Cal Quantrill is set to take the mound this evening for the Texas Rangers, and that automatically triggers me to lean toward the YRFI. Especially with Yordan Alvarez owning 100% arsenal coverage against him while grading out as an elite hitter on Batters-Box. He might be the only bat we need to rely on in the first inning.
However, on the other side, Hunter Brown is taking the mound for the Astros and has been struggling recently. Over his last 3 outings, Brown owns a 6.23 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP.
Overall, both offenses have been swinging the bat well over their last 6 games, each posting at least a 107 wRC+, a .199 ISO, and a .323 wOBA.
With Houston ranking second in first-inning runs scored and fifth in YRFI percentage, this sets up as a prime spot to root for some early offense.
Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
Where to watch: CW33, SCHN
Athletics at White Sox: YRFI (-121)
This may be one of the biggest vibes plays I've made in quite some time, as White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami is set to return from the IL. The White Sox offense has gone cold this week, but I think getting their star first baseman back is exactly the spark this lineup needs to get back on track.
They draw struggling Athletics right-hander Aaron Civale, who owns one of the worst pitcher ratings on the slate. He also grades poorly in matchup ISO, wOBA, hard contact, strikeout rate, and ground ball rate.
Through 15 starts, Civale has allowed 8 first-inning runs, with opposing hitters slashing .339/.382/.548 with a .931 OPS.
Sean Burke gets the ball for the White Sox, and he hasn't exactly been sharp early either. Through 14 starts, he has surrendered 9 first-inning runs, with opponents hitting .309 with a .473 SLG and .800 OPS.
I think this is a great spot for early runs, but I'm leaning toward the White Sox being the team that gets us to the window.
Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: CHSN, NBCSCA
Diamondbacks at Dodgers: NRFI (-112)
This could get sweaty, but that's the beauty of the NRFI. Both the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have gone cold offensively over their last 6 games, with each posting a wRC+ below 85, a wOBA under .295, and an OPS below .660. I think the NRFI is in play here.
Shohei Ohtani takes the ball for the Dodgers against a Diamondbacks lineup that doesn't feature a single elite or strongly rated hitter in Batters-Box's current season ratings. On the other side, Eduardo Rodriguez only has to navigate one elite and three strong-rated bats.
I'm willing to sweat out what will likely be a tense bottom of the first.
Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
Where to watch: ARID, SNLA
Colby Marchio's 2026 Transparency Record
NRFI/YRFI picks: 14-4, +6.5 units
What is a NRFI prediction?
NRFI (No Run First Inning) and YRFI (Yes Run First Inning) picks add a thrilling twist to the start of an MLB game. A NRFI pick is a prediction that no runs will be scored in the first inning. You're predicting that the starting pitchers for both teams will get through the first inning without allowing any runs, whether by striking out batters, inducing ground balls, or through solid defensive play.
A YRFI pick is the exact opposite. You're predicting that at least one run will be scored in the first inning. In this case, you’re hoping for an early offensive burst such as a leadoff walk, a timely hit, or even a home run.
NRFI and YRFI picks add excitement to the early part of a game and offer immediate gratification for those looking for a quick resolution.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 07: Hurston Waldrep #64 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after giving up a three-run home run to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third inning at PNC Park on July 7, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It wouldn’t be a day ending in “y” without a Braves roster move:
The #Braves today reinstated RHP Tyler Kinley from the paternity list and optioned RHP Hurston Waldrep to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Hurston Waldrep’s ongoing recovery has had quite a few twists and turns. Following a pseudo-breakout late last year, after the Braves were out of it and had little to play for other than trying to garner the kind of major league development that Waldrep largely showed (a 68 ERA-, 79 FIP-, and 89 xFIP- in 56 1/3 innings, good for 1.2 fWAR), the right-hander hit the shelf with recovery from an elbow cleanup, and made just a handful of rehab-ish outings in the minors before the Braves promoted him.
His first outing of 2026 was rough with a 3/4 K/BB ratio in two innings of relief, but he and the defense somehow kept the runs off the board. Waldrep then had his first start back, which had a fine enough 4/1 K/BB ratio in five innings… except that it involved a hit-by-pitch and a three-run homer, putting the Braves in a 3-0 hole early. And then, there was his disaster in Pittsburgh, where he hung multiple breaking pitches to Ryan O’Hearn in a blowout loss.
So, the Braves will welcome back Tyler Kinley from his time actively playing papa and go with a somewhat bulkier bullpen for a while.
Mark Bowman reports that the Braves plan to have JR Ritchie start on Sunday. Ritchie’s rookie season is not going particularly well (108/130/116) and he’s been used as a multi-inning-ish reliever fill-in so far in July, but he’ll get another shot to improve this weekend. Personally, I’m not really sure that “Waldrep being really bad on balance after three outings” is markedly worse for the team’s immediate-term outlook than “Ritchie being sub-replacement on balance after ten outings,” but my hope is that the Braves can go Johnny Wholestaff in that game anyway and not have to worry about which of their young arms potentially implodes either way.
Less than 24 hours after Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly accidentally leaked the MLB home run leader's plans to participate in the event, Schwarber announced on Friday, July 10 through the Phillies' social media pages that he will compete in the event for the third time in his career.
"I'm glad he's doing it, especially in Philly. Him and Kyle both, right?" Mattingly said when asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Harper participating in the Home Run Derby following the Phillies' 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on July 9.
With Schwarber participating in the Home Run Derby, it not only gives the event another marquee name in the field, but it also marks his first time in the event since 2022. He first competed in the Home Run Derby in 2018 as a member of the Chicago Cubs, where he proceeded to lose to Harper in the finals at Nationals Park.
The Phillies' designated hitter enters the final weekend of the first half of the season with 32 home runs and 58 RBIs, becoming the fastest Phillies hitter to reach 30 home runs on the season — in just 80 games — on Sunday, June 28. He reached the milestone with a go-ahead, two-run home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
"It's just been fun to watch," Mattingly said of Schwarber in June when asked by USA TODAY Sports about his power hitter's season during a media availability. "There's been a lot of big ones that either get us early leads or get us back in the game.
"What I really like is that Schwabs is really all about the team and us winning and I think when you stay in that mode of doing something to help your team win. From a leadership position, that's huge because then everybody's in that mode."
The MLB Home Run Derby is set for 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
The MLB Draft is this weekend in Philadelphia, and there are plenty of mock drafts circulating and predicting who each team is going to take with their first round pick. The Pittsburgh Pirates pick at five in the first round of the draft and there’s a varied opinion on who people think the Buccos will select.
Jonathan Mayo of MLB.con predicts that the Pirates will address their longterm issues at catcher and select one of the best catchers that the college ranks have to offer in Vahn Lackey out of Georgia Tech.
“The Pirates have drafted the best high school position player (Konnor Griffin) and best high school pitcher (Seth Hernandez) in the last two Drafts,” Mayo writes. “If they wanted to go down that road again they could look at Eric Booth Jr. on the hitter side, or Gio Rojas on the mound, but it would be tough to pass on the super-athletic Lackey, the Yellow Jackets’ catcher with a 1.265 OPS, 15 homers and 14 steals.”
The Pirates are certainly in need of a catcher, and having one as athletic as Lackey would be a great grab at fifth overall. Being that he’d be coming out of college it would be assumed that he’d be closer to being pro-ready as well, so if the Pirates go in that direction it may not be long before a player like Lackey would be seeing action in Pittsburgh.
Keith Law of The Athletic thinks that the Pirates could add another strong arm to their pitching staff by taking one of the best college pitching projects in this year’s class. Jackson Flora out of UC Santa Barbara is Law’s pick, after setting school records for most strikeouts in a season.
There’s more that goes into acquiring talent than just the two days of the MLB Draft. Follow along with our Amateur Scouting Series as we bring you to the draft and beyond in a way you’ve never seen before.
“The most opaque team in the top 10, the Pirates would take any of those top three names if one fell here. Buster Posey was the No. 5 pick in 2008, and Vahn Lackey has some similarities in his career arc, although they are not similar players — but that’s probably not happening at pick 5,” Law writes. “Several sources noted that the Pirates have swung big in several drafts now and have a pretty good hit rate, so don’t be surprised if they go for another high-upside pick here.”
ESPN and Bleacher Report both see the Pirates taking one of the top high school prospects in the country. Shortstop Jacob Lombard out of Gulliver Prep High School in Florida has been shooting up mock draft boards as of late, with ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel officially projecting he’ll be a Pirate.
“The Pirates are a lower-payroll team with playoff aspirations, but the college players available aren’t talented enough to move them off the best talent,” McDaniel writes. “In addition, I would only give Lombard to a team with a history of picking and developing players who will need a contact improvement and/or swing tweaks. Konnor Griffin is a nice recent example. Lombard’s profile is similar to that of 2025 No. 4 overall pick Ethan Holliday at the same stage, but with even more athleticism/upside.”
