7 Intriguing MLB Draft Prospects To Keep An Eye On In 2026

Following the rollout of our latest ranking of the Top 100 MLB Draft prospects for next year, we’re back today with an in-depth look at seven 2026 prospects who pique my interest.

Itâ€s a bit of a smorgasbord in that each of the seven players fits into their own respective buckets while also being intriguing, under-the-radar names—only one of the cracked our latest big board update—to follow closely throughout the draft cycle.

In what is usually the case with these kinds of pieces, the players below are not ranked and listed alphabetically. 

Dane Burns, LHP, Mississippi State

Burns logged a modest 15.2 innings with 19 strikeouts as a freshman this past season, but he is in line for a more sizable workload in 2026. A 6-foot-5 lefthander with some thickness in his lower half, Burns works exclusively out of the stretch and features a slightly-deep arm stroke in which he coils his wrist. He attacks out of a three-quarters slot, and thereâ€s minimal effort in his operation.

Burns relies heavily on his fastball-slider combination. His heater sat in the 91-93 mph range and was up to 95 with both run and sink. Itâ€s most effective when located down in the zone, where Burns is able to generate soft contact and plenty of ground balls. His command is a bit scattershot, but if he can consistently locate his fastball in the bottom half of the zone, it figures to yield positive results thanks to his steep approach angle and the pitchâ€s “heavy†traits.

Burns pairs his fastball with a sharp, low-to-mid-80s slider he spins well. It averaged over 2,750 rpms in 2025 and garnered a whopping 62% miss rate. Burns has demonstrated enough feel to manipulate its shape, and against lefthanded hitters it flashes plenty of lateral life with late bite, while against righthanders it will sometimes take on a more true two-plane look.

Burns†slider is also effective against righties when it takes on a lengthier look. It will get in and under the hands of opposing hitters, and last spring it generated a handful of uncomfortable swings-and-misses. It flashes plus and projects to be a consistent whiff-generator for Burns as he progresses through professional baseball.

The two biggest keys going forward for Burns will be the continued development of a viable third pitch and improving his command. The latter will escape him at times, and he needs to do a better job of competing in and around the strike zone.

Alex Conover, OF, Oklahoma State

Conover began his career at Cowley College before transferring to Oklahoma State, where last season he showed flashes of his upside and posted a .254/.370/.474 slash line with seven doubles and six home runs. Conover spent 15 games in the Appalachian League this summer and went 18-for-50 (.360) with seven doubles, a triple and eight RBIs. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 202 pounds, he has a pro body with room to fill out further.

Conover stands fairly tall in the box, and his operation is simple without a lot of moving parts. He uses a slight barrel tip as a timing mechanism, and his leg lift leads into a small stride. Conover moves well in the box and generates fairly easy bat speed. His batted-ball data stands out, and in 2025 he posted a 90th percentile exit velocity of 106.4 and a gaudy hard-hit percentage of 66%. When he made contact, he was consistently on the barrel.

Conoverâ€s power upside is exciting, though, heâ€ll need to show he can make contact on a consistent enough basis to be able to tap into it regularly in games. He fares well against fastballs in the zone, but less so against secondaries, against which heâ€s shown heâ€s susceptible to both miss and chase. If Conover is able to shore up his swing decisions over time and pull the ball in the air more frequently, it figures to serve him well.

Between the Appy League and Oklahoma State, Conover has experience in all three outfield spots. He has an average arm and profiles as a power-over-hit corner outfielder at the next level.

Michael DiMartini, OF, Duke

After logging just six at-bats as a freshman at Penn State, DiMartini entered the transfer portal and eventually committed to Dayton. Though he was a Flyer for just one season, DiMartini certainly made his mark, posting a gaudy .403/.465/.685 slash line with 11 doubles, seven triples, 14 home runs and 37 stolen bases. At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, he has a strong, athletic frame, and his toolset enables him to impact the game in myriad ways. 

In the box, DiMartini has a crouched stance and an ear-high handset. He has plenty of hand speed and uses the middle of the field well, though, he has also shown the ability to drive the baseball to the opposite field and generate quality contact. He posted a maximum exit velocity of 113 mph to go along with an impressive 90th percentile exit velocity of 107.9 and a hard-hit rate of 51%. 

While DiMartini has been all over pitches in his “nitro zone,†Iâ€ll be curious to see how his hit tool translates in the ACC. He made contact at just a 64% overall clip and also showed the tendency to expand the strike zone, especially against secondary offerings. In addition to DiMartiniâ€s 32% chase rate, seeing spin out of the hand proved to be a bit of a bugaboo.

DiMartiniâ€s speed translates well in the outfield and especially on the basepaths, where heâ€s proven to be an effective basestealer and someone who speeds the game up for opposing teams.

Ty Head, OF, NC State

Head, who ranks 97th in our updated 2026 big board, made an immediate impact during a freshman season in which he earned the starting center field job and hit .274/.433/.402 with 15 extra-base hits, 33 RBIs and 48 walks to just 28 strikeouts. Head checks a number of boxes on both sides of the baseball, and at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he looks the part and still has physical projection remaining.

