Kiley McDanielJan 27, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency. Has worked for three MLB teams. Co-author of Author of ‘Future Value’ Follow on XMultiple Authors
MLB prospects to keep an eye on (1:16)Kiley McDaniel lists some baseball prospects to keep an eye on, including Caden Scarborough. (1:16)
With spring training just a few weeks away, it’s time to rank the top prospects in Major League Baseball for the 2026 season, with some who will be in the majors to begin the year and others primed to rise through the minors in the years ahead.
Tuesday’s list kicks off our 2026 top prospects coverage. Our coverage will continue with a list of the top prospects who didn’t make the top 100 on Wednesday; our ranking of all 30 MLB farm systems comes Thursday; and team-by-team prospect lists are scheduled to follow next week.
Now, let’s move on to ranking baseball’s top 100 prospects entering the 2026 MLB season, starting with a breakout shortstop who is in a tier of his own.
National League ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | PHI PIT | SF | STL | WSH (HOU, SD have no top 100 prospects)
I ranked Griffin No. 7 in a tightly packed top tier of 10 players before the 2024 draft, and he was picked No. 9. Just more than a year later, Griffin and Nick Kurtz (the fourth pick, but he signed for the sixth-highest bonus) are the two breakout stars from that group.
Since then, McGonigle has exceeded all of my wildest expectations. My predraft case was that he was a plus hitter with average power, a strong approach and average speed who was a better defender than people gave him credit for, because at 5-foot-10 with average physical tools, he wasn’t an NFL combine-style athlete whom scouts prefer. That’s a good to very good every-day second baseman, basically.
I sounded the alarm on Made in August 2024 (ranking him the 45th prospect in baseball) after he had completed his historic showing in the Dominican Summer League. All the pieces seemed to be there — surface stats, visual report, advanced data — to project him to have a huge 2025 in the United States, but the level of competition would be so much better that you could never be sure.
Type: Huge bat speed and raw power from the left side with enough hit tool and acceptable catcher defense
At the plate, Basallo wasn’t very good in a 31-game big league sample, but it doesn’t worry me long term. His hit tool might play as a 40 or 45 depending on his approach, but it’ll come with some walks and a lot of power, likely with some 1B/DH reps to keep his bat in the lineup and keep him fresh.
Emerson was securely in the second cut of prep position players in the 2023 draft, seen as an advanced hitter with some power and athleticism who probably wasn’t a shortstop. That’s why he lasted until the 22nd pick — then immediately looked like a steal as his exit velos and approach were both better than expected early in pro ball.
I think he will get a chance to break camp with the big league team but probably needs most of 2026 to face upper-level pitching before I’m confident Emerson will stick in the big leagues.
Reminds me of: A little bit of Pete Crow-Armstrong and a little bit of Kenny Lofton, but not quite that kind of defender
Jenkins was the No. 5 pick in the loaded 2023 MLB draft, but for many scouts, he was a No. 1-level talent in most drafts if not for the durability questions that continue plaguing him to this day. He has had quad, hamstring and ankle issues in addition to a broken hamate bone while playing 82 and 84 games across the past two seasons.
He is one of the best prospects in the minors in the batter’s box — a 55- or 60-grade hitter with an excellent approach and 60-grade raw power that he gets to in-game quite effectively who also can take an extra bag with his 55- or 60-grade speed.
Jenkins is good in center field, but it wouldn’t shock me if he moves to a corner to take some stress off of his legs. He likely will open the season in Triple-A and should be big-league-ready at some point in 2026.
Miller emerged as a big draft prospect early in his high school career, showing plus bat speed and raw power potential with a Donaldson-like bat waggle. Miller slid a bit in his draft spring due to a poorly timed hand injury, going No. 27 to the Phillies in the loaded prep position-player group in the 2023 draft then almost immediately looking like a steal.
The bigger question here is where De Vries fits defensively, because his lateral quickness and long speed are below average, to the point where his arm can’t save him, and it seems unlikely he’ll stay at shortstop on the current trajectory. He also is young enough to shift this narrative with lots of work, but I’d guess he ends up at third base long term, where his bat will easily profile in an every-day role.
