The 2026 fantasy baseball season has seen plenty of significant movement with some of Major League Baseball’s top prospects. Injuries, poor performance and team context have led to significant movement in minor league systems. Some of baseball’s biggest prospects have been called up, and several others seem to be on the cusp of making a debut this summer. Those will all be names leagues should know about. Who are the others? That’s what this fantasy baseball prospect report is for.
Top prospects like Travis Bazzana, Colt Emerson, Chase DeLauter, JJ Wetherholt, Konnor Griffin, Gage Jump and Kevin McGonigle have all had varying amounts of success in their rookie seasons. Many more will graduate from prospect status by summer and fall. However, there are still a plethora of big names that were sent back to the minor leagues to get more seasoning before making their MLB debuts.
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Fantasy Baseball Prospect Report
This regular piece will look at some of the best prospects from a fantasy baseball perspective and track their production. Below is a report of the top 15 Major League Baseball prospects (hitters and pitchers) who have yet to make it to the Majors.
As players on this list move up and graduate from prospect status, more names will fill in as we track the top prospects for dynasty and keeper fantasy baseball leagues. This list will focus on the top pitchers and hitters based on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects List, noting others outside that list when appropriate.
Jesus Made (SS – MIL)
Jesus Made continues to blow the doors off of AA this season, slashing .279/.350/.439, and he is starting to look like he belongs at the next level soon. Especially since he is doing this at 19 years old.
Made has eight home runs, but his real fantasy value comes from his 24 steals, 55 runs and strong average. Made’s speed is exceptional, and might help him reach the Majors next season. He recently came back from an injury scare and has performed just fine.
Leo De Vries (SS – ATH)
Leo De Vries is another 19-year-old in AA having a strong season. He is slashing .281/.371/.428 with 10 home runs and 28 steals. De Vries is not the pure run producer that Jesus Made is, but he is starting to develop some raw power, and he already has elite on-base ability at his age. He is slugging .444 in July so far.
Eli Willits (SS – WSH)
Down in A-ball and A+ is 18-year-old Eli Willits, who is absolutely killing it this season. Willits is slashing .279/.413/.498 with 12 home runs, 38 steals and a 17.7% walk rate. Willits should be up in AA soon, as he is smashing A+ with a .494 slugging rate since his debut a month ago. He is flying up the prospect rankings right now.
Max Clark (OF – DET)
Of the top 10 hitting prospects, Max Clark might be the closest to a Major League promotion because he is at AAA, but he must start recording some extra-base hits soon. In AAA, Clark is slashing .265/.351/.401. He doesn’t have much power this season (seven home runs), but he has stolen 19 bases and strikes out only 14% of the time.
Josue De Paula (OF – LAD)
Josue De Paula is likely on the verge of moving up to AAA after his recent scorching hot stretch in AA. He is now slashing .321/.419/.552 with 15 home runs, an insane 65 RBI and 25 stolen bases.
There is a very good chance De Paula is up with the Dodgers for a short September run. He looks like the best hitter in the upper minors right now after his recent hot streak and could be a future 20/20 player in the Majors.
Franklin Arias (SS – BOS)
Franklin Arias is climbing the prospect list and absolutely destroying pitching in AA this season. He is slashing .332/.418/.602 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI in fewer than 300 plate appearances. Even with Trevor Story injured, the Red Sox are being patient with the 20-year-old Arias and won’t rush him up to the Majors right now. But the future looks bright at shortstop.
Walker Jenkins (OF – MIN)
Many thought Walker Jenkins would be in the Major Leagues by now, especially with the Twins’ season not going as planned, but Jenkins has just recently started to perform well at AAA, and now has 353 plate appearances there. He’s also still recovering from an injury, which slowed his progress earlier in the season.
Jenkins’ overall on-base percentage (OBP) is terrific (.406), and he is hitting .308 with an even .500 slugging rate.
Caleb Bonemer (SS – CWS)
Caleb Bonemer is another rising prospect thanks to truly awesome power in High-A ball. His strong play recently earned him a promotion to AA, where he is hitting .262 with a .385 OBP. Bonemer has 21 home runs in 356 plate appearances, but also a 28% strikeout rate. His power is Major League ready, however.
Theo Gillen (OF – TBR)
Outfielder Theo Gillen (just 20 years old) has replaced former top-10 prospects like Ethan Holliday and Josuar Gonzalez. After slashing .342/.449/.589 in A+ ball, Gillen was promoted to AA, where he has spent the last few weeks. At that level, Gillen is slashing .180/.268/.240, but his 12 home runs and 28 steals in A+ show how deserving he was of the promotion.
Luis Pena (SS – MIL)
Even though he is tearing up the minor leagues this season, Luis Pena has a Jesus Made problem on his hands. They both play the same position and are the same age, but Made is the bigger prospect, with more hype.
We can’t ignore Pena’s numbers across two levels this season, though. He is slashing .3o4/.408/.402 with 19 stolen bases. He was out with an injury recently, but has returned in the last four games (and has hit .444).
Kade Anderson (SP – SEA)
Kade Anderson is still tearing up AA and has risen on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects List to the overall number-one pitching prospect spot.
Anderson has a stellar 1.36 ERA and 0.69 WHIP over 72.2 innings, with 108 strikeouts and 10 walks. He looks like a future ace and just turned 22.
Seth Hernandez (SP – PIT)
After a 0.96 ERA and 0.71 WHIP in regular A-ball across six starts, Seth Hernandez was moved up a level. In 10 starts at A+, he has a 3.73 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 41 innings.
The 20-year-old hurler is several years from the Majors, but looks legit so far, especially in the strikeout department. Just imagine him, Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Bubba Chandler all in the same rotation.
Thomas White (SP – MIA)
Thomas White is also 21 years old, and the Marlins decided he was ready to go directly from A-ball to AAA after recovering from an injury.
White’s start in AAA didn’t go quite as planned, as he posted a 4.34 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over 18 innings. Since then, he suffered a left shoulder capsular sprain that carries a 12-16 week recovery timeframe. We might see him late in the season, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s at a lower level.
Ryan Sloan (SP – SEA)
Speaking of struggling, Ryan Sloan did not have a good start in AA, but things have started to improve. At one point, he possessed a 5.09 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP across 40.2 innings. Now that’s down to 4.04 and 1.19.
Sloan is striking out more than a batter per inning and has only issued 12 walks, but he has allowed 74 baserunners in 62 innings, leading to some big innings against him and an inflated ERA. The improvement lately is encouraging, however.
Liam Doyle (SP – STL)
Another pitcher who has significantly struggled is stud Cardinals prospect Liam Doyle. He has a 5.46 ERA and 1.61 WHIP at the AA level this season, mostly due to an unusually high 33 walks over 56 innings. Doyle is still just 22 years old, but he has some work to do on his command moving forward if he wants to reach AAA this year.
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