Ranking The 20 Hottest MLB Prospects | Hot Sheet (6/8/26)

1. Kade Anderson, LHP, Mariners

• Team: Double-A Arkansas (Texas)
• Age: 21
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: Anderson’s season has been one of the most dominant in the minor leagues. He jumped directly to Double-A to begin his career and has barely blinked. He’s allowed just seven runs all year, and five of them came in one start. Otherwise, he’s thrown up zeroes seven of the 10 times he’s taken the mound. This past week was the third time he’s surrendered one or fewer hits, and it was the fourth time he’s finished with nine or more strikeouts. His 76 punchouts are second in the minor leagues. (JN)

2. Briggs McKenzie, LHP, Braves

• Team: Low-A Augusta (Carolina)
• Age: 19 
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 0.00, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

The Scoop: The Braves have been deliberate with McKenzie’s development since selecting him in the fourth round of the 2025 draft and signing him for a well-overslot bonus of $3 million. He didn’t pitch after signing, and he didn’t make his professional debut until May 15 this year, a few weeks into the Florida Complex League season. Since then, he’s made three additional starts, including his first in Low-A this week, in which he was dominant. He pitched five shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing only two baserunners. He generated 10 whiffs and threw 45 of his 66 pitches for strikes. The Braves were clearly impressed and promoted him to High-A Rome the following day. McKenzie is another up-arrow prospect in a suddenly very interesting Braves system. (IC)

3. Luis De La Torre, LHP, Giants

• Team: High-A Eugene (Northwest)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: After a rough start to the season, De La Torre, one of San Francisco’s breakout prospects for 2026, has righted the ship. Since May 1, he’s produced a 2.10 ERA and allowed just 12 hits over 30 innings. The 20 walks say he could stand to tighten his control, but the 45 strikeouts in the same span point to a bat-missing arsenal. The apex of his season came this past week, when he punched out a dozen in Everett—one of the Northwest League’s most hitter-friendly environments—while allowing just one hit. The 12 strikeouts were a career high and marked the second game in his career with double-digit Ks. (JN)

4. Jonny Farmelo, OF, Mariners

• Team: High-A Everett (Northwest)
• Age: 21
• Why He’s Here: .471/.609/1.235 (8-for-17), 8 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBIs, 5 BB, 4 SO, 0-for-3 SB

The Scoop: After dealing with injuries over his first two full seasons, Farmelo has found health in 2026, and solid results have followed. This past week, Farmelo had three multi-hit games and reached base in five of Everett’s six contests against Eugene. His highlight game came on Friday, as he hit two home runs during a 2-for-3 night at the plate. On Thursday and Friday, he terrorized Eugene pitching, racking up 15 total bases between the two games. Farmelo has strong on-base skills, speed and above-average raw power that’s beginning to blossom in games. (GP)

5. Brody Hopkins, RHP, Rays

• Team: Triple-A Durham (International)
• Age: 24
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 0.00, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: Even through his struggles, Hopkins’ stuff was never in question. He just needed to find a way to get it in the strike zone. Now, after a role change and a few delivery tweaks, he’s learned how to use his arsenal in a way that brings hitters to their knees. His last two outings have been lengthy relief appearances, but the bigger factor is a more streamlined set of mechanics that strips away some of the moving pieces and keeps his head stable throughout the process. Those two factors have made a world of difference. The quality and quantity of his strikes are up, and now he looks like the dominant force his raw stuff indicates. (JN)

6. Owen Ayers, C, Cubs

• Team: Double-A Knoxville (Southern)
• Age: 25
• Why He’s Here: .524/.630/.952 (11-for-21), 5 R, 3 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, 6 BB, 4 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: A late bloomer, Ayers has made massive strides the last two seasons and could jump inside the Cubs’ Top 10 prospects in the next Top 30 update. A strong defensive catcher, Ayers started the season with High-A South Bend, hitting .372/.481/.860 over 11 games. He struggled initially with the bump to Double-A but has since caught fire. Last week, Ayers was a pest for the Birmingham pitching staff, as he had hits in all six games and finished the week with a streak of three multi-hit games. He homered in back-to-back nights, going deep on Friday and Saturday and racking up 14 total bases. Ayers is showing above-average power and strong swing decisions. (GP) 