Type: Two-way, two-sport prospect with a dominating fastball who’s on the verge of becoming a front-line arm
Chandler has one of the best fastballs in the minor leagues, sitting 96-100 and hitting 102 mph, while his big extension helps create a good shape to his heater. His changeup and slider/cutter hybrid are both above-average pitches, and there’s a softer slurve as a fourth look.
Given his athleticism (evidenced by his background and his extension), 6-foot-3 frame and three strong pitch shapes, all the pieces are here for the modern checklist of a potential front-line starter, even if his command/execution might not be fully baked yet. The track record of legitimate position-player prospects turning into front-line arms is strong, so Chandler narrowly wins the title of top pitching prospect on this year’s list.
McLean was a two-way prospect in high school and college (although he only dabbled as a hitter in pro ball), with huge raw power and a third-base fit, but big questions on his hit tool. In college, as his hit tool became a bigger question, it became clear that his athleticism on the mound and pitch shapes fit perfectly with modern thinking around the most important traits to look for in potential standout pitching prospects.
The theory goes that being a supinator (i.e., a bias toward cutting the ball) and athletic ability are the two things you can’t teach but that you can often teach the other stuff that matters if those two things are present. The athleticism allows the team to project command and mechanical adjustability while expecting a big arm-speed/velocity ceiling, and the supination bias means he can develop three strong breaking ball shapes.
For reference for the Mets fans reading this, Clay Holmes literally did all of those things but has only average fastball velocity, so he’s more of a No. 3/No. 4 starter. Seeing a path for command and new pitch shapes is a big reason the Mets thought he could transition from reliever to starter at age 32.
Yesavage is an exception in a few ways. His splitter is either a 70- or 80-grade pitch; his fastball is an above-average pitch; his command works in a starting role; and his slider is close to average. His superhigh release and backup slider shape gives him some baked-in deception, possibly for the long term.
He has also improved his defensive outlook to now likely being an average defensive center fielder, in part because he’s running a bit better than he did in college. He also has an easy plus arm and hadn’t played much center field before pro ball.
Offensively, I think his hit tool could range from 50 to 60 and his power could too, depending on how he wants to approach it. Benge has a pretty swing but is limited a bit by hard fastballs at the top of the zone, which could make his first trip through the league a bit of a challenge. There’s a shot he has five above-average-to-plus tools and could become a fan favorite by the middle of 2026.
Anderson was a known prospect in high school, but a Tommy John surgery in April 2022 limited how much scouts could see him, pushing him to LSU. He was good in a swing role as a freshman in 2024, but then was electric as the Tigers’ top starter in 2025, eventually becoming the No. 3 pick in the draft (and No. 1 player on my draft board).
Anderson’s arm slot, frame, delivery, big-breaking curveball and front-line potential remind me of Fried, and their stuff is similar, but Anderson’s pitch shapes are slightly different. Both were also elite prospects for most of high school and had a Tommy John surgery early in their career. I trust the Mariners’ dev staff to tease out a Fried-like outcome if it can be found in Anderson.
Stewart was the 32nd pick in the 2022 draft out of a south Florida high school after being a notable prospect for almost his entire prep career. The report now reads pretty similarly to how it did then: a gifted hitter with above-average raw power who might be a third baseman. The main difference is that the 55-grade power projections are now giving way to 60 or 65 grades.
Stewart is trending toward first base but third base is still a possibility if he can improve his lateral mobility, which it sounds like has been the focus this winter. His hands and arm are enough if Stewart’s mobility improves, but he’ll likely end up at first base at some point in his career.
White was the first pitcher in his draft class to pop on the national stage, clearly separating from the pack as a freshman at a Massachusetts prep school. He narrowly got the second-highest bonus among prep pitchers in the loaded 2023 draft, $4.1 million as the 35th pick.
He is a filled-out 5-foot-10 but also athletic in the way a catcher needs to be; he already is a pretty good framer, solid blocker and makes the most of solid-average arm strength in shutting down the running game.
Tolle went 50th in the 2024 draft out of TCU, then took a huge step forward in 2025, rising all the way to the big leagues. He raised his arm slot a bit and gained roughly 4 mph on his fastball, which helped to sharpen his off-speed stuff a bit, as well.
Tolle’s fastball is his bread and butter, a plus pitch, one he threw 53% of the time in the minors and 64% of the time in seven big league appearances. His cutter, slider and changeup are all around average. His likely outcomes range from No. 2 to No. 4 starter.