MLB All-Star Week festivities kick off Saturday with the MLB Futures Game in Atlanta. This showcase of young players from across the sport is a great place for more casual fans to see the top prospects in baseball. The diehards — and those who work in the industry — use it as a check-in to see if they have missed any risers or fallers in the first half of the minor league season.
If you’re looking for those to pay particular attention to this year, these are the dozen prospects whom I’m most excited to see in this year’s game.
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Konnor Griffin, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics
Trey Yesavage, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
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These three are among the biggest risers from last year’s draft. Griffin has some of the best raw tools in the minors. I compared him to Fernando Tatis Jr. before the draft last year, because of his explosive power/speed combo in a shortstop/outfield defensive fit. Jump’s velo is up a few ticks, and he tickles the top of the strike zone with a heater that has great shape to get whiffs up there: He now sits 93-96, hitting 98 mph.
Yesavage has unique pitch shapes and deception from his high arm slot, making his fastball and changeup cut more than average, but he’s so vertically oriented that he can’t get much horizontal movement on anything, making all of his pitches cluster in the same area of a movement plot. Hitters are thrown off by the unexpected movement out of a unique arm slot, so I’m expecting some weird swings from hitters who will not be prepped with a scouting report.
Rocketing up the Top 100
Jesus Made, SS, Milwaukee Brewers
Zyhir Hope, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
Jonah Tong, RHP, New York Mets
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Made was 46th on my preseason Top 100, then fifth in the update two months ago. Coming into the season, all we had was his historically good performance in the Dominican Summer League, but his medium frame seemingly capped his upside a bit. He might be a plus hitter with plus power from both sides of the plate who can stick in the infield, if not shortstop, and he’s torching Low-A while just turning 18. Hope moved from 70th to 21st, and he also addressed a big issue, as a hitter with big power but some contact-based questions after 54 games in Low-A. He’s still a power-over-hit type, but he has plus-plus raw power and is getting to it in games at High-A.
Tong moved from 147th in the preseason to 50th in the May update and would be even higher now. His velo is up 1.6 mph from last year, and his changeup added five more inches of sink and two more inches of run, so he’s throwing it much more often and getting even more whiffs. He keeps evolving and seems like a freight train to the big league rotation.
Unique pitchers
Noah Schultz, LHP, Chicago White Sox
Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP/LHP, Seattle Mariners
Schultz’s walk rate is up this year in Triple-A, but he’s still 6-foot-10 with plus raw stuff from a low arm slot, so he’ll be a fun watch especially in a shorter stint. Cijntje is fun, because he was good enough to go in the first round last year and be in the conversation for the Top 100 now — and he might throw from both sides in any given game.
Candidates to be MLB’s No. 1 prospect for 2026
Leo De Vries, SS, San Diego Padres
Sebastian Walcott, SS, Texas Rangers
Max Clark, CF, Detroit Tigers
Kevin McGonigle, SS, Detroit Tigers
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Along with Made, these are not just the players in the Futures Game who are in the running for top prospect, but are also probably all the top candidates once Bubba Chandler is promoted and graduates at some point this season. De Vries has the edge right now as a switch-hitting shortstop with power who’s performing in High-A at age 18. Walcott has a higher ceiling, with a shot to hit 40 homers one day, but he’s been promoted so aggressively (he’s 19 in Double-A right now) that he hasn’t been able to demonstrate the offensive domination his tools suggest is possible.
Clark is plus at basically everything on the field, but merely average when it comes to raw power — his case would be that he could turn into a Corbin Carroll-type star. McGonigle is the longest shot, since his raw physical tools are well behind this group, but he is easily the best hitter and has the best approach, while also being a lefty hitter who plays a solid defensive shortstop.