Six MLB prospects off to hot starts in 2026, including several who could help out their big-league teams soon

One month into the minor-league season, let's talk about three hitters and three pitchers making a mark

Mike Axisa

May 1, 2026

11:56 am ET

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4 min read

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The MLB season is a month old and so too is the minor-league season. Prospects are more important than ever and player development has never been better, especially on the pitching side. Teams have so many tools available to them and so many smart people in their employ. Up-and-coming young players have never been in better hands, truly.

Here now are six prospects -- three position players and three pitchers -- who are off to strong starts this season and represent the next wave of impact big-leaguers.

Position players

SS George Lombard Jr., Yankees: Lombard, our No. 26 prospect entering the season, was promoted to Triple-A earlier this week and went 1 for 3 with two walks in his first game. He also scored from first base on a single:

> A chopper from Yanquiel Fernández and a head-first slide from George Lombard Jr. breaks the tie! #RepBX pic.twitter.com/WMLn9p5bPJ

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) May 1, 2026

Still only 20, Lombard slashed .312/.400/.571 with four home runs in 20 Double-A games before his promotion. He has four homers in 21 games this year after hitting nine homers in 132 games last year. Lombard is a gifted defender and the Yankees have him splitting his time between shortstop and third base, which is notable because Ryan McMahon has been one of the worst hitters in baseball this season. The Yankees typically don't leave their top prospects in Triple-A for long. Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler, Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells all played about a month in Triple-A before being summoned to the Bronx. Lombard could be on a similar path. MLB ETA: Summer 2026

IF Pedro Ramírez, Cubs: A fun-sized (5-foot-9 and 165 lbs.) switch-hitter with supreme bat-to-ball skills, the just-turned-22-year-old Ramírez is hitting .306/.384/.604 with eight homers and 11 steals in 28 Triple-A games this year. His 91.8% in-zone contact rate is top 10 in Triple-A and well above the 82.4% league average. A left field experiment in 2024 didn't go anywhere, and Ramírez has split his time between second and third bases since. The Cubs have their entire infield signed long-term (Alex Bregman, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson). Either Ramírez will be an overqualified utility guy/DH for them, or he's one heck of a trade chip. If I were a team with a need on the infield and pitching to spare, I'd call Chicago about him right away. MLB ETA: Summer 2026

OF James Tibbs III, Dodgers: Tibbs, the No. 13 pick in last summer's draft, has already been traded twice, going from the Giants to the Red Sox in the Rafael Devers deal, then from the Red Sox to the Dodgers in the Dustin May deal. He's come back to Earth lately after hitting seven home runs in his first eight games this year, though he still owns a .319/.424/.707 line with a minor-league leading 11 home runs. The 28.8% strikeout rate is a real concern, but Tibbs has put up tremendous contact quality numbers. He's third in Triple-A in barrel rate (36.4%) and seventh in hard-hit rate (55.8%). The Triple-A averages are 17.8% and 39.1%, respectively. The Dodgers are set in the outfield (Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages, Kyle Tucker) and have more highly regarded outfield prospects coming (Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota, etc.). It is entirely possible another trade is in Tibbs' future. MLB ETA: Late 2026

Pitchers

LHP Kade Anderson, Mariners: Anderson was the top pitching prospect in last year's draft and the Mariners nabbed him with the No. 3 overall pick. The former LSU star has made four Double-A starts, during which he's allowed one run on 13 baserunners in 18 ⅔ innings. He's struck out 30. Anderson has thrown all four pitches (fastball, slider, curveball, changeup) at least 20% of the time and he's long stood out for his command and pitching know-how. Still only 21, Anderson has looked like a man among boys in Double-A, and he's in an organization that has done an excellent job developing college pitchers over the last decade. The big-league team's window is wide open. There's no reason for the Mariners to slow-play Anderson's development. MLB ETA: Mid-to-late 2026

RHP Anthony Eyanson, Red Sox: It did not take Eyanson, the No. 87 pick in the 2025 Draft, long to grab everyone's attention in spring training. He sat 96-98 mph and touched 100 mph in the spring after working more in the 93-95 mph range last spring at LSU. It's more of a cutter than a straight four-seamer, so that velocity comes with hard movement. Eyanson also has a slider, a splitter, and a curveball.

> Anthony Eyanson shoved again on Saturday:

5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K pic.twitter.com/vWOaSJFPE0

— Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) April 21, 2026

The 21-year-old righty has completely overwhelm