2026 June Farm Report: NL Central

Andrew Fischer entered the year as one of the most intriguing players in the Brewers’ system. The power was very real to anyone who saw Fischer play at Tennessee and with Team Italy in the 2026 WBC. And in High-A, it was hard for opposing pitchers to contain.

Twenty home runs for the pull-heavy Fischer, who was promoted to Double-A Biloxi in June. Look, the profile hasn’t changed much on the former Volunteer, who had among the best power tools in the 2025 MLB Draft. Elite power & bat speed, will take plenty of walks, but also strike out a lot. From May 1 to his promotion, a Whiff% of 38% with the Timber Rattlers.

Speaking of Wisconsin, a good time to remind you that back in the winter, I noted that Josiah Ragsdale was a name to watch. The Boston College Eagle fit the Brewers’ mold to a T — and he’s been highly productive in A-ball. Twenty-eight hits and 12 walks over his first 17 games of June with Wisconsin.

Eric Bitonti, who still has a lot of swing-and-miss in his game, hit .301 with six home runs across June with the Rattlers.

Moving on, Jesús Made‘s held his own well on a Biloxi team that can put the ball in play. Through 67 contests, the 19-year-old already set a career-high in home runs (7) through June 29. And at his age, the sky really is the limit with his ceiling.

Before moving to the pitchers, one last note: Brady Ebel might be batting .225 but it’s not because of a high swing-and-miss rate.

Josh Knoth, with a Whiff% over 30% in his five starts with High-A Wisconsin, is back on track after he missed all of 2025. Knoth, a former first-round pick by the Brewers, struck out 21 over 21 innings to start his season with the Timber Rattlers.

Cardinals

Okay, let’s talk about Joshua Baez.

There’s arguably no slugger in Triple-A right now who’s received as much attention as Baez, who is up to 26 home runs on the season. Very impressive year for the Memphis center fielder, who could be an option for St. Louis down the stretch. But for those wondering why Baez isn’t in the Majors yet, the numbers do tell a story on that.

Baez’s game is filled with swing-and-miss, and that appears obvious given that he struck out 99 times over 72 contests. A 33% Whiff% from May through the end of the first half was indicative of that, although that’s not the only issue here. After all, hitters with higher Whiff% at the Triple-A level — Spencer Jones & Braden Montgomery were two — have played at the Majors this season and have been productive in spurts.

It’s also the chase, which we touched on at various points in our coverage this season. Now, can hitters who expand outside of the zone succeed at the big-league level? Absolutely. However, high chase & whiff rates are pretty self-explanatory about what the weaknesses are within Baez’s game.

Moving on, Rainiel Rodriguez had a great month at the plate for Double-A Springfield. A heavy fly-ball hitter, Rodriguez picked up 26 hits, four of which were home runs, over 20 games with Double-A Springfield. Downside was the high swing-and-miss (30.4% Whiff% through 6/21), although not that bad compared to some of Double-A’s worst.

College hitters have produced in Low-A, as Brayden Smith and Ryan Weingartner have hit well in Palm Beach. Weingartner, a 2025 pick from Penn State, had seven home runs in June as of June 29. Very patient hitter, just like Ryan Mitchell, the latter of whom had an up-and-down year to this point.

Lastly, Liam Doyle is pretty good, just stating. Doyle’s formed a nice combo in that Springfield alongside Jurrangelo Cjintije (33% Whiff% from 5-1-6/21),

Cubs

While the Cubs wait for their top pick from 2025, Ethan Conrad, to make his pro debut, it’s another New York-born outfielder from that draft who’s shone and turned into an elite-level prospect.

That would be Josiah Hartshorn, the Cubs’ sixth-round pick from 2025. Hartshorn only needed 39 games in Myrtle Beach before he forced a promotion to High-A. And across his first 30 contests with South Bend, he slashed .315/.385/.630 with nine home runs and 15 extra-base hits with the baby Cubs.

Many positives from Hartshorn over his progression from Low-A to High-A, including working counts, low swing-and-miss (25.5% Whiff% through 6/21), and driving the ball to the pull side, as noted above.

Aside from Hartshorn, there are a lot of positive stories in what is a pretty deep system as far as position player prospects are concerned. Kane Kepley continued to be one of the better contact hitters in the Midwest League. And, we can’t ignore what Owen Ayers and Jefferson Rojas have done in Double-A.

Ayers and Rojas entered June 29 tied for first in the Southern League in home runs (7) for the month. It’s been a much better second run for Rojas with Double-A Knoxville, who had some woes in the Southern League in 2025. Low swing-and-miss and pop.

As for Ayers, his fantastic run continues. Yes, there’s some swing-and-miss in his game. But there’s some pop there, to say the least, including the other way.

BJ Murray and Brett Bateman, two other interesting names in the Cubs’ system, have also been among the International League’s best hitters in June.

Pirates

Now that Konnor Griffin & Bubba Chandler have graduated, we have a new crop of high-end Pirates prospects to focus on. Obviously, that list starts with Seth Hernandez, the Pirates’ first-round pick from 2025.

Hernandez is already up to 100 strikeouts this season in total, 50 of those have come across 34.1 IP with High-A Greensboro. The walk rate has ticked up since his jump to Greensboro. As have the home runs allowed. But in terms of stuff and efficiency, there may not be a better starting pitcher prospect in baseball right now than Hernandez.

Aside from Hernandez, it’s also been a good few weeks for several other pitching prospects. Khristian Curtis (32% Whiff% from 5/1-6/21) earned a promotion to Triple-A, while 2024 draft pick Connor Wietgrefe struck out 29 over 23 innings with Altoona, along with a .39 ERA. Wietgrefe doesn’t throw hard whatsoever — but that production was enough to force a promotion to Indy.

Lastly, for the pitching staff, Levi Sterling (24 K, 4.70 ERA over 23 June IP) is starting to progress.

As for the hitters, there have been some very nice stories this season. One is Lonnie White Jr., a 2021 MLB Draft pick who may be becoming a future big-league option. Another, and this one isn’t much of a surprise for those who followed college baseball, is Murf Gray.

Gray was one of the FSL’s best contact hitters for much of the early part of 2026. The former Fresno State star pushed his way to High-A. With Greensboro, he’s continued to rip it up. Twenty-nine hits, seven of which were home runs, in June in High-A.

Gray is part of a deep Greensboro team, one that’s also seen a nice breakthrough season from Jhonny Severino. Severino, acquired three years ago for Carlos Santana, has 16 home runs on the year for the ‘Hoppers.

Reds

From a statistical standpoint, arguably the best performer in the Reds’ system over the last month has been Carter Graham.

Graham, an eighth-round pick from 2023 out of Stanford, notched 29 hits and 11 home runs with High-A Dayton. Both figures led the Midwest League. However, he’s not the only one on the Dayton team with pop. Alfredo Duno hit six home runs in June, raising his season total to 16. Fantastic numbers from Duno, who does have some swing-and-miss but will also take pitches when needed.

Cam Collier‘s re-run with Double-A Chattanooga has come with mixed results. More home run power, not a ton of swing-and-miss, but not clean overall results. Collier, through June 29, slashed .198/.324/.372 with four home runs for the Lookouts in the month.

Lastly, we should end with Edwin Arroyo, who was promoted to the Reds on June 1. We’ve yet to see Edwin Arroyo drill one but he’s made contact at the big-league level thus far.