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On Thursday night, we updated the overall Top 100, team Top 30 and positional Top 10 Prospects lists to account for Draft picks and to reflect other changes based on 2026 performance and future outlook. On Sunday, we also released our 2026 in-season Farm System Rankings.
Those are the major changes for every summer, and when you also look back at our pre-Trade Deadline reranks and placements for newly acquired players, the MLB Pipeline Top 30s look a lot different than they did just one month ago.
We do all of that because even as we move beyond the dog days of summer, thankfully there’s still a lot of baseball left to be played across prospectdom. The Single-A and High-A levels end their regular seasons on Sept. 6, Double-A on Sept. 13 and Triple-A on Sept. 20.
More from MLB Pipeline:
• Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage
These are some of the key prospect storylines to follow in both the Major and Minor Leagues for the remainder of the 2026 season:
MLB debuts
Joshua Báez had one of the most memorable debuts in Major League history when he became the first player to homer three times in his first game in The Show on Saturday. As we noted beforehand, his arrival came at a time when he can’t accrue more than 45 days of service time in 2026 and (barring him also exceeding 130 at-bats), he’ll likely still be rookie-eligible in 2027 and thus eligible to win the Cardinals a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick, should he meet those requirements.
Many others could follow in his footsteps. OK, not in terms of hitting three homers in their first plate appearances, rather in terms of heading to The Show ahead of potential Rookie of the Year runs next summer.
Kade Anderson, the game’s top pitching prospect, is the big one looming. The Mariners left-hander has nothing left to prove in Double-A or, even really all of the Minors; he leads full-season qualifiers with his 1.06 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 40.5 percent strikeout rate, 36.6 K-BB%, 1.78 FIP and 2.60 xFIP over 93 1/3 innings with Double-A Arkansas. His four-pitch mix could work immediately, and his command is among the best in the Minors. Seattle sits 2 1/2 games back in the AL Wild Card race and four back in an open AL West, and while the rotation is plenty full, Anderson is becoming an arm you don’t want to leave in the Texas League with a real playoff spot on the line. (Note: It’s possible that Anderson also moves to Triple-A Tacoma, but the M’s historically don’t like throwing their top pitching prospects into the lion’s den that is the Pacific Coast League, at least for very long.)
Among hitters, No. 15 overall prospect Walker Jenkins could be a boost for a Twins team also competing an AL Wild Card spot, especially now that he’s consistently been in the Triple-A St. Paul lineup for the last two months. The 21-year-old outfielder is a possible five-tool star as he’s shown with a .356/.441/.610 line, eight extra-base hits and four steals in his last 15 games. Byron Buxton’s return is a boon for Minnesota’s playoff chances, and Jenkins’ arrival could be another shot in the arm.
The most fun? That could be No. 3 overall prospect Franklin Arias, a 20-year-old shortstop who has been with Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Worcester for all of 18 games. In the midst of a big-time power breakout, Boston's top prospect hasn’t slowed down at the Minors’ top level in the early small sample and calls for him to join the big club could only grow louder. The Sox have turned to Andruw Monasterio at short recently, and Trevor Story (sports hernia) has just begun a rehab assignment. But if Arias is the future of the six at Fenway with his budding pop and impressive defense as many believe, that future may not be far off.
Promotions within the Minors
Transactions aren’t limited to the Majors, of course. Already this week, the Brewers have moved Top 100 shortstops Luis Peña (No. 21) and Brady Ebel (No. 99) to Double-A and High-A respectively. The Peña jump to Biloxi is intriguing because the Shuckers already had a deep lineup with Jesús Made (No. 1 overall), Josh Adamczewski (No. 88), Andrew Fischer, Braylon Payne and Marco Dinges. With his inclusion, it should be considered the deepest in all of the Minors.
Speaking of Made, could we see him or No. 2 overall prospect Leo De Vries in Triple-A for the first time before 2026 is out? Both 19-year-olds have spent the entire summer at Double-A, and a taste of Nashville and Las Vegas could set them up for first-half debuts in ‘27. Admittedly, De Vries has been more productive of late with a .315/.394/.524 line in his last 30 games and might be more likely to make the jump, but sometimes talent just needs to experience the challenge of a new environment.
Statistical races
Here are some quick hits on the numbers you should follow in the final weeks:
- How low can Anderson get his Minor League ERA? With six more scoreless innings, he could push it below 1.00. Even as it stands, this has been one of the most thoroughly dominant single seasons by a Minor League pitcher (especially one in his first full season) in modern history.
- Entering this week, Eric Hartman is sitting on 24 homers and 46 steals. The last 30-50 season in the Minor Leagues came in 1981 from Orioles farmhand Willie Royster (31 homers, 53 steals). Hartman has yet to homer in his first 12 games with Double-A Columbus since his promotion earlier this month, but if he can re-find his power stroke, a place in history could be waiting for the Braves’ top prospect.
- Can anyone catch Fischer (37) for the Minor League home run lead? Mariners prospect Lazaro Montes (35) is closest, and the aforementioned Báez (34) sat third before being summoned to the bigs. Fischer’s high whiff rates have kept him from ascending to the Top 100, but his tendency to lift and pull the ball with authority continues to intrigue many in the game and could be enough to hold off his homer-hitting challengers.
2026 Draft picks
We’ve already seen a few 2026 Draftees announce their Minor League presences with authority.
Eighth overall pick Drew Burress (A’s) has already homered three times for Single-A Stockton. Third overall pick Vahn Lackey (Twins) has thrown out six of 17 attempted basestealers (35.3 percent) in the Florida State League while regularly recording pop times in the 1.8-1.9-second range. Second-rounder Caden Bogenpohl (Phillies) has multiple batted balls with Statcast-measured exit velocities above 116 mph for Single-A Clearwater.
Post-Draft performance can be a mixed bag for evaluating recent collegiate and high-school players coming off long summer layoffs since their actual seasons in the spring. But after spending much of June and July talking about who these players can be, August and September offer first glimpses into their tools and potential on the pro side.
The biggest name yet to debut: No. 2 overall pick Grady Emerson, who will make his pro debut for Single-A Charleston this week.