Their arms, athleticism and five-tool talent suggest they’re no longer just the stars of tomorrow. Here are 10 MLB rookie candidates who are headliners of the 2026 class.
JJ Wetherholt, the St. Louis Cardinals’ can’t-miss kid as a middle infielder with thump in his bat, doesn’t want to hear the hype and he doesn’t care to read the raving reviews.
Sure, it’s mostly all flattering stuff about the promise the 23-year-old prospect holds as he heads into what will likely be his MLB debut in 2026.
To the no-nonsense, all-business Wetherholt – someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously – the bouquets are bogus, the praise is petty and the hysteria is hysterical.
Sure, Wetherholt is the most highly touted prospect in the Cardinals organization in more than a decade and he seemingly has all the tools to carve out a long and successful career in the middle infield. But until he proves he’s worthy of all the hype, he would prefer to push the praise aside. In fact, he already has attached a very descriptive label to the talk that he could soon become the Cardinals’ next great superstar: Poison.
“That’s a running joke from college,” said Wetherholt, a product of West Virginia University who led Division I in hitting as a sophomore in 2023 with a .449 batting average and an absurd 1.304 OPS. “We started to get a lot of national attention, whether it was articles about me, my teammates or just the team in general. That’s what we’d label it – poison.
“I do believe it’s cool to have people talk about you, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to perform,” Wetherholt continued. “Those guys who hyped you up will be the same ones to tear you down as soon as it goes bad. So you try to tune all that stuff out and just do the work that you can. And, hopefully, (the predictions) come true.”
Wetherholt is just one promising MLB rookie expected to hit it big in 2026.
Here are 10 MLB rookies to watch for the season ahead:
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3 months ago Taylor BechtoldNolan McLean, New York Mets
Position: RHP; Age on Opening Day: 24; Highest 2025 Level: MLB
The 6-foot-2, 214-pound McLean is a pure athlete – he considered playing both football and baseball at Oklahoma State and pitched and hit for OSU throughout college, something that earned him the nickname of “Cowboy Ohtani.”
Fast forward to last season and McLean showed just how dominant he could be athletically late in the season with the Mets. In just eight starts, he racked up five wins, a sterling 2.06 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. His elite athleticism showed itself in how he could spin the ball effectively enough to get hitters to corkscrew themselves into the ground. The opposition batted just .071 against his curveball and none of the 117 batters who ended his at-bat facing a curve had an extra-base hit off McLean.
Factor in a four-seam fastball that averaged 95.1 mph and a sinker that produced a 60.2% ground ball rate and it’s easy to see why the Mets are eager to make McLean a mainstay of their rotation.
JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
Position: 2B/3B; Age: 23; B/T: L/R; Highest 2025 Level: Triple-A
If McLean doesn’t run away with the NL’s Rookie of the Year award in 2026, it could very well go to the sweet-swinging Wetherholt.
How confident are the Cardinals that Wetherholt will be a fixture in their lineup for years to come? They traded away their best all-around player and their lone 2025 All-Star, Brendan Donovan, to clear space for Wetherholt’s arrival at the big-league level.
The Cards purposefully brought Wetherholt along slowly in 2025, having him split time at Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis, but he’ll likely get all the reps he can handle this year with Donovan gone to the Seattle Mariners and the club in its first full-on rebuild in more than three decades.
Wetherholt, who grew up in Mars, Pennsylvania, and idolizing Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen, is at his best when he’s hitting to all fields, often resembling a savant in the batter’s box because he is seemingly never fooled by a pitch. He showed that in 2025 when he slashed .306/.421/.510/.931 and swatted 28 doubles and 17 home runs, including four leadoff long balls.
Stay away from that “poison” and Wetherholt could be the Cardinals’ first Rookie of the Year since Albert Pujols in 2001.
Trey Yesavage, Toronto Blue Jays
Position: RHP; Age: 22; Highest 2025 Level: MLB
When the baseball world last saw Yesavage, the brazen 22-year-old was working out of the bullpen and trying to take Toronto to a World Series Game 7 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers just two days after striking out 12 in a seven-inning masterpiece in Game 5.
Yesavage yielded a Max Muncy solo shot in the eighth inning that paved the way for LA’s winning rally in Game 7, but certainly no one in Toronto blames the gutsy right-hander for the Blue Jays letting the title slip through their fingers. After all, they may have never gotten that far without him – Yesavage struck out 11 New York Yankees and seven Mariners in earlier playoff games, and started Game 1 of the World Series.
After climbing all the way from Class A to the big leagues in 2025, Yesavage will get the opportunity to show he has staying power in 2026. And if the Jays are back in the playoffs again, don’t be surprised if it’s the steely Yesavage who gets the ball again in Game 1.
Konnor Griffin’s banner 2025 season came across three levels while tying for 41st in plate appearances (563) among minor leaguers.Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates
Position: SS; Age: 19; B/T: R/R; Highest 2025 Level: Double-A
In spring training, the 6-4 Griffin wasted little time at all in showing the Pirates and the baseball world why he just might be ready for the big leagues. He crushed home runs in the first two at-bats of his third game, sending a curveball 374 feet to left field, then an 0-2 breaking ball 440 feet to left at a scorching 111.2 mph.
Sure, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft doesn’t turn 20 years old until April 20, but he might be just too good for the Pirates to keep him in the minor leagues for all of 2026. All Griffin did in his first pro season in 2025 was slash .333/.415/.527/.941 with 21 homers, 23 doubles, four triples and 94 RBI across all three levels.
Looking at times like a Mike Trout style of power hitter, Griffin is MLB’s top-ranked prospect and one who could be staring at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park midway through the 2026 season.
Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers
Position: SS/2B/3B; Age: 21; B/T: L/R; Highest 2025 Level: Double-A
Like Griffin with the Pirates, McGonigle has blown scouts and front office types away with just how advanced he is at a young age, and he just might force his way onto the Tigers’ Opening Day roster with his exceptional bat-to-ball skills.
The native of suburban Philadelphia grew up idolizing former Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, and it shows with how he hits the ball to all fields while also still possessing plenty of pop. After hitting .372 in High-A, compiling a .919 OPS in Double-A and nabbing MVP honors of the Arizona Fall League (.362 average, five homers, five doubles, two triples and 19 RBI in 19 games), baseball’s prospect rankings have taken notice. The No. 37 pick from the 2023 MLB Draft went from the No. 23-ranked prospect to No. 2 by Baseball America and from No. 28 to No. 1 by MLB Pipeline from pre-2025 to pre-2026.
Questions loom about McGonigle’s ability to stick at shortstop defensively, but there are zero questions about his top-end potential as a hitter near the top of the Tigers lineup.
Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh Pirates
Position: RHP; Age: 23; Highest 2025 Level: MLB
In about any other organization in baseball, Chandler’s fastball – one that regularly sits in triple digits and averaged a sizzling 98.9 mph in 2025 – would be the most eye-popping weapon on a staff. However, Pittsburgh is Paul Skenes’ town, and all other pitchers must take a back seat to the reigning NL Cy Young award winner.
The Skenes shadow could prove to be beneficial for Chandler, who in the last year has taken longer than expected to develop, and was rocked in his first spring training start in 2026.
Still, his arsenal is unquestioned. He had a 30.8% whiff rate with his blazing four-seam fastball, and his changeup (39.6% whiff rate) was even more devastating because hitters must gear up for the hard stuff.
Developing a hard-biting slider could be all that’s standing between Chandler being a solid No. 2 starter behind Skenes.
Totals include current franchises and any of their predecessors. The 2025 MLB Rookie of the Year recipients were the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz (AL) and Atlanta Braves’ Drake Baldwin (NL).Leo De Vries, Athletics
Position: SS/2B; Age: 19; B/T: L/R; Highest 2025 Level: Double-A
How aggressive do the Athletics want to be with the 19-year-old De Vries, who was the centerpiece of the return for the Athletics when they dealt fire-balling reliever Mason Miller to San Diego last July? The Padres thought so highly of De Vries in 2024 that they signed him to a $4.2 million deal as an international free agent and immediately inserted the Dominican native into full-season action at High-A.
Not only does the talented switch-hitter have pop from both sides of the plate, but he also has the kind of plate discipline that allowed him to walk at a 12.3% clip last year. He wasted no time in adjusting to a late-season promotion to Double-A, hitting three homers in five playoff games for Midland.
He has solid hands and decent range defensively, but he might not stick at shortstop. That’s probably a good thing with rising star Jacob Wilson already locked up long-term. Still, A’s staffers are already giddy about the prospect of inserting De Vries into a lineup with 2025 AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom and Wilson for the next decade.
Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles
Position: C/1B; Age: 21; B/T: L/R; Highest 2025 Level: MLB
For now, Orioles general manager Mike Elias is saying all the right things about the organization still being committed to Adley Rutschman being their regular catcher. But the club made it clear late last season they are intrigued by the prospects of the 21-year-old Basallo ultimately growing into that role as the primary backstop.
While Basallo underwhelmed at the plate in his 31-game cameo with the O’s (a .165 average with four homers), his electrifying arm behind the plate popped. The 6-4 backstop threw out five of 13 base stealers (38.4%) – a mark improved over the 27.3% he threw out in the minor leagues since 2021.
Basallo tends to chase too much at times at the plate, but he has a knack for finding the barrel as evidenced by some of the eye-popping exit velocities he posted in the minors, including 23 homers in 76 games at Triple-A Norfolk in 2025. If the sweet-swinging lefty can replicate that early in 2026, he might just unseat Rutschman as the O’s best backstop.
Carson Benge, New York Mets
Position: LF; Age: 23; B/T: L/R; Highest 2025 Level: Triple-A
Like McLean, the aforementioned “Cowboy Ohtani,” Benge was once a standout two-way player at Oklahoma State who was drafted by the Mets with the No. 19 pick in 2024.
However, the 6-1, rail-thin Benge opted for hitting over pitching and it was immediately easy to see why in his first full pro season in 2025. At three levels of action, Benge posted a .281 batting average and an .857 OPS while cranking 15 homers and stealing 22 bases.
He has seemingly been penciled in as the Mets’ left fielder on opening day since the club traded Brandon Nimmo in the offseason. He opened eyes in spring training by delivering a three-hit game – all three of the knocks coming on two-strike pitches.
Justin Crawford, Philadelphia Phillies
Position: CF; Age: 22; B/T: L/R; Highest 2025 Level: Triple-A
Right-hander Andrew Painter is the higher-rated prospect, but it’s the speedy Crawford who is more MLB-ready at this point. That shouldn’t come as a surprise with Justin being the son of four-time MLB All-Star Carl Crawford, who stole 480 bases in his MLB career before retirement.
The younger Crawford could provide just the jolt of youth and athleticism the Phillies have needed in recent years while coming up short of their World Series dreams. The 6-2 prospect spent all of 2025 in Triple-A and won the International League batting crown while posting a .334 batting average to go with his sterling .411 on-base percentage and 46 stolen bases in 112 games.
He’s the favorite to start opening day as the Phillies’ center fielder – a move that would push Brandon Marsh to left field. If Crawford can hold up against left-handed pitching and against the organization’s passionate fanbase, he could evolve into being just the spark the Phillies need to get over the proverbial playoff hump.
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Top MLB Rookies: Which Prospects Are Poised for an Impact in 2026? Opta Analyst.
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