SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 16: J.P. Crawford #3 of the Seattle Mariners looks on during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in game four of the American League Championship Series at T-Mobile Park on October 16, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
J.P. Crawford is our shortstop… again… for now.
The Mariners activated Crawford from the injured list on Thursday. He will join the team in Anaheim as they begin their first road tip of 2026. Crawford missed the first week of the season with right shoulder inflammation, which bugged him throughout Spring Training.
It’s a precarious time for Crawford. The Mariners on Tuesday announced a record-breaking extension for shortstop prospect Colt Emerson. Jerry Dipoto said the team is in “no rush” to debut Emerson in the majors, but as Kate Preusser points out, his talent may be forcing the team’s hand. Emerson is clearly the Mariners’ long-term plan at shortstop, leaving Crawford somewhat in the way.
Crawford, 31, is the longest-tenured Mariner, having arrived in 2019. He’s had an eventful career, first appearing as an all-glove-no-bat shortstop before a swing change in 2023 made him one of the best players in the league. He battled injuries and poor luck in 2024 but turned it around in 2025, although inconsistency at the plate limited his season overall. Crawford in 2025 posted four months with a 115 wRC+ or better, and he posted two months with a wRC+ less than 100. This all worked out to a 113 wRC+, which ranked 10th among qualified shortstops.
The Mariners might be willing to accept that up-and-down performance, but Crawford struggles in every other aspect of the game. His -9 Fielding Run Value last year ranked second worst among shortstops, as part of a years-long slide in the field. He doesn’t have good range anymore, and he doesn’t have the arm strength to make up for it. He also struggles on the bases, as one of the slowest shortstops in the league. When he hits, as he did for two-thirds of 2025, he’s a more than solid option at a premium position. When he slumps, he’s a replacement level player.
And the Mariners now have their replacement. Exactly when and why they’ll make the call on Emerson is unclear, and it’s possible they slot him into the lineup at another position with Crawford still at short. It’s also possible Emerson struggles upon his debut, and I doubt the team would forgo contingency before giving him the full-time job. But the Mariners are in win-now mode, and they aren’t likely to give Crawford 600 plate appearances for the sake of loyalty if he’s struggling. For the first time as a Mariner, Crawford is no longer the future at shortstop, and he’ll have to earn his playing time to stick around.
While he may no longer be the future of the Mariners, it’s worth noting he is still very much the past. Crawford needs just 16 more games to pass Jose Lopez for 10th most games played by a batter in team history. With 610 plate appearances, he’ll pass Raul Ibanez for ninth. With 2.8 WAR, he’ll pass Bret Boone and Mike Cameron for 11th, and with 3.6 WAR he’ll pass Robinson Canó for 10th. Crawford is surely one of the best players in the history of the franchise, and it would nice to see him, at the very least, hang on to be commemorated at the Mariners 50th Season Spectacular in August.
The Mariners in a corresponding move Thursday optioned infielder Ryan Bliss to Tacoma. Bliss got two plate appearances as a pinch hitter on Saturday and struck out in both of them. He spent most of last year on the injured list after tearing his biceps while swinging. Bliss remains interesting org depth and has demonstrated the ability to draw walks and put the ball in play in the minors. He will likely find his way back to the majors at some point this season, although there’s no clear path to playing time around the infield at the moment. He has four in-season options remaining, according to Darren Gossler’s payroll tracker.
Leo Rivas remains on the team as the backup infielder. Rivas has a tremendous eye, or at least a historically low swing rate, allowing him to draw walks and get on base. He’s a passable bench bat, and as a switch hitter, the only Mariners’ infielder capable of standing in the righty batter’s box. This handedness dilemma is another branch in the team’s shortstop log jam, potentially delaying Emerson’s debut and threatening Crawford’s use as a role player.
The Mariners also placed reliever Ryan Loutos on unconditional release waivers. Loutos was designated for assignment Monday, removing him from the Mariners’ 40-man roster. Every team will get a chance to claim Loutos. If he goes unclaimed, he will become a free agent.
TAMPA, FL - DECEMBER 4: Pontus Holmberg #29 of the Tampa Bay Lightning against Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Benchmark International Arena on December 4, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 01: Jose Butto #70 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning at Petco Park on April 01, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After Wednesday’s loss to the San Diego Padres, it seemed all but certain that the San Francisco Giants would place right-handed reliever José Buttó on the Injured List at some point today. And indeed, on Thursday afternoon, a few hours before starting a series against the New York Mets, the Giants announced that Buttó was headed to the 15-Day IL with right arm fatigue. Replacing him on the roster is fellow right-handed pitcher Blade Tidwell, who has been called up from AAA Sacramento.