Sports Illustrated Ryan Phillips also predicts that the Pirates will draft a top high school prospect, he just happens to think it’ll be the one from the same home state as the Pirates’ current short stop, Konnor Griffin. Eric Booth Jr. out of Oak Grove High School in Mississippi is looking to be one of the most athletically gifted outfielders in this year’s class and has all the makings of a big league center fielder.
“Flora could be the pick here, but the Pirates like upside and might be able to cut a deal with Booth. That would save money for the three other picks they have in the top 51,” Phillips writes. “At 6’ and 207 pounds, Booth has elite speed, a plus hit tool and good raw power. He’s also a plus fielder in center who will flash an above-average arm. The Vanderbilt commit’s swing can get a bit out of whack as he holds his hands away from his body and moves them up and down as a timing mechanism before he locks them to move to the pitch. He still has good bat-to-ball skills despite that. There’s a lot of upside here with proper development.”
The Pirates and the rest of Major League Baseball will begin the draft on July 11 from the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
The Houston Astros are healthy -135 favorites against the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
With a massive starting pitching advantage, my Astros vs. Rangers predictions and MLB picks for July 10 believe that line is short and the value lies with the road team.
Who will win Astros vs Rangers today: Astros moneyline (-135)
Injuries have prevented Hunter Brown from being his usual, dominant self. However, he has still pitched well when healthy.
One of the only problems to date is control, and that should be less of an issue against a Texas Rangers team sitting 27th in BB% against righties over the last month.
Cal Quantrill (3.35 ERA, 5.35 FIP) is a prime regression candidate, and the Houston Astros have hit much better of late.
Astros vs Rangers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-115)
Globe Life Field is extremely pitcher-friendly.
Brown’s ability to limit hard contact, and induce grounders at a high rate, makes him particularly well-equipped to prevent runs.
Scoring should be like pulling teeth for the Rangers, which puts a lot of pressure on the Astros to put up a big number.
They will give Brown enough support to win, but I wouldn’t expect a ceiling performance offensively. For all Quantrill’s faults, he doesn’t give up a ton of hard contact and has limited homers effectively (1.12 HR/9).
There’s enough there to avoid a blowup. Bet to -125.
Todd Cordell's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 54-44, +0.65 units
Over/Under bets: 53-41-4, +7.04 units
Astros vs Rangers weather
The Rangers generally keep the roof closed and temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s. No impact.
Astros vs Rangers odds
Moneyline: Astros -140 | Rangers +120
Run line: Astros -1.5 (+120) | Rangers +1.5 (-140)
Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-105) | Under 8.5 (-115)
Astros vs Rangers trend
Houston has hit the moneyline in 16 of their last 25 away games (+8.60 units, 33% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Astros vs. Rangers.
How to watch Astros vs Rangers and game info
Location
Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
Date
Friday, July 10, 2026
First pitch
8:05 p.m. ET
TV
Space City Home Network, Rangers Sports Network
Astros starting pitcher
Hunter Brown (1-0, 3.38 ERA)
Rangers starting pitcher
Cal Quantrill (3-1, 3.35 ERA)
Astros vs Rangers latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild has re-signed defenseman Carson Lambos to a one-year contract, keeping one of the organization's top young blueliners in the fold ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Lambos, 23, was selected by Minnesota with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and has spent the past several seasons developing with the Iowa Wild.
The left-shot defenseman also made his NHL debut during the 2025-26 season, giving the organization a glimpse of what he could bring at the next level.
With Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon leading the NHL blue line, with a mix of Olli Maatta, Zach Bogosian and Daemon Hunt to round it out, Lambos will likely continue competing for opportunities while serving as valuable organizational depth.
He remains one of Minnesota's more intriguing defensive prospects and could push for a larger NHL role as the season progresses.
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In the last two seasons, the Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs, and their dominance over their divisional rival, the Florida Panthers, was a big part of that. The Habs have won their last seven games against the Cats. This past season, Montreal outscored Florida 13-7, while the January matchup ended 6-2; the other two games didn’t finish in regulation. The April bout was ultimately decided in a shootout, while the December meeting went into overtime.
Back in 2024-25, the Tricolore played four games against the Panthers and outscored them 14-5. Montreal blanked the Panthers 4-0 in their first matchup of the season, before winning 3-1 at home and 4-2 in Florida in March. They then wrapped up the season series with another triumph, this time at the Bell Centre by a score of 4-2. Back then, Florida was the two-time defending champions and being able to handle them like that was a big confidence builder for the young Habs.
Looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, however, it looks like winning against Paul Maurice’s team won’t be quite that easy. After missing the playoffs last season, there won’t be any bumps or bruises left on the Panthers. Captain Aleksander Barkov sat out the entire season after undergoing knee surgery on both his ACL and his MCL, but he’ll be back with a vengeance.
Barkov won’t be the only addition, though; Bill Zito was able to add some more sandpaper to a team that hardly needed any more when Brady Tkachuk essentially fell into his lap after forcing his way out of Ottawa. The younger Tkachuk will join big brother Matthew and effective pest Brad Marchand, who’s just not slowing down despite being 38 years old. Last season, he put up 54 points in just 52 games; one can wonder if he would have kept up the same pace in 82 games, but it’s far from impossible that he would have. As for the older Tkachuk, he played only 31 games due to an injury, but he still put up 34 points. Those are three players who know how to get under your skin, and it will take a lot of self-control not to fall victim to their antics.
On July 1, they also added some depth at center, signing former Hab Lars Eller to a one-year deal at just $850,000. He may not put up many points, but he’s an effective player on both sides of the puck and highly responsible defensively. Since they knew they couldn’t afford to sign A.J. Greer to a new contract, they traded for Garnet Hathaway, who will replace Greer’s physicality, though he’s unlikely to be as productive.
On the blueline, Zito added even more physicality by signing Radko Gudas as a free agent. He may only be a third-pairing guy, but he knows how to lay down the boom effectively and punish his opponent’s forwards. Just like Marchand, Zito signed him to a long-term contract he probably has no hope of playing through, but it allowed the Panthers to spread out the money they have to pay him, bringing his cap hit down to just $1.5 million.
The offseason isn’t over yet, though, and the Cats have only $1,221,786 in cap space while still needing to sign a backup goaltender. They didn’t re-sign Sergei Bobrovsky, but they traded for Jacob Markstrom, who has a $6 million cap hit over the next two seasons. While he’ll be looking for a bounce-back season after only winning 23 games with a 3.07 goals-against average and a .883 save percentage, he has won his last four games against the Habs.
The Cats have also acquired goaltender Akira Schmid from the Vegas Golden Knights, but he’s an RFA right now and has filed for arbitration. The hearings are set to take place from July 20th to August 1st, so they should get some clarity on the net front sooner rather than later. Depending on the result, Zito may be forced to make another move as teams are allowed to go over the cap during the offseason, but they’ll have to be cap-compliant by the time the season starts.
Wherever you look in the Panthers’ lineup, there doesn’t seem to be any weakness. Meanwhile, Kent Hughes has yet to address any of the Canadiens’ needs this offseason. The GM is after a top-six forward (a center wouldn’t go amiss, but the Habs would settle for a winger if he were impactful), a top-four right-shot defenseman, and some more grit for the bottom six.
Of course, the offseason is far from over, but when you compare the Canadiens’ lineup to the Panthers, you get a sense of how much the Habs are missing to really ice a contender. That was also made clear by the Carolina Hurricanes' dominance in their third-round series. Hughes has a lot of futures to trade, but as he has said himself, there aren’t that many rebuilding teams looking for what he’s selling right now. There’s no doubt that this makes his job harder, and with the Canadiens making the Eastern Conference Final last season, other GMs aren’t exactly keen on helping the Habs improve. Still, the GM will need to find a way if he wants his team to keep improving. There’s only so much organic growth can do.
NEW YORK - JULY 5: Buddy Groom #38 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Baltimore Orioles on July 5, 2005 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. The Yankees defeated the Orioles 12-3. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As we move into the summer months of our birthday series here at PSA, we are once again brought to a perhaps lesser known player in the deep history of baseball in the Bronx. Despite that less-than-household-name status, today’s entry highlights a 14-year big league career, an accomplishment in its own right, and a player with an all-time record to call his own. Buddy Groom only had a brief tenure with the Yankees, but throughout the early 1990s and early 2000s, the lefty was a staple in plenty of bullpens.
Wedsel Gary “Buddy” Groom Jr. Born: July 10, 1965 (Dallas, TX) Yankees Tenure: 2005
Wedsel Gary Groom, born in Dallas 61 years ago, did his college pitching two hours south in Belton at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The left-handed hurler made enough of a name for himself there to earn selection in the 12th round of the 1987 Draft, a pick made by the White Sox.
