arizona’s 2025 first-round pick out of a San Antonio high school, Cunningham demolished Low-A pitching this year with a .381/.471/.506 line in 43 games, earning a promotion to High A in June. He’s scuffled a little at the higher level, but is still making contact with some bad luck on balls in play. He’s fun-sized but hits the ball harder than you’d expect given his height and frame, which makes the low BABIP at High A even weirder to see. I’ve heard mixed things on his defense this year; the Diamondbacks have only played him at shortstop, but it sounds like there’s a good chance he ends up at second base, where he’d be at least a 55 defender.
Preseason Rank: NA
The A’s gave Burress an over-slot bonus to sign him, which is a little surprising for a college junior taken at pick No. 8, although Burress was one of the top college players in the draft class and clearly had interest up and down the top 10. He’s a little guy who hits big, with 60 homers in three years at Georgia Tech, swinging hard and trying to lift and pull the ball, while still showing extraordinary contact skills for someone with that approach. He’s going to start out in center field, but could be pushed to a corner in time by a plus defender up the middle. One note of concern I’ve heard is that his wood-bat experience in college is limited, with one homer in 91 PA and not as much hard contact, so that bears some watching in his pro debut.
Preseason Rank: NR
The Angels had the second pick in 2025 and used it on college righty Tyler Bremner, Jackson Flora’s UCSB teammate, but it’s Slawinski who has emerged from that draft class as their top prospect. He was a multi-sport guy in high school who offered athleticism and substantial projection once he focused strictly on baseball, and that seems to have worked, as he’s now working with a plus changeup, still has good carry on a low- to mid-90s four-seamer, and has a slider that projects to plus, as well. He’s struck out 35.8 percent of batters he’s faced in the Arizona Complex League, leading the circuit in strikeouts, and has dominated right-handed batters thanks to the changeup. There’s a ton more upside here and I’m glad the Angels seem to be taking it slow with him.
Preseason Rank: 32
Arquette’s first full pro season has seen him on the IL more than he’s been on the field, as he underwent core muscle surgery in February, came back at the very end of April and hit well enough in four weeks in High A to earn a promotion. He then hit poorly for a month in Double A before wrecking his left thumb while trying to steal a base and had surgery that’s going to keep him out until at least mid-August. I’m hoping he’ll be able to play in the Arizona Fall League to make up for some of those at-bats, but it’s probably a lost season for the Marlins’ first-round pick from last year. I’m not going to drop him from my list for barely playing, and I don’t think these small samples give us much insight into where he is as a hitter. The Marlins have mostly played him at shortstop, which I think is a tall order, literally, as he’s 6-foot-5 and has a huge frame that I think moves him to third base in time.
Preseason Rank: NR
Doughty was part of Cleveland’s haul from going under slot with Travis Bazzana at the first pick in 2024. Doughty and Joey Oakie, also in that class, have switched places this year, as Oakie was walking nearly a batter an inning before hitting the IL with a viral illness in late June. Doughty has stepped up his strike-throwing, cutting his walk rate from 6.4 percent last year to 4.8 percent this year, even as his stuff has ticked up. He’s been up to 97 this year and sits 93-96. His curveball remains an out-pitch, and he’s throwing his fringy changeup more to lefties. He’s also mixing in an occasional cutter in the upper 80s, which might be a better weapon against left-handed batters than the changeup, at least right now. He’s a No. 4 starter with the two weapons and plus control, but he offers No. 2 starter ceiling if he finds a clear pitch to use against lefties and the command ends up plus, as well.
Preseason Rank: NR
The Orioles selected Dzierwa in the second round last year and he’s already in Double A, working 92-94 with a 55 slider and plus control, striking out 30 percent of batters he’s faced this year and walking 6.4 percent. He comes from a low three-quarters slot that gets more tilt on the slider and still turns over a solid-average changeup, with no platoon split this year. He’s a very high-probability starter, maybe a No. 3 starter in a perfect world, and I don’t think he’s far from the majors. Righty JT Quinn, also in the 2025 draft class, projects as a starter, as well, with more ceiling than Dzierwa if he finds a pitch to use against lefties.
Preseason Rank: 79
Rojas is hitting .272/.341/.466 as a 21-year-old in Double A. His power is really starting to come on — this is the second year in a row when he’s set a new single-season high in homers — and he continues to hammer fastballs. He’s played more third base than shortstop this year, with a few games at second, which is an acknowledgement that he wasn’t going to be more than average at shortstop but could be a 55 defender elsewhere on the dirt. There’s 20-25 homer power here with solid contact skills, although he’ll have to tighten up his ball/strike recognition and ability to pick up spin.
Preseason Rank: NR
The Dodgers took two Arkansas Razorbacks with their first two picks in 2025 (No. 40 and No. 41), with Davalan the second of the two after left-hander Zach Root. Both are currently playing well for High-A Great Lakes, with Davalan showing a little more ceiling as a potential above-average everyday center fielder. He’s carried his strong bat-to-ball skills over to the wood bat, with just a 16 percent whiff rate across all pitch types, and now he’s pulling the ball more to get to increased power, with all 14 of his homers going out to right. I wonder if his presence … never mind.