The news felt inevitable for Buttó, and now we just cross our fingers and hope it’s nothing serious. He entered in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s matinee, in what was at the time a 3-1 deficit, with the team trying to stay close ahead of the ninth inning. But something was off from the get-go, as Buttó retired just one of the eight batters he faced, while issuing four walks, and allowing a single, a double, and a home run. Just eight of his 28 pitches found the strike zone and, in a large warning sign, his velocity was significantly down.
As his appearance came to an end, he appeared in discomfort, and had a long talk on the mound with head athletic trainer Anthony Reyes, before leaving the game. It’s very rare that you see a pitcher leave a game with a trainer and not end up on the Injured List, and unfortunately Buttó is no exception.
So up comes Tidwell, with a chance to make his Giants debut against the team that drafted him. The 24-year old, who was a second-round pick by the Mets in 2022, came over to the Giants along with Buttó and Drew Gilbert in last summer’s Tyler Rogers trade. He was sensational in four games with Sacramento, and was primed to make his Giants debut late in the season (his MLB debut came earlier in the year for the Mets), but a mild injury kept him from making it to San Francisco.
While still being developed in the Minors as a starter, Tidwell showed off some serious heat while primarily working out of the bullpen in Spring Training, and struck out 13 batters in just 6.2 innings (though he also walked six and allowed seven earned runs). He made one AAA appearance this year before the call-up, pitching 2.2 no-hit innings, in which he walked one and struck out three. Giants manager Tony Vitello has a lot of familiarity with Tidwell, as he coached him in college at Tennessee.
I had assumed that the Giants would replace Buttó with Spencer Bivens, a somewhat similar pitcher. Perhaps they’re just higher on Tidwell right now, or perhaps they wanted someone who could eat larger chunks of innings, especially since they’re still in the first half of a stretch of 10 games in 10 days.
When the Vegas Golden Knights parted with Zach Whitecloud in a deal to acquire Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames, they didn’t just lose a good player– they also lost a man with deep roots in the Las Vegas community.
On Thursday, Whitecloud will take the ice at T-Mobile Arena wearing road whites. After playing 368 games in a Golden Knights uniform, he had one word to describe how it feels coming to Las Vegas as a visitor: weird.
“It’s a little weird,” he admitted. “It’s just weird, right? I spent seven or eight years here, created a lot of lifelong relationships here, not just with the team but in the community. I’m mainly excited to get back, see everyone, play in front of that building, and have some fun with it.
“It’s going to be weird going through the gameday routine and being on the other side of it,” continued Whitecloud. “Yeah, it’ll be different, and it’ll be weird. But it’ll be exciting for my friends and family, and exciting [for me] to play against those guys.”
The trade caught Whitecloud by surprise, but he’s thriving in Calgary. He has been a rock and a pillar of stability for a young Flames team in the midst of a rebuild. He has six assists through 23 games and plays over 24 minutes on most nights.
“It’s been good,” said Whitecloud. “First and foremost, the guys and everyone in the organization did a fantastic job of making me feel at home pretty quickly… The coaches and players made me feel pretty comfortable coming in, made me feel part of the family.
“It’s a business on the other side of it, too, and we all get that,” Whitecloud continued. “I’m excited for my opportunity in Calgary. I’ve made a good adjustment here, met a lot of new guys, and the new fanbase has been great too.”
In 2017, the Golden Knights signed Whitecloud as an undrafted free agent out of Bemidji State University. He went on to spend the next nine years of his life as a part of the organization. In 2023, Whitecloud helped the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup, playing in all 22 games and scoring a game-winning goal in the Final.
“I’m obviously grateful for my time here,” Whitecloud began. “There’s not one bad thing to say about Las Vegas, its people, its community, the fans, the organization, everyone that helped me get to the NHL and be a regular here and try to help the team win.
“Every time I come back here in the future will be exciting for me,” finished Whitecloud. “This will always be home in my heart. It’s the place I first broke into the NHL and learned how to win, and eventually won with this group.”
Because the trade happened so suddenly, Whitecloud didn’t have the chance to say a proper goodbye to all of the people in his day-to-day life. Now, he has that opportunity.