Before he could work his way all the way through Chicago’s minor league system, he was traded to the Tigers, where he would finally break into the big leagues. He’d pitch there for three seasons, with mostly forgettable returns, and would eventually be dealt to the Marlins mid-year in ‘95, his first season with a fuller workload. Still, ERA marks above seven don’t move the needle much.
Groom signed with the Athletics prior to the 1995 season, and would pitch four full seasons with the A’s. His first year there was his best, when he posted a 3.84 ERA in a career-high 77.1 innings of work. Most notably, his tenure in Oakland established him as a durable left-handed option out of the ‘pen. His four years there marked the beginning of seven consecutive seasons in which he would make 70 or more appearances on the mound. From 1996-2002, Groom’s 511 appearances were the third most in all of baseball.
The reliever’s scenery changed for the 2000 season, when he signed with the Orioles, beginning a four-season run in Baltimore. His 2002 season with the O’s was by far the best of his career, when he posted a sparkling 1.60 ERA across 62 innings of work. One of the fun things about relief pitching, is that sometimes a guy can just find it, and clearly Groom did so during that ‘02 campaign.
The lefty pitched with Baltimore through the 2004 season, before hitting free agency once again in the following offseason. In February of 2005, Groom signed with the Yankees to pitch in the Bronx for his age-39 season.
Now in his late-30s, Groom’s stuff had diminished, and he only pitched 25.2 innings across 24 appearances for the Yankees to begin the season. Not necessarily bad, but a 4.91 ERA and an unimpressive strikeout rate makes it awfully difficult to stick around in any big-league bullpen. At the end of July, Groom was designated for assignment by the Yankees, and eventually sent off the the Diamondbacks. The 23 appearances he would make for Arizona in 2005 would be the final of his career, as it marked the end of a solid 14-year career, during which his left arm was called upon more than almost any other’s.
Despite the lack of accolades on his resume, it would be far from fair to call Groom’s career insignificant. He led the league in pitching appearances in 1999 with 76, and is the all-time leader in games played without ever taking an at-bat in the majors. Beyond all else, Groom was depended on for nearly a decade and a half as a dependable lefty out of the bullpen, an asset almost any team would sign up for.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Louisville outfielder Zion Rose | | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The MLB Draft starts tomorrow (Saturday) at 12 noon CT. The Cubs have the 23 pick of the first round along with the 62nd, 75th, and 98th pick over the first three rounds. The 75th pick is a extra pick the Cubs received for losing Kyle Tucker.
After that, the draft continues with rounds 4 through 20 over Saturday and Sunday.
In case you are wondering, the Cubs’ “bonus pool,” or the money they have to give out in bonuses to picks in the first ten rounds, is $9,644,100. They can go up to five percent over that and just pay a fine. The front office does that every year. But if they go five percent or more over that figure, they lose next year’s first-round draft pick and no one wants to do that. So expect the Cubs to spend $10,126,304.99 on signing bonuses for the first 10 rounds.
Players taken after the 10th round can be given up to a $150k bonus with no penalty. Bonus money above that comes out of the bonus pool. Last year, the Cubs gave 14th round pick Kaemyn Franklin $200k and 17th-round pick Logan Poteet $180k.
If you want to follow along, MLB has some very convoluted coverage this year. Moving the start of the Draft to Saturday before the All-Star Game is a change from previous years when it started on Sunday nights. This means the draft will be happening as games are being played, which is not ideal.
The first 90 minutes of the Draft, from noon to 1:30 CT, will be on NBC and Peacock. This should only be the first 10 picks, so the Cubs’ first choice won’t happen here. Coverage then switches to MLB Network, MLB.com or MLB.tv for the rest of the first round and compensation picks. That’s supposed to last from 1:30 to 3:30 CT. Then they will pick rounds two through four from 3:30 to 6:45 CT on Saturday. That will be on-line coverage only.
On Sunday, they’re going to try to cram in rounds 5 through 20, starting at 10:30 a.m. CT and going until around 6:45 p.m. That will be a conference call, but you can listen in on MLB.com or MLB.tv.
So with all that nonsense out of the way, who will the Cubs take with their first-round pick? I’m going to confess that I don’t know and that Cubs scouting director Dan Kantrovitz doesn’t know at this point. He knows who the Cubs will take if they are available at 23, so don’t worry about that. But I don’t.
Just a warning. I’ve never had a lot of success guessing who the Cubs will take over the past 20 years. When the Cubs had the second overall pick in the draft in 2013 it was easy to predict Kris Bryant and I had a strong sense that they’d take Javier Báez two years earlier. Then I had a long streak of making poor predictions before I hit on back-to-back choices of Matt Shaw and Cam Smith. But before I got too cocky, Ethan Conrad wasn’t even on my radar last year.
But here’s a collection of possible picks for the Cubs in the first round with the 23rd pick. Some of them will be selected before pick number 23, but I think all of them have a chance to fall to 23.
Mason Edwards. LHP USC
There’s no player I’ve seen mocked to the Cubs at number 23 more than Mason Edwards, although some more recent reports have given him “helium,” meaning he’s rising on draft boards and may not be around when the Cubs pick at 23. There have been the possibility floated of either the Royals at 6 or the Angels at 12 trying to cut an underslot deal with Edwards if they don’t like anyone else available at that pick.
Edwards is a 6’2” lefty who led the nation in both strikeouts and strikeout percentage. His best pitch is his wipeout 80-85 mile per hour spike curve that gets a ton of swing and miss. He also has a very good changeup. He has an unusual “rock step” windup and a bit of a cross-body followthrough.
The biggest knock on Edwards is his fastball. While he has touched 95 with it occasionally, mostly it sits at 90-92 mph. Some organizations think they can improve Edwards’ fastball, but that might be tough to do without messing with the curve.
Edwards also struggles with control and walked a lot of batters at USC, although he did improve somewhat his control in 2026. It’s more of a yellow flag than a red one. He’s also very young for a college junior as he doesn’t turn 21 until three days after the Draft. Edwards appeals to a lot of teams because of his age.
Zion Rose OF Louisville
Keith Law of The Athletic has in particular linked the Cubs to Rose, which makes sense because he reminds me of a bigger and stronger and right-handed version of Kane Kepley, the Cubs’ second-round last year out of a different ACC school. That Rose is a Chicago native probably also figures in to the connection. His baseball talents had him leave Chicago for IMG Academy down in Florida, which is another school that the Cubs draft a lot of players out of.
Rose missed the first half of the 2026 college season with an ankle injury, but he came back with a vengeance, hitting .417/.491/.646 with six home runs and 24 steals in 36 games. Most of that was done against better ACC competition as well. Rose has a career batting average of .358 over three seasons at Louisville and also hit a productive .295 in the wooden bat Cape Cod League after his freshman season.
Rose is 6’1” with a quick swing and impressive hand-eye coordination. He makes a ton of gap-to-gap hard contact and is much faster than his 200 pound frame might indicate. Rose does have a tendency to chase pitches out of the zone, which are usually the kinds of pitches that he can make contact with but probably shouldn’t. But that tendency to swing and make contact keeps both his strikeout and walk rates low.
Rose is strong enough to hit for power, but his current swing path is more oriented towards ground balls and line drives. Barring some swing changes, his power is definitely below average for a left fielder, which is his natural position and probably the only one he should be playing in the major leagues. He doesn’t have the arm for right and despite having the speed for center, he hasn’t looked good out there in limited opportunities.
Aiden Robbins OF Texas
Robbins is a name I’ve seen connected to the Cubs more often lately and he is a player expected to go somewhere between the 20th and 30th overall pick. He had a very good performance in last summer’s Cape Cod League and the Cubs’ scouting metrics place a lot of emphasis on performance in the Cape.
Robbins’ is a big, 6’2” right-hander with easy power to all fields. When he really gets hold of one, he can send it a long way. I saw a highlight of him hitting one up onto the train tracks at Daikin Park. Last year with the Longhorns, he hit .333/.426/.696 with 24 home runs in 60 games. He hit 14 home runs in 26 games on the Cape.
Robbins tends to crush fastballs, but there’s a lot of swing-and-miss against breaking pitches. Robbins chases out of the zone too often. In college, his contact skills were good enough to drive a lot of those pitches, but he will have to make adjustments as a professional. In a perfect world, Robbins makes those adjustments and becomes a 30 HR a year outfielder. The downside is that he gets eaten up in the minors.
Robbins played center for Texas but while he’s not slow, he probably doesn’t have the pure foot speed to be an everyday center fielder in the majors. But he could be a pretty solid left or right fielder. His arm is good for left field and good enough for right.
Daniel Jackson C Georgia.
