MLB's Top 10 Prospects for 2026

It’s odd to think that the future of a franchise as storied as the St. Louis Cardinals — 11 all-time World Series titles, second only to the Yankees — could be significantly positively impacted by a hamstring injury to a college baseball player in West Virginia. Heading into his junior year with the Mountaineers, Wetherholt was at or near the top of everyone’s 2024 MLB Draft rankings. He batted an absurd .449 with a .517 on-base percentage as a sophomore, but he saw his ascension to the No. 1 overall pick derailed by that hamstring issue, which cost him roughly 20 games and sent his OBP “plummeting” all the way to .471.

When the first six teams chose other college stars, the Cardinals happily snagged the WVU infielder with the No. 7 overall pick. In his first two pro seasons covering three levels, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound powerhouse has batted a combined .304 with a .418 on-base percentage, a .905 OPS, 19 homers and 25 stolen bases across 138 games. He hasn’t skipped a single beat jumping levels.

“This isn’t a knock on anybody else, but I think if he doesn’t have the hamstring injury his junior year at West Virginia, he’s probably the No. 1 overall pick,” Callis says. “I think it’s gonna be one of those things that 10 years from now, people will be asking, ‘How did this guy last seven picks in the draft?’ It was a deep draft, and he’d had the hamstring injury, but he’s been exactly who we thought he was.”

The Cardinals have been patient with Wetherholt — Cardinals fans who screamed for his debut last year as he manhandled Triple-A pitching might use a different descriptor — but he’s coming into 2026 spring training ready to prove that he’s done with the minors forever. Wetherholt has mostly been a shortstop, and Callis says he’s good enough to stick at the position in a vacuum, but considering that St. Louis has youthful Gold Glover Masyn Winn there, his future will be at second or third.

“Since he’s come into pro ball, he’s hit everywhere he’s been, and he has such a high baseball IQ,” Callis says. “I think he could be a solid defender at second base while winning batting championships and hitting 20 homers a year.”

Konnor Griffin

Pittsburgh Pirates, shortstop/outfielder

It’s pretty telling that some of the first physical comps for Griffin, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound phenom, aren’t even baseball players. “He’s in that Julio Jones or A.J. Brown physical mold,” says Longenhagen, rattling off a couple of freak-athlete NFL All-Pro wideouts. “On the baseball field, he’s like Carlos Correa or Corey Seager, in terms of this guy’s size and strength. I don’t think the Correa comp is irresponsible at all. It’s heavy, for sure, but this is a super-duper talented player.”

In a 2024 draft stacked with proven college commodities, some scouts, Longenhagen notes, were a bit concerned with Griffin’s long swing and relatively high swing-and-miss rate as a prep star. He wound up going to the Pirates with the No. 9 overall pick and immediately put together the type of first pro season that high school picks dream about.

“As he got stronger pretty fast — he’s probably put on 20 pounds — that allowed him to shorten up his swing some,” Longenhagen says. “There have been mechanical changes, and he’s basically gone from a guy where you’re worried there’s going to be real issues with strikeouts to an average hitter from a bat-to-ball standpoint. And when you have his kind of power, the hit tool piece of it will play up because the quality of his contact is so good.”

Griffin tore up Single-A ball to start his pro career, then did the same in High-A. Promoted to Double-A for his final 21 games of the season, Griffin didn’t bat an eye. He finished the season with a .333 average, .415 on-base percentage and .941 OPS with 21 homers and 65 stolen bases in 122 total games.

“He’s just explosive on the bases,” Longenhagen says. “Watching him run, the way he churns up the earth underneath his spikes, the divots he leaves in the infield dirt when he is going full tilt, it’s just nuts how powerful he is. The way I wrote it was that it looks like a rooster tail shooting up behind a speed boat. It’s a rooster tail of dirt. He’s got a shot to go 40/40. I’ll say this, that he’s a 30/30 lock at peak.”

Griffin, who won’t turn 20 until April 24, has the glove to stick at shortstop, though his speed and baseball instincts would make for an outstanding center fielder, too.

Sabastian Walcott

Texas Rangers shortstop

Walcott spent his age-19 season playing Double-A ball for the Rangers — he was nearly five years younger than the average Double-A player — and flashing the type of talent that has fans of the franchise eagerly awaiting his eventual MLB debut.

“Walcott’s super exciting,” Callis says. “In terms of youth and tools, Konnor Griffin would be ahead of him, but I don’t know that there’s anybody else in the minors who necessarily has that all-around ability as well as the youth. Playing Double-A as a teenager, he showed his huge power, huge arm strength and he can run. I think his hitting ability is going to continue to get better as he gains more experience.”

In 124 games with Frisco, the 6-foot-4 Bahamian native hit 13 homers and stole 32 bases to go with a .741 OPS and .355 on-base percentage. He’s played the left side of the infield in the minors — 192 at shortstop, 38 at third base — and likely has the tools to handle either spot in the bigs. With Seager entrenched at short and Josh Jung at third, though, the Rangers should be able to show a bit of patience with his development.