“It was pretty quick when the day came,” said Whitecloud. “Being Canadian, I was able to get on a plane and jump right out [to Calgary]... I didn’t really get to say goodbye to a lot of the staff and the people behind the scenes who really make all these things go around and keep us playing. Being able to see a lot of them today was pretty emotional, to be honest with you. [There are] a lot of guys that take care of the players and make sure that we can be ourselves and be the pros that we are, and people don’t really see that… Just being able to give them a hug and see them was really great.”
Whitecloud went to dinner with a group of his former teammates on Wednesday night.
“All the guys have been great,” said Whitecloud. “They were all excited to see me, and me likewise. I got to catch up and see how everyone’s families are doing, how all the kids are doing, and make sure everyone’s good.”
As is tradition, Whitecloud knows that there’s an emotional tribute video in store for him, and he’s ready for it. But he’s also ready to continue processing the emotions stemming from the trade.
“I think, once this game goes by, I can kind of let everything go a little bit,” he said. “Not that I’ll forget everything… I spent a lot of time here and built a lot of roots here. Everything’s weird, everything’s exciting. There are a lot of emotions. Happy, sad, grateful, appreciative– a lot of words come to mind.”
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 29: Jose Quintana #62 of the Colorado Rockies throws a pitch during a game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on March 29, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Thursday afternoon, the Colorado Rockies announced that left-handed pitcher José Quintana has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, retroactive to March 30th.
Quintana, 37, was scheduled to make his second start of the season during the Rockies’ first homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies this Saturday. The journeyman veteran had previously started against the Miami Marlins over Opening Weekend, where he gave up two earned runs on four walks and four hits over 4.1 innings. He struck out two batters.
In a corresponding roster move, the Rockies have recalled right-handed pitcher Valente Bellozo from the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.
Bellozo, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies this off-season after previously working with Rockies pitching coach Alon Leichman in Miami. While he started the season in Triple-A, he was added to the 40-man roster on March 26th. He is capable of working both in the rotation and out of the bullpen, and made a start for the Isotopes last week in their season-opening series against the Oklahoma City Comets.
The Rockies have additionally optioned utility-man Ryan Ritter to Triple-A Albuquerque. Ritter started his season 1-for-7 with three strikeouts in a variety of different roles—from starter to pinch runner—and has appeared in all six of the Rockies’ games thus far.
Optioning Ritter likely clears the way for the Rockies to activate outfielder and designated hitter Mickey Moniak from the 10-day injured list on Friday. Moniak started the season on the injured list with a finger sprain after an awkward slide during his final spring training appearance.
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 01: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves looks on in the fifth inning during the game against the Athletics at Truist Park on April 1, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Let’s play four in Phoenix.
For the third straight game, Walt Weiss has penciled in the same lineup. (And for the second straight series, the Braves social team has used “New series on deck” as the accompanying copy…)
I’m mostly interested who, if anyone, plans to step up offensively. Reigning ROY or not, Baldwin can’t do it all on his own. Looking at the birthday boy Austin Riley, in particular. I’ve heard a trip around the bases is a nice way to turn 29.
Being home has been good to the Diamondbacks, who will send Ryne Nelson to the mound tonight. They responded to being swept by the Dodgers with their own sweep of the Tigers. In that series, they had a Michael Soroka immaculate inning (see you Saturday, old friend), Zac Gallen outdueling Tarik Skubal, and rookie Jose Fernandez homering twice in his debut. Fernandez won’t be at first base tonight, though – that will be Carlos Santana, who was signed to a 1-year deal in February.
Yes, you’re seeing that right. Nolan Arenado is a Diamondback now and is batting sixth.
As we noted in the preview, our lefties Matt Olson and Michael Harris II homered off Ryne Nelson when he last faced the Braves in July 2024. Fingers crossed some of the Arizona heat will help the Braves’ hard-hit outs leave the yard.
The Los Angeles Kings are in the fight of their life trying to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, which would mark the fifth consecutive post-season appearance, beginning in 2021-22.
One of those teams is the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles' opponent on Thursday and Monday. These will be two of the Kings' most important outings all season long. In addition to those two affairs with the Predators, the Kings will also meet the Seattle Kraken on April 13, the third-last game of their regular season.