Jackson had a monster junior season with the Bulldogs, hitting .379/.473/.803 with 32 home runs in 67 games. That performance earned Jackson the Golden Spikes, Dick Howser and Buster Posey Awards.
The 6’2” right-handed-hitting Jackson has plus power to all fields right now and has a chance to grow into more. He’s also has above-average speed—not just “for a catcher” but for anyone. Jackson became the first Division I catcher in history to record a 25-25 season for home runs and stolen bases.
The good news on Jackson kind of ends there. There is a ton of swing and miss in his game. Jackson struck out 20.1 percent of his plate appearances which isn’t bad, but he struck out a lot more against better SEC pitching than he did in non-conference games. The Cubs also put a lot of stock in Cape Cod League performance and Jackson only hit .256 there last summer with a strikeout rate of 32 percent.
Beyond the very real questions about his hit tool, a lot of observers don’t think Jackson can stick behind the plate. He only moved there full-time as a junior and is still quite raw defensively. Many scouts think that he could learn the position in time, but there might be a Kyle Schwarber situation going on here. Would a team really want Jackson to spend three years or more in the minors learning to catch when his impact bat could help the major league team immediately? So a move to left field seems more likely than not. However, unlike Schwarber, Jackson has the foot speed to be at least average in left.
Cade Townsend RHP Mississippi
The 6’1” Townsend is a five-pitch pitcher with some impressive stuff. His four-seamer averages around 94-to-96 mph and has touched as high as 98. It is a big straight, however, and probably gets hit a bit more than it should. But his low-90s cutter, high-80s slider and low-80s curve ball have good spin rates and movement. All four pitches grade out as above-average and he also has a solid changeup, giving him a fifth pitch and a good option against left handers.
Townsend doesn’t have the most fluid pitching motion and that has led to control problems, although he did improve in throwing strikes this past season. But he also missed a start with shoulder soreness in March and while he did come back just fine, there are some medical concerns surrounding him.
Taylor Rabe RHP Mississippi
If the Cubs think Townsend’s upside is a little low and are willing to take a bigger gamble for more upside, his teammate Taylor Rabe may be more their style. Rabe has a plus fastball that sits 96-97 mph and has been known to touch 100. The fastball may not have as much movement on it as you’d like, but he really does locate it well and Rabe has very good control.
Rabe contrasts that four-seamer with a hard low-90s cutter that gets a lot of swings and misses. He also has a mid-80s slider that is a work-in-progress but Rabe did have more success with it late in the season. Rabe’s changeup is also under construction and he currently only throws it to left-handed hitters.
Despite his 6’5” frame, Rabe has a fairly simple delivery that he repeats well. He dominates the strike zone, striking out 105 batters and walking only 15 last year over 76 innings.
Normally a power pitcher with good control would be long gone by pick 23, but Rabe has an injury history. He missed all of his freshman season and most of his sophomore season with Tommy John surgery. He came back strong this year, but his track record should scare a lot of teams off. There’s a wide range of possible outcomes for Rabe, from ace starter to reliever to someone who can’t stay healthy enough to pitch regularly in the majors.
Hunter Dietz LHP Arkansas
Dietz is another big upside/big injury risk pitcher. The huge (6’6”, 235) lefty managed to pitch only 1.2 innings total over his first two seasons at Arkansas because of a stress fracture in his elbow that required surgery. But he bounced back healthy his junior year and struck out 131 batters over 85.2 innings. His strikeout rate was an impressive 36.2 percent and his walk rate was a solid 8.6 percent.
Dietz has a plus fastball that sits 94-96 mph that can touch 98 with very good movement. Dietz matches that with a power cutter/slider that’s in the upper-80s and also grades out as plus. Dietz also has a more conventional mid-80s slider and a low-80s curve with a two-plane break.
Again, Dietz is a player who would likely be one of the top-ten picks in the draft were it not for his injury history. If he stays healthy as a pro, a mid-rotation starter might be the most likely outcome with the possibility of even more.
AJ Gracia OF Virginia
The Cubs love guys with good strike zone judgement and good contact rates and that describes Gracia to a T. The 6’3”, 195 left-handed hitter hit .354 at Virginia last year with a .489 OBP and 14 home runs. He walked 47 times compared to just 38 strikeouts, a sign of his selectivity and bat-to-ball skills.
Gracia has decent power, but he seemingly trades contact for some of that power. There are some observers who feel that Gracia could add some more strength and hit the ball harder for more power in the future.
Gracia’s speed and arm are below average, so he’ll probably be limited to left field. The ceiling on Gracia isn’t high, but he has a solid chance to be an everyday left fielder with solid on-base and power numbers.
Some of these players will be taken before the Cubs’ first pick, but I’m fairly confident several of them will still be available at 23. Some other players whom the Cubs might pounce on if they somehow fall to 23 are Coastal Carolina RHP Cameron Flukey, Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian and Florida right-hander Liam Peterson. I think all three of them will be gone by pick 23, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Los Angeles, CA - May 30: Roch Cholowsky #1 of the UCLA Bruins reacts after flying out with two runners on to end the eighth inning of a NCAA Los Angeles Regional baseball game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
This is the third and final edition of the consensus rankings. If you are interested in the previous versions, the June Top 200 and the April Top 100 are linked here if you want to see how a player has been moving over the past few months.
There are some changes this time around. Obviously the most notable is going from a Top 200 to a Top 500. The next big change is the number of lists included drops from seven to six, as the Keith Law/Athletic list was very short (only Top 100) and the rankings were very different than anyone else’s, so it would throw off things both at the top and in that 75-150 range. Another small change from last time is I am cutting out the listing of player movement, as there wasn’t enough time to get that done and have this list ready for you in time for the draft due to these lists being released late.
The six lists used are Baseball America, Pipeline (Only Top 250), Perfect Game, ESPN/Kiley McDaniel (Top 250), Overslot/Mock Draft Simulator, as well as my own. The player ranked No. 1 on a list gets 500 points towards the consensus total, while the player ranked No. 500 receives one point. In total there were 695 players who received at least one point. All of these lists have been recently updated, so there is nothing old in these rankings. Two of these lists are shorter than a Top 500, so there will be heavier weight to the other four lists in the bottom half of the rankings.
Note that these rankings are a composite of all sources, and outside of my own rankings being one part of the six rankings included, this is not something I have influenced at all. For players who are tied in points for a spot, I am giving the higher ranking to the player who ranks higher on the greater number of lists, with the second tie breaker being awarded for the highest ranking on any list, followed by number of lists a player is included on, and if it’s still tied the player with the lowest ranking on any individual list loses. I will include some comments below on some of the interesting things included in the composite, and break this down into tiers solely based on how highly rated these players were in terms of points.
Tier 1
1.Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA – 2996 points
2.Grady Emerson, SS, Texas HS – 2995
3.Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech – 2991
The original thought that Cholowsky would be a consensus top pick is out the window, as he beats Emerson by just one point. Roch was the top guy on three boards to two for Emerson. Lackey took home the other top slot and was second in another set of rankings. It’s clear that there isn’t much separating these three guys from each other and they have separated themselves from the second trio that makes up the clear Top 6.
Tier 2
4.Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 2978
5.Eric Booth Jr., OF, Mississippi HS – 2974
6.Jacob Lombard, SS, Florida HS – 2972
These three are tightly grouped as a clear second tier of the Top 6. In all six sets of rankings, these guys occupied 17 of the 18 total slots of 4/5/6 in the rankings, with only Lombard coming in at 7th.
Tier 3
7.Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech – 2957
8.Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky – 2949
9.Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas – 2948
10.Chris Hacopian, SS, Texas A&M – 2941
11.Derek Curiel, OF, LSU – 2931
Tier 4
12.Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, California HS – 2922
13.Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama – 2917
14.Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina – 2916
15.Gio Rojas, LHP, Florida HS – 2915
16.AJ Gracia, OF, Virginia – 2909
17.Trevor Condon, OF, Georgia HS – 2897
18.Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State – 2894
19.Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida – 2883
20.Sawyer Strosnider, OF, TCU – 2876
Tier 5
21.Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas – 2853
22.Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State – 2850
23.Daniel Jackson, C, Georgia – 2840
24.Mason Edwards, LHP, USC – 2840
Jackson takes the first tie, ranking with a higher slot on four of the six lists.
