I cover some pitchers and I did get to a fair amount of high school players, although there are sooo many.
Okay, I’m just going to skip the preamble. I have a ton of prospects to get to, and I tried to separate them by different categories when I could. Let’s begin.
BP Favorites
These are prospects that Baseball Prospectus seems to like a lot more than the other sites, for whatever reasons.
Gage Wood, RHP – Arkansas
Wood isn’t exactly out of left field – he’s not low on the other lists, but they place him 12th on their draft board and call him a likely top 100 prospect in 2026.
“The missed time due to a shoulder injury and inconsistent slider feel point to some relief risk, but the right-tail outcomes are extremely valuable. Teams that value pitch traits should be all over this profile.”
Jaden Fauske, C/OF – High School
Fauske on other hand is wildly different than the other sites. BP has him 13th on their draft board. If the other sites are anything to go by, the Cardinals have a chance at him with their second pick.
“He’s been more hit than power, but the underlying hard hit numbers are among the best in the prep group, even if that comes from projecting out the present hand speed more than significant strength gains. He’s played all over the field, and while it might make sense to start him at catcher given its place on the defensive spectrum, he should be fine in a corner outfield role, where he played in the spring.”
Chase Shores, RHP – LSU
It’s easy to see why the other sites aren’t as high on him. He underwent TJ surgery in his freshman year and missed his sophomore year, and had a 5.00+ ERA in his junior season. But BP thinks with the right pitch development program, he has enormous upside.
“In flashes, Shores shows ability with a ride-run fastball, turbo sinker, hard gyro, slurve, and changeup. Arsenal refinement is crucial for his development, as the changeup is his most distinct offering at the moment, which is mainly kept in his back pocket in terms of usage anyway.”
Marcus Phillips, RHP – Tennessee
Kind of a theme with the BP favorites is they see the ingredients of an arsenal that could work well with the right development system. But they seem rather risky.
“His main secondary is a slider thrown in the mid-80s with baby sweeper shape. It should be a fine pitch as-is provided he puts it in better chase locations, but some pro teams are going to see this as fertile design ground to break out a distinct bigger sweeper and tight slider or cutter. He rounds out the arsenal with a firm changeup that averages above 90 mph but displays above-average depth, which should project well for generating bad swings.”
Matt Barr, RHP, SUNY Niagara
As you can see by the school he attended, Barr is not a safe pick. I originally had Barr in the funky delivery section (which I scrapped) because he, while it’s not the same, his odd movements remind me of Jordan Walden a bit. Not a comparison I love.
“Long-limbed at 6-foot-6, he will still need to figure out how exactly his body moves in space, as the head whack can be prominent and the landing mechanism looks like it belongs more as a two-step in a hardcore punk pit than on a mound. Despite these kinks there are really promising traits here, like a mid-90s fastball that flashes cut, elite spin capability—reaching 3,000 rpm on his breakers, and a release that is much lower than expected given his taller frame.”
Keith Law Favorites
Ryan Mitchell, SS – High School
For some of these players, Law has them ranked in his top 100 and they are nowhere to be found on other lists. Not the case here. But Law does narrowly have him as a 1st round talent and the other sites do not, so I think he qualifies. He doesn’t think he’s a real shortstop of the future though, because of his arm.
“Mitchell was one of the most advanced and disciplined hitters on the showcase circuit last year, with whiff and chase rates of 16 percent each in almost 400 pitches at tracked events; on pitches well out of the zone (WOOZ?) his chase rate dropped to just 7 percent. He takes a long stride forward but keeps his weight back with excellent balance through contact, with fringy power but some projection to get to average.”
Mason Morris, RHP – Ole Miss
Law sees a hidden gem because Morris was relegated to the bullpen despite being one of the better starting prospects on Ole Miss.
“He threw 54 2/3 innings this year in 19 relief appearances, never making a start, and would sit 95-97 with a plus slider and cutter that allowed him to get lefties out even without a changeup. It’s not a picture-perfect arm action but he repeats it well enough to project him to get to 45 or 50 control, and with this stuff that’s at least good enough to be a back-end starter.”
Maclane Moody, RHP – High School
Near as I can tell, he’s not rated on MLB Pipeline and he’s ranked 343 on Baseball America. Law has him 77th. So I think it’s accurate to say he’s high on this guy.
“The slider is very sharp and he can throw it near the zone or down and away as a chase pitch for right-handed batters. He’s athletic and moves well but for some reason doesn’t take a very long stride even though he’s 6-7, so that might be an easy way to gain some deception and possibly more velocity.”