Los Angeles has just one point more than Nashville going into their Thursday game, and has three points more than Seattle, but the Kraken have a game in hand on the Kings.
They also need to be wary of Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks, as they've won their last three games. Now, the Sharks are one point behind the Kings with a game in hand on them.
While every game for Los Angeles at this point is critical, those three highlighted contests can extend or end the Kings' season, the principle of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Kings' 2-1 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday was massive, and it pushed them back into a playoff position. It's the first time they've been in a wild-card position since March 20.
The game against the Blues was tight-checking and impersonated a playoff atmosphere in some ways. Each shift was taken with caution, but with a high-level of intensity and attention to detail. That's why it required another extra frame, and was 0-0 for most of the evening.
There's a good chance that a handful of the remaining games in the Kings' regular season will wind up that way. Especially because of Los Angeles' final eight outings, five of which are against Pacific Division opponents.
Artemi Panarin (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)
To add to the drama of this final stretch and the implications of this push for the post-season, the Kings have one of the worst tiebreakers in the NHL. With only 19 regulation wins this season, they'll have to beat opponents in the standings by points outright. They have the second-fewest regulation wins in the league, only the last-place Vancouver Canucks have fewer.
Despite being on track for their worst season since the 2020-21 campaign, the Kings will need to bring their playoff-style game immediately in hopes of getting into the post-season.
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The right-hander got into some early trouble as MLB.com's No. 8 overall prospect Max Clark doubled and the next two batters walked to load the bases. After getting a strikeout for the second out, Tong gave up a three-run double to MLB vet Corey Julks.
Things didn't get better in the second inning. Following a fielding error by 3B Jackson Cluff, Tong let up a two-run HR to Wenceel Pérez to make it a 5-0 game. Clark reached safely on an error by Ronny Mauricio, and then, after a force-out, Tong walked Jace Jung and allowed a two-run double to Eduardo Valencia as Syracuse went down 7-0.
Tong's day came to an end after just 1.2 IP as he allowed four earned runs on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. The 22-year-old threw 60 pitches (34 strikes) in the brief outing.
His season ERA now sits at 6.35 through 5.2 total innings on the mound.
Apr 2, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Kody Clemens (2) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
The Twins got on the board early in this game, but not with the need of bats. In the 2nd inning, after Victor Caratini singled, Kody Clemens singled and moved to 2nd after Caratini tried going 1st to 3rd and was thrown out. Clemens would later score on a throwing error by Salvador Perez in an attempted pickoff.
Other than that, offense was hard to come by for the Twins against Royals lefty Cole Ragans. He had little trouble, scattering 4 hits and a walk over 6 innings.
Meanwhile, Taj Bradley had a good start. In the 3rd inning, he got Bobby Witt Jr. to strike out looking with 2 men on to end the inning. In the 4th, he got Lane Thomas to strike out swinging with the bases loaded to end that threat. He ended the day with a solid 6 shutout inning performance.
After Kody Funderburk pitched a clean 7th, the Twins added a 2nd run in the 8th inning. Josh Bell walked, then Royce Lewis doubled, and Trevor Larnach was intentionally walked. Byron Buxton drove in Bell with a sac-fly RBI for a needed insurance run.
Cole Sands entered for the 8th, and immediately was greeted by back-to-back singles setting up 1st and 3rd. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a sac-fly RBI of his own for the Royals first (and only) run of the day. Taylor Rogers came in and cleaned up the inning, preserving the 2-1 Twins lead.
In the 9th, Matt Wallner hit an opposite field solo homer, his 2nd of the season. Then, two batters later, Clemens hit a homer of his own to left, his first of the season. Josh Bell followed with yet another solo homer to make it a 5-1 game, that’s his 2nd of the year.
Justin Topa entered in the 9th, and, with the help of a ground ball double play, tossed a scoreless inning to secure the Twins second victory of the year.
Studs:
Taj Bradley: 6.0 IP, 5 H, B, 3 K
Luke Keaschall: 2-4
Wallner, Clemens, Bell: They hit homers, we like those.
#7 hitter prospect, LuJames Groover against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Introduction
The Dbacks farm system could be described as a top heavy system, that ranks in the middle of the pack overall out of all 30 team’s farm systems, and I wouldn’t disagree at all with that assessment. While the Diamondbacks have drafted, signed, and developed some really great hitters in recent years such as Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo, the obvious reason as to why the farm system is ranked so poorly is thanks to a complete lack of any impactful pitching prospect. On top of that, throughout the organization’s history, there’s been a failure to develop pitching in house, with very few exceptions. Today we’ll be ignoring that five ton proboscidean, bypassing that completely by focusing on just the hitters in the system. If we’re looking at just the hitting prospects in the farm system, I’d actually argue the Diamondbacks belong firmly in the upper third of MLB teams.