The bat, though, will make an impact in the big leagues at some point.

“Walcott’s probably a half to a full season away from the big leagues,” Callis says. “He might be a future home run champion and also has one of the best arms you’re going to see in baseball.”

Kevin McGonigle

Detroit Tigers shortstop

Baseball fans love comps, and Longenhagen has a couple for McGonigle. Think José Ramírez, in terms of being someone who’s initially doubted because of his size — the 5-foot-10, 187-pound McGonigle went 37th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft out of high school but exited 2025 ranked as the No. 3 prospect in baseball by FanGraphs — but with a combination of athleticism and exceptional hitting.

“I don’t think McGonigle’s ceiling is quite in the José Ramírez territory,” Longenhagen says, “but the verve in his body, his approach at the plate, the quality of the contact and how flush it is, he’s going to hit for enough power to be an impact player.”

In 36 games at High-A last year, McGonigle tore up Midwest League pitching to the tune of a .372 average, .462 on-base percentage and 1.110 OPS. Moved up to Double-A Erie, he hit 12 homers with a .919 OPS in 46 games. Then, in 19 games in the Arizona Fall League, he won MVP honors with 22 runs scored, five home runs, 19 RBIs, a .500 on-base percentage and 1.210 OPS. In 183 career minor-league games, McGonigle has 123 walks and only 84 strikeouts.

And another trait of his was on full display in Arizona.

“The thing in the fall league that stood out watching him a couple times a week for six weeks is that he is a Dustin Pedroia-type of lunatic,” Longenhagen says with a laugh. “He is a Philly kid who absolutely brings it every play, who is spiky and talks smack. He’s super competitive, and he backs it up with his style of play. He had multiple verbal confrontations with other players, and entire opposing teams at certain points, jawing with other guys.”

McGonigle has played mostly shortstop in the minors, but Longenhagen sees his eventual landing spot in the bigs at either second or third base.

Colt Emerson

Seattle Mariners shortstop

Injuries in his first couple of seasons of pro ball stymied Emerson’s progress, too, but his 600-plate-appearance season in 2025 — he started in High-A and finished in Triple-A — pushed expectations skyward, as the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 draft showed why the Mariners have long been high on his potential.

Staying healthy gave him a chance to make adjustments to his swing as the season progressed, and though it’s obviously an extremely small sample size, batting .364 with two homers, two doubles and nine RBIs in six Triple-A games was a great sign. Overall for the season, Emerson posted an .842 OPS with 16 homers and 14 stolen bases.

“He made a few late-season mechanical adjustments, which had more to do with his footwork than his hands, just to help with his long swing,” Longenhagen says. “The goal was to cut down his stride and see if he can be more on time. It seemed like that made a difference.”

Emerson has been primarily a shortstop, but the Mariners have given him starts at second and third, too. He’s in Seattle’s infield prospect mix with Cole Young, who made his MLB debut in 2025, and Michael Arroyo, who reached Double-A last year.

“We could see two of those three guys be an integral part of Seattle’s contending group going forward,” Longenhagen says. “Lefty-hitting infielders with Emerson’s kind of bat speed don’t grow on trees, and the fact that he was able to make mechanical tweaks at all is a very positive indicator for him to be able to remedy some of the stuff. He’s going to be a good player in the big leagues pretty quickly.”

Walker Jenkins

Minnesota Twins outfielder

The biggest knock on the left-handed-hitting Jenkins, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, has been that injuries — a hamstring in 2024 and an ankle issue in 2025 — have kept him from playing more than 84 games in a season thus far.

“I feel like Walker just needs to stay healthy,” Callis says. “I actually think he’s slightly underrated because he just hasn’t been healthy enough. I don’t think anything serious where it’s a long-term concern, but he hasn’t had that monster full season in the minor leagues. You’re talking about a guy who can hit for average, hit for power and draw walks, and I think he has a chance to play center. If he doesn’t stick in center, he fits the right-field profile.”

After a delayed start to his 2025 season, Jenkins produced a .309/.426/.487 line with seven homers and 11 stolen bases in 52 games for Double-A Wichita. A promotion to Triple-A for his final 23 games of the season gave him a taste of more seasoned pitching.

“I remember going into his draft year having a scout I really respect compare him to Larry Walker, and he does have those kind of tools,” Callis says. “And he’s performed, but he’s just been too banged up to have a fully healthy season and put up monster numbers. So in a weird sort of way, I think he’s a little bit underrated.”

Carson Benge

New York Mets outfielder

He was a two-way player at Oklahoma State, but Benge’s potential as a hitter intrigued the Mets, who took him 19th overall in the 2024 draft.

“He’s an interesting player,” Callis says. “I felt like he had one of the best combinations in that draft of swing decisions, contact and hard contact. It was just that he hadn’t played a lot because, as a two-way guy, he wasn’t a full-time hitter, plus he lost a year to Tommy John surgery. And I felt like he was a little bit underrated as a center fielder, too. He’s a pretty good athlete, even though he’s not a blazer. Maybe he doesn’t wind up in center, but he’s got the arm strength.”