Carson Brumbaugh, RHP/SS – High School
Technically a two-way prospect, Law only talks about Brumbaugh as a hitting prospect. So that explains the writeup.
“He can hit some and has a good swing to produce line-drive contact off fastballs, collapsing his back side somewhat on breaking stuff which can make him more uphill or just cause him to whiff. He has a plus arm, up to 95 off the mound, with the hands and range for shortstop right now, although he could end up at third base as he matures.”
Good Arsenal
For pitchers who were at least written up like they have a current choice of pitches that is fairly well-rounded.
Riley Quick, RHP – Arkansas
Quick throws a four-seam fastball, a sinker/2-seam fastball, a good changeup, and his most-used pitch is his slider. And he recently introduced a cutter. Fastball is 96-98. There’s no way he lasts to the Cardinals 2nd pick.
Law: “His arm is often late, which may be contributing to the issues with the slider, and he comes back across his body with some head-snap at release. It all points to some reliever risk even before you consider the injury, but he’s also someone who has such a great foundation of arm strength, ability to spin the ball, and a present off-speed weapon in the changeup that he could be a No. 2 starter or better with some mechanical fine-tuning.”
Zach Root, LHP – Arkansas
Root throws five pitches, a fastball, curveball, change, slider, and cutter. His fastball is unfortunately not that strong, with a 9% whiff rate at Regionals. But with his other pitches, he struck out over 30% of batters.
“Root employs his fastball only about a third of the time, operating at 91-94 mph and reaching 97 with sink that creates ground-ball contact. His most effective offering is an 83-85 mph changeup with fade, and his low-80s curveball gives him a second plus pitch. He topped all D-I pitchers with 51 strikeouts via his curve. His mid-80s cutter/slider is a solid fourth option, and he uses all three of his secondaries at a roughly equal amount.”
JD Thompson, LHP – Vanderbilt
Thompson throws it low 90s, but has an extremely effective changeup to pair with it. He also throws a curve and a slider.
Law: “He seems like a definite starter, with no platoon split at all this year, who just needs to tighten up his fastball command to try to reduce the amount of hard contact he allows to become a mid-rotation guy or better.”
Anthony Eyanson, RHP – LSU
He’s here and probably belongs here even though he has a fastball that makes me think the Cardinals will definitely draft him.
“Eyanson’s slider has become his best pitch during his first season in Baton Rouge, parking at 82-85 mph and eliciting empty swings in and out of the strike zone thanks to its tremendous depth. His upper-70s curveball has been solid but hasn’t enticed hitters to chase nearly as much as his slide piece has. His fastball has operated at 92-94 mph and topped out at 98, though its lack of life can make it vulnerable if he doesn’t locate it well.”
Injury Problems
It probably goes without saying that merely being a pitcher is an injury risk, but these players seem to especially stand out as injury risks.
Patrick Forbes, RHP – Louisville
Forbes isn’t specifically here because he’s missed time the past two seasons to injuries, though that contributes. He also has a funky delivery that Law calls “high-stress, slinging arm action.”
BP- “The fastball plays up due to Forbes’ unique ability to pepper the top of the zone with count leverage, while also taking advantage of the ride-run shape and stealing called strikes in the lower half of the zone in counts where those rising fastballs typically get hammered. Forbes’ main secondary is a low-80s sweeper that should have a role in his arsenal, but mostly against righties.”
AJ Russell, RHP – Tennessee
Russell has thrown a grand total of 70 innings in his three years of college and has been limited to relief work for the most part. BP at least says he’s been battling injuries for three years.
BP: “It’s a plus-plus flashing fastball that has returned elite whiff rates when he’s been able to throw it. The rest of his arsenal has improved to now being a four-pitch mix, with his main secondary being a new slider in the mid-80s with some lift and sweep. His baby sweeper from 2024 has added depth and is now more of a slurve in the upper-70s, and he rounds out the arsenal with a changeup with good fade that he has great feel for.”
Lots of Projection
Michael Lombardi, RHP – Tulane
Lombardi is considered a starting pitching prospect, despite not starting in college. That’s because he also played center field and first base. So he was a reliever in college. He’s an upside pick.
BP: “Where he shines is the fastball, which sits 93-95 with top-of-the-class carry from healthy release points. His main secondary is currently an upper-70s curveball that’s not quite fast enough to comfortably project whiffs, but has bite and significant depth. He rounds the arsenal out with a changeup that sits 10 mph below the fastball and flashes relative depth. A couple of pitches at 86 with slight glove-side sweep are proof of concept that he could add a gyro slider, which makes sense given the rest of his arsenal.”