Originally I started writing this as a standard top prospect list, but I realized that I am actually terrible at evaluating pitching. The rankings here are a very subjective, and if there’s a player you think i have snubbed and left off the list, wait until next week and you’ll likely find them There are many valid arguments for ranking player X over player Y, who’d you’d rank higher than player Z. I could have easily gone with several different permutations of how these players are listed, so if you think that some players should be ranked differently, that’s totally okay! If you do have a strong arguement for why you think a specific player should have been ranked differently, than let me know in the comment section below the article. Today we’ll be looking at a few honorable mentions, and then going over prospect #11 through #6. Originally I did include the remaining 5 prospects, but this article has gotten a little too long so I split it into two parts.
Honorable Mentions
If Jose Fernandez didn’t have an amazing debut game, I don’t know if I would have even bothered mentioning him at all outside of maybe a ‘prospects to watch’ section. That’s not to say he wasn’t an intriguing prospect prior to his MLB debut, especially after being added to the 40-Man roster to protect him in the lead up to the Rule 5 draft. That prompted me to dig further into his statistics over the winter, and based on his first and 2nd half splits, it seems like he has made some adjustment that have unlocked his offensive potential. I’m not entirely sold on his offensive or defensive profile, but the potential is definitely there.
Kristian Robinson was a top prospect before his career was almost completely derailed after a mental health episode exacerbated by medical grade Marijuana, which then lead to legal troubles. After three years away from professional baseball, Robinson was able to eventually get his life and his career back on track. While he’s probably not the future All-Star we thought he was back when he was a top prospect, but I still think Robinson is capable of hanging in at the MLB level as a fourth outfielder capable of playing all three outfield positions.
Avery Owusu-Asiedu was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchanged for lefty reliever Kyle Backhus back in December. He’s the protypical toolsy outfielder who hadnt had much in the way if results in his first two seasons in 2023 and 2024. After putting up an anemic batting line of .192/.287/.327 and a 77 wRC+ in A ball in 2024, Owusu-Asiedu returned to A ball to start the 2025 season, and I’d say he conquered it with the .268/.382/.402 and 122 wRC+ he put up in 58 games in his second go around, though some of that improvement was just having better luck on his Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) probably was a factor. The Phillies front office agreed with that assessment though and promoted him to A+. There he’d hit .247/350/.368 with a 118 wRC+ in 49 games. Owusu-Asiedu has an intriguing combo of being a plus plus runner with a plus plus arm, while having some eye catching (112MPH+) exit velocities. Unfortunately, there are some real questions about his ability to consistently make contact, so the bat could be what holds him back in the long run. That said, his numbers are trending in the right direction, and I wouldnt be shocked to see him breakout further in 2026, especially if he’s assigned to a hitter friendly enviroment like the Dbacks AA affiliate in the Texas League.
The son of Hall of Fame Centerfielder Andruw Jones, the right handed hitting Druw Jones was selected by the Diamondbacks with the second overall pick in the 2022 draft. Sadly he has so far failed to live up to the expectations that were set for him being taken that high in the draft and just the expectations that comes with being the son of a Hall of Fame player. A lot of the decline in his prospect status is a result of injuries that have derailed him since the minute the ink dried on his pro contract. Most noteably Jones suffered a season ending shoulder injury before he could even get his first pro at bat, that also gave him the distinction of being the third Dback #1 draft pick to suffer a season ending shoulder injury almost immediately after signing.
The other aspect that has further tarnished Jones’ prospect luster, are the offensive struggles. In 41 games in 2023 split between the two Arizona Complex League Dbacks teams and the A ball level Visalia Rawhide,Jones hit a paltry 238/.353/.327 with a 93 wRC+. It’s worth nothing that those numbers are propped up by the 29 games in Visalia where he hit .252/.366/.351 with a 105 wRC+. His best season was back in 2024, when he hit .275/.409/.405 with a 126 wRC+ in 109 games for the A ball level Visalia Rawhide. However, in 2025 his hitting regressed, with his number falling down to .255/.335/.360 triple slash with a 96 wRC+. It wasn’t all bad though as he did progress in some areas; he reduced his strikeout percentage from 28.0% down to 23.3%, while keeping his walk percentage above 10%. He was much more successful on the basepaths, stealing 28 bases while getting caught only 4 times, compared to how he did in 2024 when he played in 24 fewer games, while stealing seven fewer bases while also getting caught stealing an additional two times.