25.Zion Rose, OF, Louisville – 2839
26.Cade Townsend, RHP, Mississippi – 2830
27.Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Tennessee – 2827
28.Coleman Borthwick, RHP, Florida HS – 2817
29.Bo Lowrance, 3B, South Carolina HS – 2812
30.Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech – 2811
31.Carson Bolemon, RHP, South Carolina HS – 2808
32.Caden Sorrell, OF, Texas A&M – 2793
33.Logan Reddeman, RHP, UCLA – 2791
34.Eric Becker, SS, Virginia – 2789
35.Taylor Rabe, RHP, Mississippi – 2884
36.Cole Prosek, SS, Mississippi HS – 2780
Tier 6
37.Brody Bumila, LHP, Massachusetts HS – 2764
38.Logan Schmidt, LHP, California HS – 2762
39.Aiden Robbins, OF, Texas – 2761
40.Tyler Spangler, SS, California HS – 2759
41.Archer Horn, SS, California HS – 2756
42.Jack Radel, RHP, Notre Dame – 2754
43.Aiden Ruiz, SS, New York HS – 2751
44.Chase Brunson, OF, TCU – 2737
45.Ben Blair, RHP, Liberty – 2737
Brunson takes this tie with the second tie breaker, coming in highest of the two anywhere – 29th on the list over at Overslot.
46.Taj Marchand, SS, South Carolina HS – 2728
47.Jensen Hirschkorn, RHP, California HS – 2712
48.Ty Head, OF, NC State – 2685
49.Jarren Advincula, 2B, Georgia Tech – 2678
50.Landon Thome, SS, Illinois HS – 2672
51.Connor Comeau, SS, Texas HS – 2669
52.James Clark, SS, California HS – 2666
53.Sean Duncan, LHP, Canada HS – 2665
54.Blake Bowen, OF, California HS – 2664
55.Will Brick, C, Tennessee HS – 2664
After both coming in higher on two lists, Bowen wins the tie because he ranked highest on a list – 37th on the PG list.
After both being higher on three lists, this tie is broken by myself having Nawrocki the highest – 72nd overall.
Tier 9
107.Ryan Peterson, RHP, Sam Houston State – 2316
108.Brendan Brock, C, Oklahoma – 2316
Peterson ranks higher on four out of the six lists.
109.Kyle Jones, OF, Florida – 2315
110.Keon Johnson, SS, Georgia HS – 2314
111.Roman Martin, 3B, UCLA – 2310
112.Tommy LaPour, RHP, TCU – 2299
113.James Tronstein, SS/OF, California HS – 2297
114.Martin Shelar, OF, Georgia HS – 2297
Tronstein ranks higher on four of the six spots.
115.Cooper Sides, RHP, California HS – 2293
116.Shane Sdao, LHP, Texas A&M – 2283
117.Camden Kozeal, 2B, Arkansas – 2280
118.Caden Ferraro, OF, Texas Tech – 2269
119.Jack Slightom, RHP, Illinois HS – 2267
120.Julian Garcia, RHP, California HS – 2256
121.Ethan Norby, LHP, East Carolina – 2250
122.Jaxon Willits, SS, Oklahoma – 2228
123.Carson Wiggins, RHP, Arkansas – 2226
124.Gavin Gallagher, 2B, North Carolina – 2223
125.Eric Guevara, 3B, Auburn – 2215
126.Tre Broussard, OF, Houston – 2211
127.Denton Lord, RHP, Florida HS – 2205
128.Ryan Marohn, LHP, NC State – 2200
129.Kollin Ritchie, OF, Oklahoma State – 2195
130.Bryce Hill, RHP, Connecticut HS – 2192
Tier 10
131.Kade Lewis, 3B, Wake Forest – 2177
132.Jason Amalbert, SS, New Jersey HS – 2166
133.Maxx Yehl, LHP, West Virginia – 2150
134.Matt Ponatoski, RHP/SS, Ohio HS – 2150
Yehl takes this tie because his 102nd overall ranking on the Overslot list was the highest of either player.
135.Alex Weingartner, SS, New Jersey HS – 2145
136.Wilson Andersen, RHP, Florida HS – 2125
137.Dylan Bowen, SS, Indiana HS – 2118
138.Henry Ford, 3B, Tennessee – 2115
139.Anthony Murphy, OF, California HS – 2114
140.Alex Hernandez, 2B, Georgia Tech – 2112
141.Camden Johnson, 3B, Oklahoma – 2086
142.Jake McCoy, LHP, South Carolina – 2086
143.Hudson DeVaughan, RHP, Indiana HS – 2086
Johnson and McCoy each ranked highest on three lists, which sends DeVaughan into third in this three-way tie. Johnson takes the win because coming in at 101st on Baseball America is the highest of his and McCoy’s rankings.
144.Gannon Grant, RHP, Indiana HS – 2079
145.Robbie Lavey, C, George Washington – 2078
146.Garrett Wright, C, Tennessee – 2058
147.Tyler Putnam, RHP, Missouri HS – 2040
148.Rylan Lujo, OF, Georgia – 2039
149.Andruw Giles, OF, Nevada HS – 2035
150.Duncan Marsten, RHP, Wake Forest – 2026
151.Deiten Lachance, C, Oklahoma – 2021
152.Tre Phelps, 3B, Georgia – 1983
153.James Jorgensen, RHP, Texas HS – 1980
154.Kyle Johnson, LHP, Virginia – 1979
155.Steele Murdock, RHP, UC San Diego – 1978
156.Carson Jasa, RHP, Nebraska – 1973
157.Gary Morse, RHP, California HS – 1972
158.Ryan Cooney, 2B, Oregon – 1964
159.Trey Beard, LHP, Florida State – 1961
160.Nathan Taylor, RHP, Cincinnati – 1956
161.Cal Randall, RHP, UCLA – 1949
162.Dalton Wentz, 3B, Wake Forest – 1947
163.Eli Herst, RHP, Washington HS – 1941
164.Jake Carbaugh, RHP, Florida HS – 1937
165.Brayden Dowd, OF, Florida State – 1920
166.Deven Sheerin, RHP, LSU – 1920
Dowd takes this tie because his ESPN ranking is the highest spot either of these two was listed.
167.Trey Rangel, RHP, Texas HS – 1907
168.Logan Georges, RHP, California HS – 1904
169.Carson Bailey, RHP, Texas JUCO – 1885
Tier 11
170.Dawson Montesa, RHP, West Virginia – 1869
171.LJ Mercurius, RHP, Oklahoma – 1854
172.Luke McNeillie, RHP, Florida – 1852
173.Kolby Stringer, RHP, Mississippi HS – 1833
174.Lucas Moore, OF, Louisville – 1832
175.AJ Rice, RHP, Georgia HS – 1826
176.Landon Brown, RHP, Texas HS – 1804
177.Brady Harris, OF, Florida HS – 1788
178.Isaac Morton, RHP, Minnesota – 1778
179.Coleton Brady, RHP, Florida HS – 1773
180.Alex Conover, OF, Oklahoma State – 1772
181.Aidan Knaak, RHP, Clemson – 1761
182.Grayson Willoughby, RHP, Kentucky HS – 1756
183.Jack Dugan, SS, Tennessee HS – 1755
184.Dominic Voegele, RHP, Kansas – 1754
185.Joe Tiroly, 2B, Virginia – 1751
186.CJ Weinstein, SS, California HS – 1750
187.Jet Berry, SS, Arizona HS – 1722
188.Ryne Barker, 3B, Arizona HS – 1717
189.Dylan Vigue, RHP, Georgia – 1693
190.Bo Rhudy, RHP, Tennessee – 1693
Vigue wins because he ranks higher on five of the six lists. The reason for the tie is that Vigue was not listed on the shorter ESPN list. Had he been ranked even 300th there, plausible since he was in the Top 200 everywhere else, he would have come in at 169th on this list.
191.Brady Snow, RHP, Florida HS – 1685
192.Jorvorskie Lane Jr., C/OF, Texas HS – 1670
193.Cole Dennis, RHP, Florida HS – 1663
Tier 12
194.Braden Holcomb, OF, Vanderbilt – 1644
195.Maddox Molony, SS, Oregon – 1640
196.Noah Danza, SS, New Jersey HS – 1636
197.Gavin Giese, RHP, California HS – 1621
198.Eric Segura, RHP, Oregon State – 1612
199.Jack Brenner, C, Wisconsin HS – 1608
200.Alex Sosa, C, Miami – 1605
201.Ty Horn, RHP, Nebraska – 1586
202.Gunner Skelton, 3B, Tennessee HS – 1562
203.Sawyer Nelson, SS, Oregon HS – 1560
204.Owen Kramkowski, RHP, Arizona – 1556
205.Will Plunkett, SS, New York HS – 1542
206.Thomas Burns, RHP, Texas – 1542
Both players ranked higher on three lists, but Plunkett had the highest ranking anywhere of the two.
207.Wessley Roberson, OF, Georgia HS – 1530
208.Robert Omidi, 3B, Canada HS – 1522
209.Ethan McElvain, LHP, Arkansas – 1513
210.Nu’u Contrades, 3B, Arizona State – 1506
211.Cashel Dugger, C, UCLA – 1490
212.Justin LeGuernic, RHP, Clemson – 1485
213.Kyle Casteel, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 1463
214.Cal Scolari, RHP, Oregon – 1463
This came down to the second tie breaker, with Casteel winning by ranking one slot higher on Pipeline’s list than Scolari came in on PG’s list.