7. Jaison Chourio, OF, Guardians

• Team: Double-A Akron (Eastern)
• Age: 21 
• Why He’s Here: .417/.517/.792 (10-for-24), 8 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 5 SO, 4-for-4 SB

The Scoop: Chourio slugged his first two Double-A home runs in the same game as part of a very strong week. He had multiple hits in four of six games and reached base at least three times in all of them. Chourio has now doubled his 2025 home run total with four and is only one away from equaling his career high of five. Since he was promoted to Akron, he’s been on fire, slashing .344/.447/.531 in 17 games. Chourio doesn’t have the same sort of impact as his brother Jackson, but he comes with a very well-balanced offensive skillset. He has an advanced approach with more walks than strikeouts this year and consistently hits the ball hard. His exit velocities are up slightly from 2025, but to access more power, he’ll need to learn to elevate the ball more consistently. (IC)

8. Justin Campbell, RHP, Guardians

• Team: Double-A Akron (Eastern)
• Age: 25
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO

The Scoop: For a pitcher who missed four seasons because of injuries, Campbell doesn’t look nearly as rusty as he should. This was the second time in the past three starts that Campbell has managed to work five innings. The Guardians are still keeping him on a very tight 75-pitch limit, but with his combination of stuff and enough pitch variation to keep hitters guessing—a mid-90s fastball, a mid-80s slider, a high-70s curve, a low-80s changeup and a 89-91 mph cutter—he’s looking like a starter who could help the big league club as soon as later this season. Now, we just have to hope he can stay healthy. (JJ)

9. Murf Gray, 3B, Pirates

• Team: High-A Greensboro (South Atlantic)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .307/.467/.815 (11-for-27) 7 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBIs, 3 BB, 5 SO, 1 SB

The Scoop: Gray has been one of the best hitters in Class A so far this year. And while Greensboro is an excellent place to hit, Gray is slashing a gaudy .407/.467/.815 in road games since he was promoted to High-A. The power Gray’s shown isn’t a surprise, and he’s also showing that the contact skills he flashed at Fresno State are carrying over to pro ball. For a slugger, he rarely misses a hittable pitch in the strike zone. (JJ)

10. Breyson Guedez, OF, Athletics 

• Team: Low-A Stockton (California)
• Age: 18 
• Why He’s Here: .542/.577/.792 (13-for-24), 6 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 BB, 9 SO, 0-for-0 SB

The Scoop: Even though he’s one of the youngest players in the California League, Guedez has had a solid season. This past week was one of his best of the year, as he recorded 13 total hits, which tied for the most in all of MiLB. He had a hit in all five games he started, headlined by a five-hit, 10 total base game on Sunday. He had four extra-base hits in that game, which represents slightly more than 25% of his total for the season. Guedez has had his issues making consistent contact and with his swing decisions this year, but that’s understandable given his age and how aggressive the Athletics were in jumping him straight to Low-A for his stateside debut. (IC)

11. Mike Sirota, OF, Dodgers

• Team: Double-A Tulsa (Texas)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .409/.519/.773 (9-for-22), 5 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 3 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: Sirota extended his on-base streak to 45 games with another impressive week. He had three multi-hit games and slugged a pair of home runs in two of the games in which he only recorded one hit. He reached base multiple times in each outing and raised his stat line in Tulsa to .365/.506/.603 in 17 games. Sirota is part of the deepest position group in the minor leagues. He’s shown no ill-effects from the knee injury that ended his 2025 season and has arguably the most balanced skill set of all Dodgers’ outfield prospects, with the chance to stick in center field and hit for average and power. (IC)