Jones is one of the best, if not THE best defensive outfielder in the Diamondbacks farm system. While the bat has some question marks surrounding it, there’s zero question about his defensive ability; even if the bat doesn’t come around, his defense is probably good enough that he could provide positive value even with a slightly below average bat. The biggest thing that Jones can accomplish in 2026 is reducing the percentage of strikeouts down to an acceptable level while increasing the frequency of contact and his batting average. He has typically struck out in at least 26% of his at bats, and that won’t cut it. If Jones doesn’t have a breakout season in 2026, he’s likely to fall off all the major top prospect lists for good. If he has an outright bad season, then he’ll likely be stuck with the label of being one of the most notable busts in Dbacks draft history. While he’s still only 22 years old, Druw Jones has little time left before he’s no longer a prospect. I’m pretty optimistic generally, but in this case I have only just enough confidence in Jones to place him just outside the top 10.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2023, Virahonda is a switch hitting catcher who only turned 20 in the middle of December.
Virahonda had an impressive debut that year in the Dominican Summer League. In 38 games split between the two DSL Dback affiliates he hit .304/.401/.482 with a 133 wRC+. You could call Virahonda’s 2024 season a disaster as he returned to the DSL but struggled offensively, hitting just .156/.279/.231, which works out to a 44 wRC+ (for reference a 100 wRC+ is average, >100 = good, <100 = bad ). However, I wouldn’t call it all bad, as the adjustments he made afterwards helped his 2025 season go much better. In 37 games in the rookie level Arizona Complex League, he’d hit 347/.464/.455 with a 153 wRC+, which earned him a promotion to the A ball level Visalia Rawhide. In his 33 games for Visalia, Virahonda didn’t hit quite that well, but he held his own hitting .256/.362/.357 with a 108 wRC+. His combined stat line for 2025 was .300/ 413/.404 with a 130 wRC+. Virahonda projects to be an above average defender behind the plate, with a very good chance at becoming elite defender. If Virahonda builds upon his 2025 offensive perform ace, he is likely to leap ahead of several players on this list. He’s easily the top catching prospect in the Dbacks system, though to be fair the Dbacks don’t have a ton of average or above catching prospects, so he doesn’t have much competition as far as that goes.
Torin is a polarizing prospect and I wouldn’t be surprised if his rank here ends up being the most controversial. In 2026, he has been ranked as high as #10 (by Baseball-America) or as low as #27 (by Fangraphs), and unlike me, they’re not ranking hitters and pitchers separately. Torin got on my radar after he displayed a very advanced approach to the plate in 2023 as a 17 year old. He began the year in the Dominican Summer League, earned a promotion to the Arizona Complex League, before finally ending the year in A ball. In 2024 Torin would return to A ball and spend the entire season there. While the results weren’t quite as impressive, they were still above average, which earned him a promotion in 2025 to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops. There he’d .287/.381/.385 with a 115 wRC+ in 122 games. Torin was then promoted to AA Amarillo, where he’d appear in 5 games and hit .381/.440/.571 with 159 wRC+.
Torin is an excellent contact hitter with fantastic plate discipline, who consistently walks at above average rate while rarely striking out, who is a competent defender with a good enough arm to stick at shortstop. However, the real problem here and what makes him such a divisive prospect is that he doesn’t hit the ball very hard, he’s not a fast runner, and besides the aforementioned above average contact and plate discipline ability, he really lacks a standout tool. As far as the hitting side of things goes, I am reminded a lot of Geraldo Perdomo, who while being a better defender than Torin, similarly had only above average plate discipline and contact skills as his standout tools. In my opinion, those are the most important tools for a hitter in the first place. You can have all the homerun power in the world, while being an elite speed threat on the basepaths, but if you can’t take a walk or even make contact in the first place, you’ll never even have that opportunity to steal a base or hit out of the park.
In all likelihood, Torin is a future utility player or middle infield depth, but if he starts developing power and hitting the ball with more authority, he will surprise a lot of the prospect evaluators who were unimpressed.
