{"id":538781,"date":"2026-01-26T13:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/538781\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T13:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:08:29","slug":"new-york-mets-breakout-mlb-prospects-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/538781\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Mets Breakout MLB Prospects For 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, a handful of players ranked outside the top 10 in their respective farm systems take meaningful steps forward to improve their stock and vault up prospect rankings. Part of the fun is trying to identify those breakouts before it happens. So today, we\u2019re identifying Mets prospects who have the potential to make a jump in 2026.<\/p>\n

To qualify, a player must rank outside the organization\u2019s preseason Top 10 prospects.\u00a0All scouting reports are from Baseball America\u2019s 2026 Prospect handbook, which you can purchase here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can find Top 30 prospect rankings\u00a0for all teams here<\/a>\u00a0and all breakout candidates here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Breakout Prospects<\/p>\n

Eli Serrano III<\/a>, OF<\/p>\n

BA Grade\/Risk: 50\/High
Adjusted Grade: 35<\/p>\n

Track Record: Serrano is the son of former Stetson catcher and Giants 1998 second-round pick Sammy Serrano. Eli spent two years at NC State before the Mets drafted him in the fourth round in 2024. He turned heads in his first full season in 2025, serving as leadoff hitter and versatile outfielder for a dynamic High-A Brooklyn lineup that dominated the South Atlantic League in the first half and hung on to win the league title.<\/p>\n

Scouting Report: Serrano is a 6-foot-6 lefthanded hitter with a well-rounded batting profile. In 2025, he batted .243\/.366\/.441 through May 23 while playing half his games in a brutal Brooklyn home park. He rolled his ankle at the end of May and had just a .604 OPS the rest of the way. Serrano does a good job staying within the strike zone and limiting in-zone whiff rate (17%) for such a long-levered hitter. He hits the ball hard and keeps it off the ground. If he can improve his ability to sync his swing and pull the ball in the air, he could reach 20-plus home runs. Serrano is an above-average runner who has above-average range in center field and an average arm that plays at all three outfield spots. Despite his speed, he hasn\u2019t shown a knack for stealing bases in college or pro ball.<\/p>\n

The Future: Serrano is a sum-of-his-parts player with no major flaw and no single outstanding attribute. As he continues to develop, he could emerge as a contributor to a big league outfield mix, most likely as a platoon option versus righthanders.<\/p>\n

Scouting Grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Field: 55 | Arm: 50<\/p>\n

Randy Guzman<\/a>, OF\/1B<\/p>\n

BA Grade\/Risk: 50\/High
Adjusted Grade: 35<\/p>\n

Track Record: Guzman is the younger brother of former Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman. Randy signed for just $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic in September 2022 and did not make his pro debut until he was 18. Guzman hit just .186 with a .648 OPS in two Dominican Summer League seasons but went on a power binge in 2025 that carried him from the Florida Complex League to Low-A St. Lucie. He hit 10 home runs in 75 total games and slugged .604 in a 26-game sample in the Florida State League to close the season.<\/p>\n

Scouting Report: Guzman is a mature-bodied, 6-foot-4 righthanded hitter with a good blend of contact and impact for a player of his size. What sets him apart are his strong work ethic and high-end bat speed. The Mets say that Guzman already has a mid-70s mph average swing speed, which is where high-end MLB sluggers live. Like many young hitters, Guzman chases too often, but when he swings at strikes, he makes a lot of impactful contact. His zone-contact rate of 82% was good for a young power hitter, while his 90th percentile exit velocity of 108 mph trailed only Ryan Clifford among Mets minor leaguers in 2025. Guzman isn\u2019t much of a runner and is limited defensively to first base or possibly an outfield corner if he doesn\u2019t lose too much mobility as he ages.<\/p>\n

The Future: Guzman\u2019s late power surge as a 20-year-old and his contact\/impact hitting profile engender hope that he can take another step forward at his Class A assignments in 2026.<\/p>\n

Scouting Grades: Hit: 30 | Power: 65 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 50<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every year, a handful of players ranked outside the top 10 in their respective farm systems take meaningful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[71247,5,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203],"class_list":{"0":"post-538781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-2026-breakout-mlb-prospects","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkmets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115961561513438995","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}