One of the best things about going to Spring Training from an MLB Pipeline perspective is that you often get to see and talk to prospects you’ve only really seen on a screen. Maybe you’ve seen video or read about them, but seeing them playing games is a real treat. After putting roughly 225,000 words out into the world for all 30 organizations’ Top 30 lists, these players can get a little two-dimensional.
So getting to head to see them “in the wild,” so to speak, right after that project concludes is perfect timing. I’m making my way down the West Coast of Florida, hitting 10 total camps along the way, with my first four stops being with the Tigers, Phillies, Yankees and Blue Jays. I know it brings up a lot of questions for me. I’ll give you one example: In Blue Jays camp on Thursday, I saw both JoJo Parker and Juan Sanchez play, two exciting young shortstops in the system. How are the Jays going to figure out playing time for both since they’ll likely be at the same level at some point soon? Stay tuned for the Blue Jays Spring Training report for some answers. Now let’s get to your questions for this week.
Who's a prospect from the teams you mentioned that you believe could be on their team's Opening Day roster this year? -- @StevieDAles97
There are some obvious answers to this one from those first four teams mentioned above. I’ll answer this in the order I visited their Spring Training home.
Tigers: I got to see Kevin McGonigle homer in the big league game on Monday, and I’m sure that’s why it’s looking like he’s going to open the season as the shortstop when the Tigers begin the year in San Diego. All he’s done is hit .304 with an OPS over 1.000 over 23 at-bats. More than that, he’s never looked overmatched, has made adjustments and looked plenty good at the premium position.
Phillies: I ran into Justin Crawford on Tuesday morning, and he sure seems ready for this challenge. He’s going to get a pretty good runway as the big league club’s center fielder starting on Opening Day. Right-hander Andrew Painter will also likely begin the year in the rotation, and it remains to be seen how things shake out once Zack Wheeler returns, seemingly at some point in April. He’s allowed just one hit over five scoreless so far (he’s slated to start Friday afternoon’s game against the Orioles), and I’m one who thinks he’s going to hold the spot.
Yankees: This isn’t a team that often has a big prospect break camp, and there’s no one who fits the mold this year, either. There was some thought that Spencer Jones might make the team, but he was sent down on Tuesday (then hit his fourth Grapefruit League homer). After watching Carlos Lagrange throw four hitless innings while routinely topping 100 mph with his fastball, you’d want him on your staff, and it’s going to happen at some point this year … just not on Opening Day.
Blue Jays: The Jays are ramping up Trey Yesavage very slowly this spring as they hope to limit/monitor his workload after he rushed up to the big leagues and pitched in the World Series in his first year of pro ball. But he’s going to be in the rotation; it’s just a question of when that first regular season outing will come.
Who’s your best bet to jump into the Top 100 in 2027 that no one is talking about right now? Like not one of the 2026 honorable mentions … more off the radar … -- @BLeagueMatt
We answered this one in this week’s MLB Pipeline Podcast (and we had Mariners lefty Kade Anderson on, too!), so go give that a listen. On the pod, I went with Twins lefty Dasan Hill, who maybe isn’t SO far off the radar because he’s the Twins’ No. 6 prospect but hasn’t gotten a ton of national attention … yet. He’s super projectable, has a legitimate four-pitch mix and was touching triple digits earlier this spring. Added strength could equal more consistent velocity and better overall stuff, which could equal him being one of the top left-handed prospects in the game. I believe in this so much, I doubled down in our recent one prospect prediction for each team story.
Jim singled out Dakota Jordan with the Giants. He’s a premium athlete who had an under-the-radar very strong first full season of pro ball, falling one hit and one RBI short of winning the California League Triple Crown. The Giants’ No. 6 prospect has done a very nice job turning raw tools into skills and production.
I’ll throw out one more name who is definitely “more off the radar.” I’m going to Pirates camp today (Friday) and hope I get to see Darell Morel, their No. 18 prospect. The Pirates got him for $1.8 million in 2025 when the Dodgers couldn’t sign him because they used their bonus pool to acquire Roki Sasaki, and he had a very solid debut in the Dominican Summer League last year. Now he’s stateside, and word is he’s been very impressive so far this spring. The Pirates feel the bat is going to play, with excellent swing decisions and contact quality, and they’re bullish he can stick at shortstop, too. It’s early yet, but the last time a guy coming over from the DR created this kind of early buzz was last year, with Edward Florentino, who is now No. 50 on our Top 100.
Curious who has the bigger upside White or Snelling? And do you think both come up this year? -- @DrewPapi1
If you’re a Marlins fan, it’s hard not to be excited about Thomas White and Robby Snelling. They give the organization the best 1-2 southpaw prospect punch in the game, and both are in the top 5 on our Top 10 LHP prospects list. Both at least touched Triple-A last year and are super young, with White pitching this year at 21 and Snelling at 22. Both are going to spend time in Miami for sure, depending on needs on the big league staff, and they should be in the rotation full-time by 2027. Obviously, we think White has the higher upside, since he’s the No. 1 lefty prospect on the rankings, and his stuff is more electric with three plus pitches. Snelling has a higher floor with solid stuff and excellent command.
With the Rockies new and (hopefully) improved pitching development system, which pitchers do you think could have big breakouts this year and raise their stock? -- @quirdepecky7913
It’s a little too early to tell which pitchers are going to run with the new way of doing things the most, but look for a lot of new pitches, designs and shapes from a bunch of the pitchers in this system. I’m hearing reports of pitchers across the board being excited about the increase in information and a different way of doing things. The pitching group -- Alon Leichman, Gabe Ribas, Matt Buschmann and Matt Daniels are the “core four” -- all are bringing new ways of doing things to the organization, and the feeling is that the floor is going to be raised for all the arms in the system. I’ve heard young relievers like Zach Agnos and Jaden Hill, for example, have had success with new stuff.