Cunningham is yet another player who fits the mold of the undersized position players that the Dbacks that the Dbacks are quickly becoming known for. I haven’t seen Cunningham play at all, and there’s really not much new that I can say about Kayson Cunningham, whom the D’Backs drafted in the first round of last year’s draft with the 18th overall pick since he’s only appeared in a grand total of 11* professional games. (*he did play in the Complex as well, but we don’t have access to that data. We can infer he did fairly well based on the fact that they had him debut in A ball, which is unusual for a highschooler).
In cases like these, where I haven’t seen a player at all, and there’s basically no worthwhile data available, differing my opinions to the experts is seems like the way to go. In this case, I’ll just quote his blurb on MLB Pipeline:
Standing 5-foot-10, Cunningham rarely whiffed on his swings as an amateur and showed the ability to manipulate the barrel to all areas of the strike zone. He impressed Arizona officials enough at the complex after the Draft to the point where they pushed him out to Single-A Visalia for 11 games, and his contact rate was solid for a recent prepster pushed into the deep end. Cunningham doesn’t have a projectable frame, however, and he’ll really need to maintain good bat speed to get to even average power in the bigs.
Cunningham is an energetic player on the basepaths, but one who makes for an interesting evaluation on defense. He lost some of his twitchiness at shortstop before the Draft, and in the California League, he looked rushed on some of his actions and throws, including getting charged with three errors in his debut. Arizona still plans to keep him at shortstop, believing that last year’s experience could be eye-opening because of the speed of the game, but even entering the Draft, some scouts saw Cunningham as a future bat-first second baseman.
After hitting .349 combined in his three seasons playing in college, LuJames Groover was drafted by the Dbacks in the 2nd round of the 2023 draft with the 48th overall pick. He’d have an impressive debut season in 2023, but his 2024 was shortened by injury. 2025 would see Groover back in AA and fully healthy; in 123 games he’d hit .309/399/.434 with 12 HRS, though in the hitter friendly Texas League that works out to a 120 wRC+, or just 20% above average. While Groover’s bat and offensive tools have never really been in question though, but his defense was absolutely in question. The Dbacks believed in him enough to give him a chance to continue playing third, which has paid off as he’s become a capable defender over time. 2026 has Groover promoted to the AAA level Reno Aces in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. As of April 2nd, the Aces have only played 5 games, so there’s not much to write about other than Groover going 4-5 with a pair of runs batted in on opening day.
The most notable fact about JD Dix’s background is that he went to the same highschool as 2001 postseason Dbacks legend Craig Counsell. The switch hitting Dix was drafted back in 2024, but didn’t make his pro debut until the 2025 season. He absolutely raked in his 39 games in the Arizona Complex League, hitting .342/.421/.493 with a 142 wRC+. That would earn him a promotion to A ball, where he’d play in 50 games and hit .261/.391/.335 with a 114 wRC+. Across the two levels in 89 games, Dix hit a combined .297/.404/.406 with a 126 wRC+.
I would imagine that Dix will be promoted to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops for the 2026 season, considering his solid numbers in 2025 leave him with little left to prove in A ball
Conclusion
That wraps up the back half of my top prospect list for hitters, next week we’ll go over the five position players remaining that would be glaring omissions to excluse. Well informed readers will be able to guess who they are, but can they guess the order after the team’s consensus top prospect? Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Apr 2, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Kody Clemens (2) is tagged out at second base by Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Well, that didn’t go well.
The Royals lost the third game of a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, squandering a fine start by Cole Ragans. For the Royals, quiet bats doomed them.
The Royals made things interesting in the later innings. After going down 2-0, Maikel Garcia led off the eighth with a single before moving to third when Bobby Witt Jr. followed with his own single. Runners on first and third with none out, and Vinnie Pasquantino up to bat.
While Pasquantino drove in Garcia with a sac fly, the rest of the from went quietly. Salvador Perez grounded to short and Bob was thrown out at second on a close play. Tolbert pinch-ran for Salvy, stole second, and stayed there as Jac Caglianone looked like a little leaguer against Taylor Rogers.
End of inning, end of threat.
But at least the Royals had cut down the lead to one. Steven Cruz came out of the bullpen to keep it a one-run game until the Royals came back up in the bottom of the ninth.
Steven Cruz did not keep it a one-run game.