215.Wil Libbert, LHP, Mississippi – 1457
216.Tyler Fay, RHP, Alabama – 1448
217.Michael Harpster, RHP, East Tennessee State – 1435
218.Isaiah Galason, SS, Georgia HS – 1426
219.Eric Nachtsheim, RHP, McNeese State – 1423
220.Alain Gomez-Gudino, C, Arizona HS – 1382
221.Brayden Martin, 3B, Maryland – 1382
Gomez-Gudino, who was Cam Caminiti’s high school catcher, ranked higher on four out of the six lists.
222.Shawn Sullivan, RHP, Ohio HS – 1372
223.Grant Govel, RHP, USC – 1328
224.Genson Veras, OF, Florida HS – 1322
225.Griffin Long, RHP, Georgia HS – 1320
226.Trevor Hansen, RHP, UC Irvine – 1295
227.Tyson Grulkowski, RHP, Wisconsin HS – 1276
228.Judah Ota, OF, Hawaii HS – 1267
229.Kam Durning, SS, Missouri – 1260
230.AJ Curry, OF, California HS – 1254
231.Hudson Calhoun, RHP, Mississippi – 1253
232.Russell Sandefer, RHP, Florida – 1252
233.Brandon McCraine, SS, Auburn – 1252
Sandefer ranks higher on three lists, versus two for McCraine. Neither was on the shorter ESPN list.
234.Ryan Harwood, OF, Arizona HS – 1250
235.Sherman Johnson, 3B, NC State – 1239
Tier 13
236.Hudson Barrett, LHP, Oklahoma State – 1219
237.Matthew Thomas, OF, Cal State Northridge – 1208
238.Josh McDevitt, RHP, Missouri – 1202
239.Erik Paulsen, 1B, North Carolina – 1201
240.Jack Beck, SS, Tennessee HS – 1199
241.Ricky Ojeda, LHP, UC Irvine – 1196
242.Cam Johnson, LHP, Oklahoma – 1177
243.Clayton Freshcorn, RHP, Texas A&M – 1153
244.Cody Boshell, 1B, Florida HS – 1145
245.Tate McKee, RHP, Georgia Tech – 1124
246.Jon Mora, OF, Florida HS – 1116
247.Brady Ballinger, 1B, Kansas – 1114
248.Micah Worley, LHP, Stony Brook – 1109
249.Max Bayles, RHP, Santa Clara – 1107
250.Teagan Scott, C, Oregon HS – 1107
Bayles ranks highest in four spots, with each being left off one list.
251.Ryan Piech, RHP, Xavier – 1077
252.Wyatt Clatur, RHP, Tennessee HS – 1074
253.Hunter Brown, RHP, New Jersey HS – 1074
Each ranks highest on three lists, but Clatur has the high mark of the two.
254.Chase Kiker, RHP, North Carolina HS – 1068
255.Blake Morningstar, RHP, Wake Forest – 1063
256.Jaxon Jelkin, RHP, Kentucky – 1054
257.Landon Thiel, LHP, Ohio HS – 1040
258.Ryan Kucherak, SS, Northwestern – 1037
259.Cooper Webb, RHP, Texas HS – 1036
260.Cam Jackson, SS, Georgia HS – 1034
261.Josiah Morris, SS, California HS – 1025
262.Calvin Proskey, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 1021
263.Bear Harrison, C, Texas A&M – 1014
264.Jacob Madrid, C, California HS – 995
265.Ryan Stedman, RHP, Iowa HS – 990
266.Brandon Arvidson, LHP, Tennessee – 989
267.Nathan Aceves, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 988
268.Donovan Thiery, RHP, Florida HS – 987
269.Spencer Evans, LHP, Florida HS – 986
270.Hunter Carns, C, Florida State – 984
271.Luke Costello, OF, Wake Forest – 978
272.Haiden Leffew, LHP, Texas – 970
273.Dominic Battista, OF, Illinois HS – 969
274.John Stowers, C, Alabama HS – 967
275.Kaleb LaFavor, RHP, Iowa HS – 966
276.Connor Fennell, RHP, Vanderbilt – 964
277.Collin Bland, 1B, Tennessee HS – 961
278.Bryson Moore, RHP, Florida State – 957
279.Graham Schlicht, RHP, California HS – 955
280.Cole Tryba, LHP, UC Santa Barbara – 950
281.Macon Winslow, C, North Carolina – 943
282.Alex Petrovic, RHP, Auburn – 936
Tier 14
283.Ethan Sutton, RHP, South Florida – 915
284.John Abraham, RHP, Florida State – 913
285.Cody New, LHP, Cal Baptist – 911
286.Declan Dahl, RHP, Louisiana Tech – 907
287.Ben Davis, RHP, Mississippi State – 892
288.Michael Addari, RHP, Illinois State – 880
289.Chris McHugh, 1B, NC State – 877
290.JJ Drennan, RHP, New Jersey HS – 871
291.Ryan Novak, OF, Miami(OH) – 862
292.Kenny Ishikawa, LHP/OF, Georgia – 838
293.Zane Adams, LHP, Alabama – 829
294.Sam Harris, 1B, Virginia – 827
295.Dustin Dunwoody, RHP, California HS – 821
296.Hayes Holton, RHP, Louisiana HS – 815
297.Colin Fisher, LHP, Arkansas – 810
298.Josiah Kemp, OF, Oklahoma HS – 810
Fisher ranked higher on three lists, versus one for Kemp.
299.Lorenzo Carrier, OF, Pitt – 807
300.Matthew Sharman, RHP, Georgia HS – 803
301.Colin White, LHP, Georgia HS – 800
302.Kyle McDaniel, 2B, Utah Tech – 799
303.Ethan Surowiec, 3B, Florida – 790
304.Carlos Martinez, RHP, Hofstra – 788
305.Jason Jutronich, LHP, California HS – 787
306.Gavin Van Kempen, RHP, East Carolina – 781
307.Matthew Kelley, SS, Nevada HS – 778
308.AJ Evasco, OF/1B, Kansas State – 776
309.Jerek Turlij, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 772
310.Easton Autrey, 3B, Texas HS – 769
311.Alex Harrington, SS, California HS – 764
312.Jake Long, OF, Utah – 760
313.Dylan Blomker, RHP, New Mexico HS – 758
314.Keller Bradley, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 757
315.Colin Linder, RHP, Arizona State – 751
316.Cole Stokes, RHP, Florida State – 748
317.Jaxon Matthews, OF, North Carolina HS – 733
318.Anthony Del Angel, 3B, New Mexico HS – 732
319.Rhett Britt, RHP, North Carolina HS – 731
320.Isaiah Hearn, OF, California HS – 719
321.Alejandro Garza, 3B, Cal Poly – 719
Hearn wins this tie by having the higher ranking of the two.
322.Ross Norman, RHP, Coastal Carolina – 707
323.Hunter Possehl, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast – 705
324.Colin Barczi, C, Vanderbilt – 705
Possehl ranks higher on three of the four lists that either are featured on.
325.Grayden Seuferling, RHP, Missouri HS – 692
326.Mark Quatrani, C, Notre Dame – 691
327.Ryan Tayman, C, Cal Poly – 684
328.Luke Pettitte, RHP/1B, Dallas Baptist – 680
329.Ty Burnham, RHP, Arkansas HS – 678
330.Jarren Purify, 2B, Clemson – 662
331.Paul Contreras, OF, Cal State Fullerton – 657
332.Grayson Fitzwater, 1B, VMI – 656
333.Matt Scott, RHP, Georgia – 650
334.Connor Marshburn, RHP, UNC Wilmington – 645
335.Luke Nixon, 2B, NC State – 638
336.Christian Doty, SS, Mississippi HS – 637
337.Josh Gunther, RHP, South Carolina – 629
338.Carson Turnquist, RHP, Cal Poly – 619
339.Alfredo Capacete, RHP, Cal Baptist – 617
340.Michael Malki, RHP, Cal Baptist – 616
341.Michael Anderson, 1B, Penn State – 614
342.David Hinojosa, RHP, New York HS -611
343.Ty Tillery, RHP, Georgia HS – 609
344.Beau Bryans, LHP, Jacksonville State – 607
Tier 15
345.Caden McDonald, 1B, Florida – 595
346.RJ Cope, LHP/1B, Georgia HS – 591
347.Jaxson Wood, OF, Alabama HS – 591
This one came down to the second tie breaker, with Cope winning due to a very high ranking on PG.