Preseason Rank: NR
Level is a very advanced hitter with a small strike zone. He’s hit over .300 at two stops this year in Low A and High A, and he’s leading the minors in doubles at this writing with 31. He started the year playing shortstop for Low-A San Jose, and now he’s split time there at High-A Eugene with Gavin Kilen (before Kilen’s promotion to Double A), playing half his games at second, which is a much more likely position for him as his thicker build isn’t going to let him stick at short. Level hit 10 homers in the season’s first two months, which seemed wildly out of character for the diminutive infielder, but it was almost certainly a fluke — five of them came off the Stockton staff, which currently sports a 6.72 ERA on the year. Since his promotion to High A on June 1, Level has just two homers. He’s hitting .301/.340/.451 in 35 games since the bump up to Eugene, which looks like a good approximation of his ceiling to me — high average, some walks, maybe 10-12 homers on top of a lot of doubles.
Preseason Rank: NA
The No. 5 pick in this year’s draft, Curiel raked for two seasons at LSU, facing the best competition in the country in the SEC. He brings an unusual combination of contact frequency and contact quality, as he was the only qualifying Division 1 hitter this spring with a whiff rate under 13 percent and a hard-hit rate over 53 percent. He’s likely to start his pro career in center field but is a better than even money bet to move to left, which puts pressure on the bat. Although he’ll probably end up around 15 homers a year, that consistent hard contact points to high BABIPs in the future, even as the pitching gets better, enough to make him an above-average regular in left field.
Preseason Rank: NR
Hammond was the Royals’ second pick last year, selected with a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick they earned for Bobby Witt Jr.’s second-place MVP finish in 2024. Hammond has emerged as Kansas City’s top position-player prospect with a strong pro debut in Low A. He’s hitting .301/.368/.429 with a strikeout rate of exactly 20 percent, productive already even though he’s barely scratched the surface of his power potential. He’s been held back by his roughly 50 percent ground-ball rate this year (it is very difficult to hit a ground ball over the fence). He’s hitting plenty of doubles already; given the plus raw power he can show in BP, quite a few of those doubles are going to end up home runs when he’s a little more experienced. He’s also shown excellent pitch recognition. He projects to be a 20-homer third baseman with strong contact skills.
Preseason Rank: NR
Caceres won’t turn 19 until mid-August, but he’s already in High A after hitting .320/.418/.538 in 52 games in Low A this year, with more walks than strikeouts. He’s a mature hitter for his age, with outstanding bat-to-ball skills and the ability to foul off pitches he doesn’t like. He’s already gotten stronger and is (obviously) hitting for more power, with a career high in homers already. (We’ve seen a lot of that in the minors this year. Curiouser and curiouser.) He’s moved primarily to right field, which is where he was most likely to end up, but right now it looks like he’ll have the bat to be at least a strong regular there.
Preseason Rank: NR
Kyle Harrison isn’t the only pitcher the Red Sox traded away who has taken a step forward this year, as Fajardo has seen his stuff tick up slightly and his command trend up, as well. Acquired in the Willson Contreras deal, Fajardo is 92-96 now but works more with his offspeed stuff, as the fastball is still flat and leads to too much hard contact. The slider and changeup might both be plus already. The changeup is a little ahead of the slider, and the changeup has tremendous fade and excellent arm speed. The slider has sharp, downward break to it. He can spin a curveball as well but it’s not as sharp or hard as the slider and probably is more of a show-me pitch that he’ll use a few times a game. He throws strikes and goes right after hitters with the slider and changeup, and is at least a back-end starter. I’m betting someone who can manipulate the ball like he does will find a better fastball solution and end up a mid-rotation starter with three 55s or better in his arsenal.
Preseason Rank: NR
Frias signed in January 2025 for a $350,000 bonus. He made his U.S. debut this spring, hitting .441/.518/.678 in 32 games in the Arizona Complex League and earning a quick bump up to Low A before he even reached his 18.5 birthday. (We celebrate half birthdays in my house by playing “The Unbirthday Song.” Live a little.) He’s playing mostly center field at his current stop, but he’s going to end up in right field. It’s potentially plus hit/plus power — he hit a ball 117 mph this year in the ACL — once he gets a little older and can work to lift the ball more. The bar is a little higher because of the corner profile; the bat looks like it will play anywhere.
Preseason Rank: NR
Chourio’s 2025 season was scary, as he still drew walks but slugged .284 in High A, with 10 total extra-base hits in 79 games. He did break his wrist at the end of the 2024 season, and it’s possible that that was the cause of the power failure, especially since he’s returned this year to set a career high already with seven homers even while spending most of the year in Double A. He’s still an extremely disciplined hitter who borders on passive, swinging the bat less than 40 percent of the time, so I suppose he’ll fit right into a lineup with Steven Kwan in it, but now that he’s hitting the ball harder than before he might benefit from taking the bat off his shoulder. He’s a plus runner and should be at least a 55 defender in center. He’s a switch-hitter who’s much better from the left side, so there’s definitely a risk he’s a platoon guy, but there’s above-average everyday upside if he can improve against southpaws.
Jul 23, 2026
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