These 10 farm systems have the best pitching prospects
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This story is the third in a series in which MLB Pipeline ranks the Top 10 MLB farm systems by position: Infielders | Outfielders | Pitchers | Catchers (coming Thur.)
We went from the dirt to the grass ... and now to the mound. While the leaders for infielders (Brewers) and outfielders (Dodgers) were pretty much slam dunks, this ranking based on pitching prospects was a lot more muddled/closer at the top.
Arguments could be made for any of the top four or five organizations listed below to be in the top spot, or at least a few slots higher. With pitching so mercurial, this ranking could look a whole lot different in the near future.
1. Miami Marlins
Right out of the gate, we’re starting with a bit of a speculative, "what if" kind of pick at the top. On paper, it makes a lot of sense: The Marlins are one of just two teams with three pitchers on the Top 100: Thomas White (No. 37), Robby Snelling (No. 53) and Karson Milbrandt (No. 78). White and Snelling are in the top half of the Top 10 LHP prospects list and all three are 22 years old or younger while at the highest levels of the system. But -- and it’s a big but -- White and Snelling have thrown a combined 58 2/3 innings in 2026. White’s shoulder sprain has kept him out since mid-May and Snelling’s Tommy John surgery will keep him out through mid-2027. The other pitcher in Miami’s top 10 is Kevin Defrank, and he has Top 100-type stuff, but he didn’t pitch this year, either, with a right bicep injury. A return to health from that trio alone would make this a clear-cut choice.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
While the Cardinals have only one Top 100 arm in the system in Liam Doyle (No. 44) -- and he’s posted a 1.75 ERA and .157 batting average against since the beginning of July -- it’s a very deep crop. St. Louis has 13 pitchers on its top 30, five in the top 10 alone. No organization has more pitchers on a top 30 with a 45 or better overall grade than the Cardinals’ 12. Top 10 pitchers in the system Tanner Franklin, Quinn Mathews and Brandon Clarke have been joined by 2026 draftee Tegan Kuhns, who had first-round stuff and ended up going No. 32 overall, in Competitive Balance Round A. Jurrangelo Cijntje hasn’t had a good year, his first in the organization, but it speaks to the depth of this group, and Top 30 overall, that his arm talent is sixth in this org and No. 12 on the Top 30.
3. Washington Nationals
The Nationals match the Cardinals in having 13 hurlers on their Top 30 and come a close second with 11 of them earning a 45 or better overall grade. Their pair of Top 100 guys -- Travis Sykora (No. 52) and Jarlin Susana (No. 68) -- offer a combined 13 feet of pure power pitcher. The two 6-foot-6 right-handers have both dealt with elbow injuries and surgeries, though, keeping Sykora off the mound for all of this season and Susana sidelined until August of this year. Meanwhile, Jackson Kent has pitched his way to the big leagues from Double-A and has moved into the team’s top 10 while flamethrower Miguel Sime Jr. has missed an absurd amount of bats (16.3 K/9) while showing he has a long way to go in terms of command (8.2 BB/9).
4. Baltimore Orioles
Not long ago, the O’s were known for their hitting depth and it seemed as if they couldn’t draft, sign and develop pitching at all. Now they have three pitchers in the Top 100, getting a pair of Top 10 lefties in Joseph Dzierwa (No. 89) and Caden Hunter (No. 97) in the 2025 Draft and acquiring right-hander Anthony Eyanson (No. 49) from the Red Sox in the Adley Rutschman deal. All three of them are in what has to be the deepest Minor League rotation in baseball (Double-A Chesapeake), especially when you consider that big righty J.T. Quinn is there now, too, and he’s No. 14 on Baltimore’s Top 30. Lefty Luis De Leon has Top 100-caliber pure stuff and he’s joined in the system’s top 10 by another Trade Deadline acquisition, Michael Forret, in the top 10 and the Triple-A rotation.
5. Seattle Mariners
The dynamic duo of Kade Anderson (No. 5) and Ryan Sloan (No. 8) alone could be enough to vault the Mariners up this list. Anderson has led the Minors in just about every statistical category imaginable while Sloan had been his rotation-mate, at age 20, in Double-A until Anderson got called up. The main reason why Seattle isn’t higher in this ranking is there’s a drop off pitching-wise in the system after their top two. The M’s only have two other arms in their top 15: promising lefty Mason Peters and right-hander Griffin Hugus, who had Tommy John surgery this spring. Both are from the 2025 Draft class and the crop did get buoyed by 2026 third-rounder Nathan Taylor, who comes in at No. 17.
6. San Francisco Giants
They’re already No. 2 on the infield list, and that might be the main reason for their big leap all the way up to No. 5 on our farm system rankings. But their growing pitching crop is nothing to sneeze at, either. Adding Jackson Flora (No. 31) via the Draft and Ramon Marquez at the Trade Deadline (No. 99) was huge in terms of high-end talent on the mound. But that’s not all they have, with their 16 pitchers on the top 30, the second-highest total in baseball. After getting Flora from the college group, they spent lavishly to add high-end high school arms in Carson Bolemon and Kaden Waechter in Competitive Balance Round A and the second round, respectively, and added intriguing pitchers Henry Lalane and Miguel Mendez at the Trade Deadline while 2024 Deadline acquisition Jacob Bresnahan has thrown well this year.
7. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers boast just a single Top 100 arm, with River Ryan (No. 66) recently joining the organization via the Tarik Skubal trade. But there’s some depth here, with 12 total pitchers in the top 30, five of whom hit Detroit’s top 10. Ben Jacobs has been in the system all year, courtesy of the 2025 Draft, and now he has company: 2026 first-rounder Cameron Flukey and trade acquisitions Kash Mayfield (Casey Mize deal) and Brady Smith (Skubal) are all in the top 10 with him.
8. Toronto Blue Jays
There are some enigmas in this group, with injuries playing a big part in that, but the Blue Jays have been able to find some interesting talent, and not necessarily at the top of a Draft. Their lone Top 100 pitcher, Nolan Perry (No. 95), was a 12th-round pick in 2022, while bat-missing lefty Johnny King was a third-rounder in 2024. Even Cole Carlon, who was Toronto’s first pick in 2026, was the No. 39 overall pick. That gives the Jays three arms in their top five alone, while the trade acquisition of Dasan Hill gives them a high-ceilinged, albeit inconsistent, southpaw in their top 10.
9. Texas Rangers
The last of six organizations with two or more Top 100 pitchers -- the other five are above -- the Rangers’ pitching contingent is led by 2025 breakout Caden Scarborough (No. 77) and 2026 first-round pick Gio Rojas (No. 96). They have 13 total arms on their top 30 with an average overall grade of 45, tying them with the Giants for eighth-best among all 30 systems. They were able to add a high-end arm in Brody Brumila in the third round of the Draft, though he’ll have to recover from Tommy John surgery first. And if two-way players Seong-Jun Kim and Josh Owens end up focusing on the mound, it will make this group even deeper.
10. Pittsburgh Pirates
Having a top prospect like Bubba Chandler graduate will knock a team down a few notches, as does some inconsistent performances from guys like Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington; the Pirates were at No. 2 last year. Seth Hernandez (No. 7) helps keep them on the list, while Levi Sterling has the chance to make a big jump forward in 2027.