348.Tyler Minick, 3B, UConn – 569
349.Javar Williams, OF, Wake Forest – 560
350.Gage Peterson, RHP, Appalachian State – 555
351.Reece Moroney, SS, Rhode Island – 555
Peterson has the higher ranking on four lists.
352.Jacob Haley, RHP, South Alabama – 545
353.Tanner Marsh, SS, Liberty – 539
354.Matthew Mansbery – SS, Ohio HS – 536
355.Landon Koenig, RHP, Mississippi – 533
356.Cash Scarborough, RHP, Texas HS – 530
357.Andrew Gonzalez, 2B, Texas HS – 528
358.Selden Kolkenbeck, RHP, New Jersey HS – 527
359.Cooper Moore, RHP, LSU – 527
Kolkenbeck having the highest ranking of the two is what got him the win in this tie.
360.Aidan Weaver, RHP, Duke – 525
361.Ethan Mendoza, 2B, Texas – 518
362.Matt Conte, C, Wake Forest – 515
363.Dean West, OF, UCLA – 513
364.Aidan Keenan, RHP, Stanford – 512
365.Aidan Teel, OF, Mississippi State – 511
366.Griffin Graves, LHP, Auburn – 510
367.AJ Krodel, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 510
Graves had the higher ranking on three lists, versus one for Krodel.
368.PJ Moutzouridis, SS, Arizona State – 506
369.Kuhio Aloy, 1B, Arkansas – 502
370.Anthony Potestio, SS, UC San Diego – 495
371.Justin Byrd, RHP, Georgia – 488
372.Clay Burdette, OF, Xavier – 486
373.Deacon Nelson, SS, Ohio HS – 479
374.Vincent Lombardo, OF, Connecticut HS – 474
375.Parker Ishee, RHP, Mississippi JUCO – 469
376.Dominic Pellegrin, SS, Louisiana HS – 465
377.Griffin Stieg, RHP, Virginia Tech – 456
378.Chase Meyer, RHP, formerly West Virginia/MLB Draft League – 454
379.Fabio Bundi, RHP, California JUCO – 454
After each player saw himself higher on two lists, Meyer got the edge due to the highest ranking in any set.
380.Mickey Gilligan, C, New Jersey HS – 452
381.Ethan Wheeler, RHP, Florida HS – 448
382.Brodie Purcell, RHP, Florida State – 448
Wheeler ranked higher on two lists to just one for Purcell.
383.Drew Titsworth, RHP, Clemson – 447
384.Jaden Jackson, OF, California HS – 445
385.Collin Jennings, OF, Illinois – 442
386.Parker Loew, SS, Florida HS – 442
With the highest ranking anywhere, this one went to Jennings.
387.Jordan Ransom, SS, Arizona HS – 441
388.Tyler Pitzer, RHP, Mississippi State – 436
389.Brett Lanman, LHP, Abilene Christian – 433
390.Isaiah James, LHP, North Carolina HS – 424
391.Ezra Liggon, OF, Wisconsin HS – 423
392.Owen Kelly, RHP, Mississippi – 415
393.Ethan Offing, SS, South Carolina HS – 413
394.Colin Driffill, RHP, Nebraska HS – 412
395.Louis Hernandez, 3B, Florida HS – 405
396.Devin Diaz, C, New York HS – 404
397.Connor Shouse, 3B, Texas Tech – 399
398.Jacob Bean, RHP, Louisville – 398
399.Erick Dessens,OF, Sacramento State – 391
Tier 16
400.Hunter Rose, LHP, Arkansas HS – 380
401.Zach Edwards, RHP, Oregon State – 377
402.Garrett Lambert, RHP, Mercer – 377
Edwards ranks higher on three lists to Lambert’s one.
403.Ryan Zuckerman, 3B, Georgia Tech – 371
404.Bryant James, SS, Virginia HS – 365
405.Colton Semmelmann, LHP, Wisconsin HS – 364
406.Jimmy Anderson, SS, Illinois JUCO – 363
407.Hayden Johnson, LHP, Coastal Carolina – 362
408.Tryston McCladdie, SS, Clemson – 361
409.Anthony Quigley, 3B, Florida JUCO – 360
410.Noah Sullivan, 1B, Mississippi State – 358
411.Matt Quintanar, C, Texas Tech – 353
412.Matt Sauser, RHP, UCF – 351
413.Eric Zdunek, OF, California HS – 340
414.Reese Chapman, OF, Tennessee – 340
Zdunek wins this because he has the highest ranking of the two.
415.Conner Griffin, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 339
416.Jacob Johnson, 3B, Saint Mary’s – 336
417.Caden Matusak, SS, Indiana HS – 333
418.Cider Cannon, C, Duke – 332
419.Mason Eckelman, C, Ohio State – 331
420.Josh Skowronski, OF, Winthrop – 328
421.Sean Loggie, LHP, New Jersey HS – 327
422.Cole Hansen, C, Cal Baptist – 327
This one came down to Loggie having the higher peak ranking.
423.Jaden Bastian, OF, Florida – 326
424.Cameron Tarkenton, RHP, North Carolina HS – 325
425.Christian Chatterton, RHP, Auburn – 325
Tarkenton ranks higher on two lists, versus one for Chatterton.
426.Carson May, C, Kansas HS – 323
427.Parker Brosius, OF, Georgia Tech – 321
428.Brady Marconi, C, South Carolina – 319
429.Weston Moss, RHP, Texas A&M – 317
430.Logan Johnstone, OF, Vanderbilt – 316
431.Juriel Collazo, OF, Puerto Rico HS – 311
432.Harrison Ailshie, OF, North Carolina HS – 305
433.Andrew Wiggins, OF, NC State – 302
434.Garrett Luett, 3B, Iowa HS – 302
Wiggins ranked higher on three lists, while Luett only made the ESPN list.
435.Ben Cleary, SS, Santa Clara – 301
436.Colton Coates, SS, Louisiana Tech – 298
437.Julian Sabourin, RHP, Canada HS – 289
438.Taden Krogsgaard, RHP, California HS – 289
Sabourin ranked higher on two lists versus one for Krogsgaard.
439.Braylen Montgomery, OF, Louisiana HS – 288
440.Rintaro Sasaki, 1B, Stanford – 285
441.Kaleb Traylor, 3B, New York HS – 285
Sasaki ranked higher on three lists, while Traylor made just one.
442.Drew Whalen, RHP, Auburn – 284
443.Jax Robinson, C, Texas HS – 283
444.Kael Barney, 1B, Tennessee HS – 282
445.Isaiah Lane, SS, Hope International – 281
446.Michael Graziano, OF, Mercer – 281
Lane is ranked highest on two lists to one for Graziano.
447.Christian Coppola, RHP, Saint Joe’s – 280
448.Troy Southisene, SS, Nevada HS – 277
449.Brenden Olsen, OF, Michigan HS – 274
450.Daniel Kellis, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 273
451.Brody Schumaker, 2B, California HS – 273
Kellis ranks higher on two lists to just one for Skip Schumaker’s son.
452.Trey Miller, SS, Mississippi HS – 268
453.Brady Neal, C, Alabama – 267
454.Adam Troy, RHP, USC – 267
Neal ranks higher on three lists, while Troy has the edge on one.
455.Lee Garris, 2B, Virginia HS – 266
456.Easton Kitura, 3B, Canada HS – 264
457.Amp Phillips, RHP, South Carolina -260
458.Nick Robert, RHP, Miami – 260
459.Alex Overbay, RHP, Arizona State – 260
Phillips ranks highest on two lists, while Overbay and Roberts each have one. Robert gets the second spot because he has the highest ranking.
460.Brady Murrietta, C, California HS – 258
461.Luke Ekdall, RHP, Texas JUCO – 257
462.Alex Philpott, RHP, South Carolina – 257
Ekdall claims the top spot by being higher on three lists, versus one for Philpott.
463.Cory Les, SS, Illinois HS – 255
464.Owen McMahan, LHP, Tennessee HS – 254
465.Tanner Mally, OF, Western Michigan – 253
466.TJ McQuillan, OF, Indiana HS – 246
467.Porter Buursema, RHP, Georgia Tech – 244
468.Gavin Michaels, SS, Illinois HS – 243
469.Mikey Bell, 3B, Gonzaga – 243
This tie goes to Michaels due to having the highest ranking.
470.Ned Frutchey, RHP, California JUCO – 242
471.Zane Shaw, RHP, Kansas HS – 242
472.Justin Lee, RHP, UCLA – 242
A three-way tie has Frutchey highest in two spots to one each for Lee and Shaw. Shaw gets the second spot due to the highest ranking.