Benge started 2025 in High-A, posting a .302/.417/.480 slash line in 60 games. He followed that up with a .317/.407/.571 line in Double-A. His numbers took a tumble in 24 games for Triple-A Syracuse — .178/.272/.311 — but that’s not something that really concerns Callis.

“I just look at that like it was the end of a long year; he was only playing 60 games in college and the pro season is a lot longer, plus the competition level was a lot higher than he was seeing 12 months ago,” Callis says. “I wasn’t really surprised that he got to Triple-A in his first full year in pro ball. I don’t know that he’ll be in the Mets’ Opening Day lineup, but at the same time, I do think he’s talented enough that if you told me he was in their Opening Day lineup, it wouldn’t shock me.”

Justin Crawford

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder

The son of four-time All-Star Carl Crawford, Justin Crawford hit .334 with a .411 on-base percentage and 46 stolen bases for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2025 in his age-21 season. He has elite defensive potential in center field, too. In basically every way, athletically and on paper, Longenhagen notes, Crawford is an exciting prospect, except for one little thing.

“There aren’t any good big-leaguers who hit the ball on the ground as much as he does,” Longenhagen says. “His swing is just so long that he ends up playing pepper with the third baseman most of the time. When you’re as fast as he is, and you’re facing minor league defenses, you can perform the way he has.

“He had a 60% ground-ball rate last year. There are no qualified big-leaguers from 2025 who hit the ball on the ground that much. Christian Yelich was at 57%, and the next guy was down at 53%. There are only seven qualified big-leaguers from 2025 who even had a ground-ball rate north of 50%, and one of them is Alec Bohm, whom people in Philly have been frustrated with. That sort of gives you an idea of how mold-breaking he would be to be an impact big-leaguer if that doesn’t improve.”

Still, Longenhagen says, the arrival of Crawford this spring could help Philadelphia.

“Even if he’s a nine-hole hitter who just plays really good defense, I still think that’s better than some of the in-house alternatives the Phillies have,” Longenhagen says. “But whether or not he’s able to make an impact on offense is probably going to be dictated by this: Can he get stronger and be shorter to the baseball as he matures? If he can, all the other stuff is in place for him to have a true breakout and be a five-tool type player.”

Travis Bazzana

Cleveland Guardians, second baseman

Bazzana was the No. 1 overall pick in a 2024 MLB Draft that could go down as one of the best of the era — several players from that draft class are on this list — but Longenhagen and other prospect evaluators look at Bazzana as more high-floor than high-ceiling.

“He doesn’t have some of the overt physical tools of some of the other guys,” Longenhagen says. “He’s more of a medium-framed player, sort of in that Rougned Odor mold physically, where he packs a pretty good punch for his size, but nothing too crazy. I think the OBP piece and his ability to get to the power that he does have is still going to enable him to be a starter. He’s not an especially good defender; second base seems like the only fit for me.”

In his final year at Oregon State, he had 76 walks and 37 strikeouts in 60 games. At three levels in Cleveland’s system in 2025, Bazzana had 66 walks and 91 strikeouts. That ratio was actually better in Triple-A (29 walks, 32 strikeouts) than it was in Double-A (29 walks, 55 strikeouts), which was encouraging. Overall, Bazzana batted .245 with a .389 on-base percentage, with nine homers and 12 stolen bases in 84 games, though he missed time with oblique injuries to both sides.

“I think he’s more of an average everyday second baseman than a star, but he has exceptional makeup,” Longenhagen says. “The list of sports this guy lettered in high school in Australia is amazing. He ran track — 100 meters, long jump, high jump — as well as playing soccer, basketball, rugby and cricket.”

Spencer Jones

New York Yankees outfielder

A 6-foot-7 masher with prodigious power, Jones slugged 35 homers in 116 games last year, 49 games in Double-A and 67 in Triple-A. It’s hard to fault Yankees fans for getting excited about a tall college slugger taken late in the first round; Aaron Judge went 32nd overall in 2013, and Jones was 25th overall in 2022.

But Jones has question marks.

“I struggle with him a bit, to be honest,” Callis says. “You look at his size and athleticism, and there aren’t too many guys that have that kind of combination. And obviously the power is huge. It’s just there’s a long history of swing-and-miss, and I just don’t know how confident I am that the bat is going to be there for consistent production. The ceiling for him could be a 40-home run guy pretty easily, but he’s going to have to make a lot more consistent contact. It looked like something had kind of clicked for most of last year, but then in the last four to six weeks of the season, he was really struggling again. So he’s super interesting.”

Jones struck out 179 times in those 116 games last year, on the heels of 200 strikeouts in 124 games in Double-A in 2024. That kind of power/whiff combination might remind Yankees fans of a different slugger — Joey Gallo.

“Joey’s probably the most extreme example of that profile, but, yeah, Jones could hit 40 home runs but he also could hit .200 with 200 strikeouts,” Callis says. “I think Spencer is a better athlete, playing in the outfield. The thing is, Joey Gallo means something a lot different for Rangers fans than he does for Yankees fans.”

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