Head stands fairly upright in the box with a slightly-open front side. He deploys a slight barrel tip and a toe tap that leads into a small stride, and he has some present bat and hand speed. Headâ€s bat-to-ball skills are comfortably plus—last spring his overall in-zone contact rate was 91%—and they jump to double-plus when focusing solely on fastballs. Head seldom whiffs against heaters, and last spring he posted an eye-popping in-zone contact rate of 96% against them. He does a nice job of picking up spin out of the hand and has demonstrated a patient approach with polished swing decisions.

Head could stand to get more aggressive, which is a development that figures to have a positive effect on his offensive output. Currently a hit-over-power profile, the vast majority of Headâ€s extra-base hits—and highest quality of contact—last spring came to the pull side. His under-the-hood numbers are modest for now, though his launch angle data is solid, and heâ€s shown he can pull the ball in the air. Itâ€s intriguing to project on what kind of impact Head might grow into as he continues to fill out. 

Defensively, Head is an outstanding athlete in center field, where his athleticism, instincts and speed all translate well. He has plenty of range in all directions and looks the part of a player who will not only stick in center long term, but be a potential impact defender at the position.

Anthony Potestio, SS, UC San Diego

A West Coast name on which to keep close tabs, Potestio has a rather lengthy hitting track record and is fresh off a career-best 2025 season in which he posted a .323/.450/.476 line with 13 extra-base hits, 30 RBIs and nine stolen bases. He has a simple, hitterish operation with some quickness in his hands. And while he will always fit in the hit-over-power bucket, last season he flashed some sneaky thump to the pull side.

Potestioâ€s calling card is his hit tool. His comfort in the box is evident, and he has plus bat-to-ball skills to go along with advanced pitch recognition skills. In 2025, he posted an overall in-zone contact rate of 90% and an overall chase rate of just 18%.

Potestio consistently moves the baseball and makes opposing pitchers work. Changeups down and/or out gave him trouble at times, but thatâ€s more of a nitpick than it is a pockmark on his profile. Patience is a positive part of Potestio’s game, but if he gets even a little more aggressive against pitches in the zone—last season his zone swing and heart swing percentages were a modest 49.4% and 59.8%, respectively—it could serve him well.

Defensively, Potestio got plenty of run in right field this summer and will be the Tritons†everyday shortstop this spring. He doesnâ€t have the quickest first step, but he has some gloveside range and has shown comfort throwing from different slots with an average arm. When all is said and done, his defensive skillset likely profiles best at second base professionally.

Shane Sdao, LHP, Texas A&M

Sdao was sidelined for the entirety of the 2025 season and certainly could have signed if he wanted to, but he instead chose to head back to College Station where heâ€ll headline Texas A&Mâ€s rotation. Sdao will look to recapture his 2024 form, when he pitched to a 2.96 ERA with 55 strikeouts to just nine walks across 48.2 innings.

Though he sports a lean, skinny build at 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, Sdao has gradually gotten stronger over time and still has plenty of physical projection remaining. He features a slightly abbreviated arm stroke and attacks out of a high three-quarters slot with above-average arm speed. 

Sdao’s fastball in 2024 sat in the 92-95 mph range and topped out at 97. His heater jumps out of his 5-foot-10 release height and flashes both run and ride through the zone. The pitch averaged almost 18 inches of carry last season and is most effective when located in the top half of the zone, where it will get over the barrels of opposing hitters. Sdao has shown he can draw swings outside of the zone with the pitch, and he also has the ability to locate it on either side of the plate.

Sdaoâ€s best pitch is a low-to-mid-80s slider. He lowers his slot when delivering it to help him get more length and sweep. While itâ€s effective against both righthanded and lefthanded hitters, itâ€s a particularly tough look for the latter. Against lefties, it acts almost as a true sweeper with plenty of lateral movement and occasionally flashing late depth. Against righties, it will flash two-plane break with some teeth and more depth than sweep. Sdao has shown heâ€s capable of back-footing it for swings and misses against righties, and it’s clear he has an advanced feel for the pitch.

Sdao rounds out his arsenal with a mid-to-upper-80s changeup he throws predominantly to righthanded hitters. He used it just 13% of the time in 2024, but he turned over a handful of good ones that flashed late tumbling life. Itâ€s a fringy pitch right now, but it projects as a potentially-average third offering.

Andrew Wertz, RHP, Northeastern

Wertz is undoubtedly the biggest sleeper in this piece, but he came into his own last season and heads into 2026 as a name to know in the Northeast.

Wertz began his career at Stonehill College before opting for a change of scenery and transferring to Division III Salve Regina. He thrived during his time there, headlined by a dominant 2025 campaign in which he pitched to a 1.33 ERA with 38 strikeouts to 14 walks across 27 innings. 

For all that success, Wertz somehow upstaged his spring season with a lights-out summer in the NECBL to the tune of a microscopic 0.41 ERA with 33 strikeouts to only four walks in 22 innings. As a cherry on top, Wertz finished his summer in the Cape Cod League, and while he wasnâ€t as sharp as he was in the NECBL, he managed to turn in a pair of scoreless appearances.

Wertz has an extremely deep arm stroke and attacks out of a high three-quarters slot. His fastball has been up to 97 mph with plenty of ride, especially in the top half of the zone. He supplements it with an upper-80s-to-low-90s cutter and an upper-70s curveball. The former routinely flashes plus with effective gloveside break, while the latter has also flashed plus with depth and sharp, downward tilt.

Wertz has a chance to cement himself as one of the best relievers in the CAA en route to a draft selection.

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