473.Gunnar Alm, OF, North Carolina HS – 241
474.Max Kaufer, C, Wichita State – 236
475.Ben Tryon, 1B, Dallas Baptist – 234
476.Drew Smith, 3B, Oregon – 233
477.JP Robertson, RHP, Mississippi – 231
478.Tristan Bissetta, OF, Mississippi – 231
Robertson ranks higher on two lists, with one for Bissetta.
479.Diego Castellanos, OF, Saint Mary’s – 230
480.Deacon Avery, SS, Florida HS – 230
481.Brayden Harris, RHP, Florida HS -230
Castellanos ranks highest in two spots to one each for Avery and Harris. Avery has the highest ranking on any of the lists, so he claims the second spot.
482.Rob Czarniecki, OF, Indiana HS – 227
483.Hunter Elliott, LHP, Mississippi – 227
Czarniecki ranks higher on two lists, while Elliott has just one.
484.Hideki Prather, C, Cal – 221
485.Tommy Harrison, OF, Miami(OH) – 220
486.Dylan Alonso, RHP, Troy – 220
487.Michael Benzor, LHP, Dallas Baptist – 220
Each of these guys ranks highest on one list. So this comes down to Harrison having the highest ranking, Alonso having the second, and Benzor coming in third.
488.Yodelkis Quevedo, 3B, Florida HS – 218
489.Dillon Moss, C, California HS – 215
490.KJ Scobey, SS, South Carolina – 215
Moss ranks higher on two lists.
491.Wyatt Williams, RHP, Alabama HS – 213
492.Matthew Maxon, RHP, California HS – 212
493.Maika Niu, OF, Arkansas – 211
494.Eric Jeon, 2B, Stanford – 210
495.Ariston Veasey, RHP, Clemson – 208
496.Karson Reeder, RHP/1B, Texas HS – 208
There is no tie breaker here so I gave this tie to the guy who I personally ranked higher. Both players were each on one list, and they came in ranked at the same spot. Veasey ranked 293 on my list, while Reeder was 293 on the PG list.
The Toronto Marlies, AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, had an incredible campaign this past season. They went on to win the Calder Cup and were crowned champions of the American League, which is always a great sign for any organization.
As for the players on that Marlies team, there were multiple standouts. However, as good as some of the Marlies' core players were in the post-season, they may not get the opportunity they deserve in the AHL after a busy off-season for the Leafs and GM John Chayka.
Players such as goaltender Artur Akhtyamov, defenseman William Villeneuve, centers Jacob Quillan, Bo Groulx and others all deserve some more time in the NHL.
Akhtyamov was stellar for the Marlies this past season, especially in the playoffs. He played 22 games, earning the starting role for the team early in the post-season, and finished with a .923 save percentage, a 2.22 goals-against average and a pair of shutouts.
The 24-year-old's campaign was so impressive that not only did he go home with his team carrying the Calder Cup, but he was also named the AHL playoff MVP and awarded the Jack A Butterfield Trophy.
Villeneuve, 24, made his first three NHL appearances this past year, but really should get much more than that next season, considering his playoff campaign.
He scored 23 points in 24 playoff games for the Marlies, leading all American League defenseman in scoring for the post-season by a landslide. Not to mention, he almost led the entire league in playoff scoring if it weren't for Toronto's Vinni Lettieri, who potted 26 points in 23 contests.
With a campaign that impressive and a blueliner who can move the puck and provide speed to an aging NHL D-corps, Villeneuve should certainly be given more than the three appearances he got in 2025-26.
Quillan and Groulx got real looks in the NHL this past year, particularly after the trade deadline, when some regulars were shipped away for future assets and the Leafs' season was drifting away.
In Quillan's 23 games and Groulx's 13 appearances, they showed potential to be bottom-six centers who can contribute on the penalty kill. They have areas that could require some improvement, including Quillan's offensive presence and Groulx's record in the faceoff dot.
However, with the opportunity they got last year, they'll be looking for another taste after showing that they can hang in the NHL.
Unfortunately for those players, who all have their own cases to get a chance in the NHL, there don't seem to be many open spots on the Maple Leafs' roster going into 2026-27.
One player a part of the Marlies' run that hasn't been mentioned is left winger Easton Cowan. He'll likely be an NHL regular this coming year after scoring 11 goals and 29 points in 66 contests for the Leafs in 2025-26. So that's one roster spot filled.
Of course, there are the stars or perennial NHLers on the roster, such as Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Jake McCabe, and several others.
And within all those names, there were an abundance of additions this off-season, taking up half of the roster practically. In terms of forwards, the Leafs added Nick Paul, Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime and even first overall draft pick Gavin McKenna.
On the blueline, Toronto completed a sign-and-trade for Darren Raddysh and acquired Emil Andrae in a separate trade. They also signed Troy Stecher to a two-year contract extension.
And in the crease, they traded away Joseph Woll, but acquired future Hall of Fame goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency, inking him to a three-year deal.
Indeed, injuries are a part of the game and could certainly free up some roster spots for the handful of Marlies who would deserve them. But in terms of flat-out making the team out of camp and having a relatively regular role next season, the odds are certainly against many of those Calder Cup champions.
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NBA Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The Milwaukee Bucks are looking for a new direction after trading out Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat in a blockbuster deal.
While Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez, among others, represent a building block, the Bucks are going to need more than just that to get back on their feet. Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale listed the Bucks as an option for Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga in free agency.
“The Milwaukee Bucks should be in full-on experimental mode after trading Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat. Jonathan Kuminga fits neatly into that second-draft (third-draft?) mold,” Favale wrote.
“… Aside from needing to stagger Kuminga from Nate Ament and maybe Kyle Kuzma, the logistical pretzel-twisting is minimal. That’s more than you can say for many of the other fits. And with ample wiggle room beneath the tax, the Bucks can afford to use part (or all) of their $15 million mid-level exception on a stab-in-the-dark signing.”
The lack of risk makes this potential deal for the Bucks very rewarding. Kuminga came into the league as a lottery pick, thrown into a situation where he had to fall in line as a role player with the contending Golden State Warriors. While he won a championship in his rookie year, he never got to completely spread his wings in his four years in Golden State.
Anger about his role led him to request a trade, which was granted in the middle of last season, sending him to the Atlanta Hawks for Chris Tapp’s Porzingis. Kuminga averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Hawks, but it wasn’t enough for Atlanta to consider re-signing him.
Now that he is a free agent, Kuminga is looking for a home where he can establish some roots. A team like Milwaukee fits that like a glove.
Brew Hoop community, how do you feel about the possibility of signing Kuminga in for agency? Let us know in the comment section below.
The $3.5 million the Islanders have is solely Matthew Schaefer's bonuses after his Calder Trophy-winning rookie campaign.
The Islanders had around $3.5 million in available space come the end of the season, but that was because they were using Long-Term Injured Reserve to stay under the salary cap limit.
When LTIR is used to stay under the cap, that automatically triggers cap-overage penalties for bonuses.
The Islanders $2.997 in available cap space right now includes Schaefer's bonuses.
That number is closer to $4 million if goaltender Vitek Vanecek begins this season in the minors, with the Islanders burying his entire $1 million cap hit in the minors.
Expect Schaefer to continue to get the $3.5 million bonus in each of the next two seasons. So, unless the Islanders avoid using LTIR to stay under the cap, expect to see this trend continue for the totality of his entry-level deal.
Team head to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium to face Fiji needing to avoid a sixth straight defeat, with eyes on debutants Van Rensburg and Caluori
England’s men venture north to play international rugby union so infrequently that their Nations Championship fixture against Fiji is a newsflash in itself. It is more than a decade since the north-west last staged a union Test and approaching 30 years since the England coaches Steve Borthwick and Richard Wigglesworth, among others, had their youthful sporting ambitions sparked by watching England at Old Trafford and Huddersfield respectively in the late 1990s.
So even in the dog days of July, with temperatures nudging 30 degrees celsius and Merseyside feeling more akin to the Med, this particular game is significant even before England’s recent five-game losing streak is layered on. Get it right and Borthwick can head to Argentina for the final leg of this summer’s magic mystery tour with some pressure relieved. Get it wrong at Hill Dickinson Stadium and a hard day’s night looms.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild continued taking care of business with its restricted free agents on Friday, re-signing forward Caedan Bankier and defenseman David Spacek to one-year contracts.
Bankier, 23, was selected by the Wild in the third round (86th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. The two-way forward has spent the past two seasons with the Iowa Wild, where he has continued to develop into a reliable depth option capable of playing in a variety of situations.
He is expected to return to Iowa this season as he continues working toward his first NHL opportunity.
Spacek, 23, was drafted in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft and has steadily climbed Minnesota's organizational depth chart.
The puck-moving defenseman has shown offensive upside during his time with the Iowa Wild and even played in two NHL games last season.
Both players are expected to play significant roles in Iowa during the 2026-27 season while continuing their development within the Wild organization.
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