12. Lazaro Montes, OF, Mariners

• Team: Double-A Arkansas (Texas)
• Age: 21
• Why He’s Here: .400/.483/1.040 (10-for-25), 9 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 10 RBIs, 3 BB, 5 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: While it’s fair to question Montes’ hit tool and future defensive value, there are no concerns about his ability to impact the baseball. One of the best power hitting prospects in the minors, Montes is up to 16 home runs over his first 54 games after hitting 32 over 131 games in 2025. In this past week’s series against Corpus Christi, he went yard five times, racking up six extra-base hits and 26 total bases. He homered in four out of six contests, racking up a trio of multi-hit games along the way. Montes had multiple standout games this week, with a two-homer effort on Tuesday and a 3-for-5 showing at the plate to end the week. Montes has 30-grade bat-to-ball skills, but he shows solid swing decisions with plus-plus power. (GP)

13. Quinn Mathews, LHP, Cardinals

• Team: Triple-A Memphis (International)
• Age: 25
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

The Scoop: This was one of those weeks where Mathews shows once again the form that helped him dominate in 2024. For Mathews, it’s all about having command of his fastball and slider on the same day. When he can locate both, he can have days like he did last week. But often when he loses the feel for one, he also loses the feel for the other. And on those days, his changeup and other secondaries just aren’t enough to help him survive. Twice this year, Mathews has given up six or more runs in fewer than three innings. Otherwise, he’s been relatively solid. This was his second scoreless outing of the year. Overall, strike-throwing remains a problem. He has topped a 60% strike percentage only three times in 11 starts this year. (JJ)

14. Jefferson Rojas, SS, Cubs

• Team: Double-A Knoxville (Southern)
• Age: 21
• Why He’s Here: .400/.429/.920 (10-for-25), 11 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBIs, 2 BB, 3 SO, 4-for-4 SB

The Scoop: When Rojas is right, he’s a force of nature. His April was excellent, but his May was not. So far, his June has been electric. The three home runs he socked this past week equaled the total he produced in each of the season’s first two months, and the seven RBIs were just four shy of his mark from all of May. Consistency will be key throughout the remainder of his development, but it’s easy to forget he’ll be 21 all season and began the year as the third-youngest player in the Southern League. (JN)

15. Denzer Guzman, SS, Angels

• Team: Triple-A Salt Lake (Pacific Coast)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .476/.522/.952 (10-for-21), 5 R, 0 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBIs, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1-for-2 SB

The Scoop: A strong defensive infielder, Guzman made his way up to the major leagues in 2025, debuting at 21 years old. While Guzman has not seen major league action to date in 2026, he’s showing improved power hitting ability with Triple-A Salt Lake. He’s up to 12 home runs after last week and is rocking a .235 isolated slugging—the highest such marker of his career. Guzman opened his series against Albuquerque with three straight multi-hit games, and Friday’s game was the only one in which he didn’t have multiple hits. Guzman’s best game came on Thursday when he went 4-for-5 with two triples and a home run, totaling 11 bases. Guzman is showing the type of impact that will allow his full profile to blossom into an everyday regular. (GP)

16. Zach Root, LHP, Dodgers

• Team: High-A Great Lakes (Midwest)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: Root was easily the biggest star of the Dodgers’ Spring Breakout game. He showed a powerful arsenal from the left side and was the rare pitcher who could find the strike zone. For the first two months of the regular season, Root’s outings were short. Just one went even four innings. Now, the Dodgers have removed the reins. His first start of June was a gem. The lefthander went seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out nine hitters. The strikeout total matched his career high, and it was the sixth time he’d limited the opposition to one or fewer hits. (JN)