Jack Bauer, LHP – High School
Bauer has thrown it as hard as 102 mph and sits in the upper 90s. He has two other pitches that look like they’d play in pro ball too. But his delivery is high effort and he has control issues.
BP: “But the much larger concern is with the demographic of triple digit prep arms as a whole. There’s enough athleticism where you can project some strike-throwing if you squint your eyes, but there is effort in the delivery and the control has wavered thus far. Bauer is a huge gamble on huge arm speed.”
JB Middleton, RHP – Southern Mississippi
Admittedly, Middleton’s placement is a little harsh. But when you see scouting reports like “he needs to add a true breaking ball in the pros,” I feel like it’s fair. But he’s not quite as much of a leap of faith as a JUCO guy or a high school guy.
BP: “His fastball is fun, sitting in the mid-90s with some carry from a lower release and good extension, but he did see some shape degradation over the course of the season that needs to be ironed out to get the fastball back to above-average traits. His most-used secondary is a pitch he calls a slider and uses like a slider, but really is more of a cutter in the upper-80s. His best whiff pitch is a changeup that generated swings and misses above a 50% rate, although fairly selective usage likely inflated this.”
More High School Bats
Josh Hammond, 3B/SS
Hammond is listed as a two-way player but the sites seem pretty convinced he will get drafted for his bat.
BP: “An obvious athlete, he has good speed and the arm to stick on the left side of the infield. Even if there are kinks to iron out, he has an up arrow next to his name and the upside of a power-hitting shortstop.”
Sean Gamble, 2B
Along with Hammond, Gamble was one of the two players I kind of wanted to cover in the high school draft previews, but there was just too many high school players. His position is in flux, as some scouts think he’ll be better in the outfield where he maybe can play CF.
Pipeline: “Gamble is a left-handed hitter who has a smooth and repeatable swing with a knack for finding the barrel, controlling the zone and doing damage to all fields. As he’s gaining strength, he’s showing more raw power and should continue to leverage the ball and get to more extra-base authority as he moves along.”
Cooper Flemming, SS
And then we jump way down the draft board with Flemming, who isn’t close to the 1st round on any draft board. He’s got around a 2nd round grade, so actually a player the Cardinals might be able to get.
Law: “He’s a left-handed hitter who uses the whole field well, potentially getting to average power when he fills out. He hits with little-to-no load, however, which likely explains his very low whiff rates but isn’t conducive to driving the ball. He did have higher whiff rates on breaking pitches, but the sample is really small and I haven’t heard the same from scouts this spring. He’s not going to stick at shortstop and will have to at least move to third base.”
Taitn Gray, C/OF
Woo boy. Okay. I’m going to exercise some self-control here, but Google is not shedding any light on where exactly Taitn comes from and if this is just a completely made up name, I would like to take the gloves off.
Law: “He’s a switch hitter with elite bat speed who makes a ton of hard contact and shows plus power now, hitting a ball at 109 mph in the preseason Super 60 showcase. He’s almost certainly not going to stick at catcher, with right field the most likely long-term position. The hit/power upside is pretty huge, but he’s going to need to make some significant mechanical adjustments as he gets older and fills out so he can get to that ceiling.”
More High School Arms
Aaron Watson, RHP
Well, I’ll say this for a high school arm. Inasmuch as a high school arm can be, he’s not considered a pure stuff pick, but someone who actually knows how to pitch. If the scouting reports are to be believed. He is committed to Virginia, so he may want to go to college.
Pipeline: “Because of his feel for pitching, the 6-foot-5 Watson has a pretty high floor and it’s not difficult to imagine a higher ceiling as he adds strength to that frame. He’s typically in the low-90s with his fastball, but has been up to 95 mph with more consistent velocity to come. He throws his heater with good sink, getting a lot of ground-ball outs, and complements it with a pair of very effective secondary offerings which flash above-average.”
Matthew Fisher, RHP
Law: “Fisher is a tremendous athlete and former quarterback who’s been sitting in the low to mid 90s this spring with a hammer curveball and good attributes to both pitches, along with a slider and changeup to round out his arsenal. His fastball gets good ride thanks to a high spin rate, and it plays up a little because he gets so far out over his front side at his release.”
Johnny Slawinski, LHP
Law: “Slawinski is a very athletic, projectable lefty with a chance for three average or better pitches now that his velocity has started to creep up. He works in the low 90s with good carry, with a low release height that adds some deception to the pitch. He shows solid control already, and his slider projects to plus as long as he finishes it out front.”
Okay that’s all I got. There are quite a few high school guys that I had to ignore, because good lord there are so many high school prospects in everyone’s top 100.