Cruz, who to this point in his career had only surrendered six home runs, allowed three solo homers in the top of the ninth, including back-to-back shots to Kody Clemens and Josh Bell. Suddenly, it was 5-1 Twins.
The Royals started off the bottom of the ninth with consecutive baserunners, but a Lane Thomas double-play all but sealed things. Kyle Isbel whiffed to end the game.
On the bright side, Cole Ragans looked good. Over six innings, he allowed just one run (unearned) while striking out eight, walking one, and giving up four hits.
Matt Strahm had a nice one-inning appearance, too.
Overall, though, the bullpen continues to struggle. Aside from Cruz’s misadventures, John Schrieber needed 27 pitches to get through the eighth inning, which included allowing one earned run, a strikeout, and a walk.
One more note: Carter Jensen, whose start was scratched less than an hour before first pitch, made an appearance late in the game, so it appears he’s not dealing with an injury, which is good.
Now, the Royals are back to .500 at 3-3. They welcome the Brewers to town tomorrow night.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made some changes to their roster ahead of their Thursday night contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Penguins have announced that they have assigned forwards Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Koivunen has played in 36 games this season with Pittsburgh, where he has recorded two goals, five assists, and seven points. This is after he had seven assists in his first eight career NHL games with Pittsburgh this past season.
Down in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Koivunen has 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points, and a plus-7 rating in 29 games.
As for McGroarty, the 6-foot-1 forward has two goals, three assists, five points, and 23 hits in 21 games this season with Pittsburgh. The 2022 first-round pick has also played in 25 games this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he has posted seven goals, 19 assists, 25 points, and a plus-4 rating.
SUNRISE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 04: Michael Eyssimont #81 of the Boston Bruins scores a goal past Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers during the first period of the game at Amerant Bank Arena on February 04, 2026 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to Bruins vs. Florida Men: Part 1!
The B’s are in Sunrise tonight to face a Florida Panthers team just playing out the string for the first time in several years.
On the opposite side, the Bruins will look to keep their positive momentum going against a team that has been a thorn in their side for quite a while.
After tonight, the Bruins will face Tampa on Saturday evening, followed by a Sunday afternoon game against the Flyers in Philly.
Relevant scoreboard watching tonight:
Buffalo vs. Ottawa
Montreal vs. New York Rangers
Detroit vs. Philadelphia
Carolina vs. Columbus
Washington vs. New Jersey
The B’s have put themselves in a position where if they take care of their own business, they don’t need any scoreboard help, but it still merits watching.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 29: Didier Fuentes #72 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Truist Park on March 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Just a week into the season and we already have our newest addition to the Top 100. You don’t have to look any further than Didier Fuentes. Didier had a stellar Spring Training where he appeared in four games and pitched 13.2 innings with an absurd 18 strikeouts and just one walk (11.8 K/9, 0.66 BB/9).
RHP Didier Fuentes enters the Top 100 Prospects list upon Parker Messick's graduation.
Didier then broke camp with the big league team and made one appearance where he pitched four one run innings with four strikeouts and two hits. Following that outing, the Braves optioned Didier to Triple-A Gwinnett – presumably to ramp up his conditioning and get him ready to start.
The #Braves today selected LHP Martín Pérez to the major league roster after optioning RHP Didier Fuentes to Triple-A Gwinnett following yesterday’s game.
Unfortunately for the Braves, despite being named to the Top 100 now, if Didier were to take over the league he will be ineligible for a PPI pick because he was not named Top 100 to start the season. Regardless, this looks to be a special season for the young right handed pitcher as he develops more into a major league talent ready to take on the league.
There have been plenty of whispers about members of the Mets' 2025 clubhouse not all pulling in the same direction, and one of the rumors that circulated involved an alleged rift between Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, now a member of the Texas Rangers.
“Nimmo and I are brothers. I love him. I love him," Lindor told the Post. "He’s a great guy. He’s missed around here — good teammate, good person, good family man.”
"We had a professional clubhouse," he said. "When you're winning, everything is fun. Then you go through stretches where it's hard, and you're not winning as many games. And I take responsibility for it, because it became, like, a corporate clubhouse, you know, where guys respected each other, but I don't think we celebrated each other enough."
Nimmo, of course, was traded to the Rangers this offseason in the deal that brought Marcus Semien to the Mets. Nimmo is hitting .360 with a home run and five RBI to begin his career in Texas.