17. Gavin Fien, OF, Nationals

• Team: Low-A Fredericksburg (Carolina)
• Age: 19 
• Why He’s Here: .500/.542/.889 (9-for-18), 2 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 15 RBIs, 4 BB, 4 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: The start to Fien’s 2026 season was slowed by injury, as he missed almost a month from mid April to mid May. This past week was his best since he returned, as he recorded a hit in all five games he played and led all of MiLB with 15 RBIs. He had a pair of home runs and only struck out four times in 24 plate appearances, well under his season average. Fien’s underlying data suggested it was only a matter of time before he started to put things together at the plate, and it looks like it’s starting to translate into on-field performance. (IC)

18. Jacob Odle, RHP, Cardinals

• Team: High-A Peoria (Midwest)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: The Cardinals are enjoying a surprising season at the major league level to open the season, and the farm system is brimming with optimism. One reason for the rays of sunshine has been that the Cardinals’ pitching development is seeing serious breakouts from pitchers like Odle. The 2023 14th-round pick out of Orange Coast JC (Calif.) has flashed drastically improved stuff and power across his arsenal this season. After dominating Low-A, Odle earned the bump to High-A Peoria on May 30 and hasn’t slowed down in his two starts in the High-A Midwest League. He tossed 5.2 scoreless innings on Saturday against High-A Beloit, striking out eight while allowing two hits, and two walks and hitting a batter. Odle is showing plus stuff with the ability to get deep into games. (GP)

19. Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox

• Team: Triple-A Charlotte (International)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 1.00, 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 HBP, 5 BB, 18 SO

The Scoop: Smith is in one of the best stretches of his still relatively young pro career, striking out 43% of batters in his past three starts. He has the look of a lefthander who can help the White Sox later this year but more likely in the relief role. Getting righthanded hitters out isn’t a problem, as he’s actually better against righties than lefties this year, but he’s effective against both. It’s just a durability/length issue. Smith averaged fewer than four innings a start in 2025, and he’s averaging 3.2 innings per outing in 2026. As difficult as he can be to square up, he generally turns over the lineup twice and then hands the game over to the bullpen. Obviously, that is a team decision more than it is Smith’s, but until he’s regularly working 5-6 innings in Triple-A, it’s hard to see him doing the same in Chicago. (JJ)

20. Andrew Fischer, 3B, Brewers

• Team: High-A Wisconsin (Midwest)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .389/.542/.889 (7-for-18), 7 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBIs, 6 BB, 7 SO, 1-for-2 SB

The Scoop: When Fischer hits baseballs, they tend to go a long way. That was true during spring training, when his loud contact opened plenty of scouts’ eyes. He hasn’t slowed down during the regular season. He swatted three more home runs this past week, bringing his season total to 18, which is five behind D-backs prospect Manuel Pena for the minor league lead. His slugging percentage (.652) and OPS (1.077) each also rank among the best in the minors. Fischer’s instant success has put another feather in the cap of the Brewers’ player development juggernaut. (JN)

Helium

Jhomnardo Reyes, OF, Twins

Reyes isn’t currently in the Twins’ Top 30, but that will change when we next update the list, as not only is he going to move onto the list, but he’ll move up it considerably. Reyes didn’t appear in spring training games due to an injury, so there wasn’t much of a track record to go on coming into the regular season beyond his Dominican Summer League performance from 2025. Since the Florida Complex League season started, the 6-foot-3 lefthanded-hitting outfielder has dominated. So far, Reyes is hitting .345/.463/.727 with four home runs, 11 walks and only 12 strikeouts in 67 plate appearances. Most encouragingly, his underlying data matches that production and more. He already produces high-end exit velocities and pairs them with strong contact skills and an advanced approach for his age. His data would be impressive for any prospect, let alone an 18-year-old. Industry feedback has been extremely positive, as well, and backs up his strong stat line and data, with several scouts seeing him as one of the top prospects in the league. The Twins’ 2025 international class looked promising entering the season, and now even more so after the breakout of Reyes, who looks to be the top prospect in that group. (IC)