Ask and ye shall receive. The Mariners finally called up Kade Anderson, the top pitching prospect in the minors. He tossed four scoreless innings and struck out five before losing steam during his big league debut Saturday while surrendering three earned runs, five hits and two walks across 5.2 innings. Even if the performance wasn't dazzling, one has to wonder why the M's waited so long for Anderson's premiere considering their playoff hopes continue to dwindle.
Will Ralphy Velazquez of the Guardians be next? Here are some other players making news in this edition of the Minor League Barometer:
See where future major league baseball starts slot into RotoWire's MLB Top Prospects & Rankings for 2026!
UPGRADE
Justin Gonzales, 1B/OF, BOS – Gonzales is still a teenager and has already climbed to Double-A. He began the season at High-A, where he slashed .271/.391/.463 with 17 home runs, 58 RBI and 11 steals over 89 games while showing the ability to hit for both power and average and showing a mastery of the strike zone far beyond his years. Gonzales was recently promoted to Double-A, where he's gone 5-for-16 (.313) with a homer and stolen base. Franklin Arias has been getting the pub within the Red Sox system, yet Gonzales isn't that far behind.
Drew Burress, OF, ATH – Not quite as talked about as the other upper-echelon first-rounders from June, the eighth overall selection has acquitted himself quite nicely at Low-A so far slashing .288/.455/.610 with five home runs, 12 RBI
Ask and ye shall receive. The Mariners finally called up Kade Anderson, the top pitching prospect in the minors. He tossed four scoreless innings and struck out five before losing steam during his big league debut Saturday while surrendering three earned runs, five hits and two walks across 5.2 innings. Even if the performance wasn't dazzling, one has to wonder why the M's waited so long for Anderson's premiere considering their playoff hopes continue to dwindle.
Will Ralphy Velazquez of the Guardians be next? Here are some other players making news in this edition of the Minor League Barometer:
See where future major league baseball starts slot into RotoWire's MLB Top Prospects & Rankings for 2026!
UPGRADE
Justin Gonzales, 1B/OF, BOS – Gonzales is still a teenager and has already climbed to Double-A. He began the season at High-A, where he slashed .271/.391/.463 with 17 home runs, 58 RBI and 11 steals over 89 games while showing the ability to hit for both power and average and showing a mastery of the strike zone far beyond his years. Gonzales was recently promoted to Double-A, where he's gone 5-for-16 (.313) with a homer and stolen base. Franklin Arias has been getting the pub within the Red Sox system, yet Gonzales isn't that far behind.
Drew Burress, OF, ATH – Not quite as talked about as the other upper-echelon first-rounders from June, the eighth overall selection has acquitted himself quite nicely at Low-A so far slashing .288/.455/.610 with five home runs, 12 RBI and four steals through 16 contests. Burress gets knocked for his lack of height, but he otherwise appears to hold all the tools to succeed in the Athletics' future outfield.
Yostin Pena, OF, NYY – Pena is already pretty much full-grown at 6-foot-4, 205lb and has been tearing the cover off the ball this season. In the Dominican Summer league, the 18-year-old produced a .375/.457/.646 line with eight homers, 57 RBI and 27 stolen bases from only 37 outings with an equal amount of Ks to walks. That resulted in a bump to Low-A, where Pena hasn't stopped raking batting .349 with four home runs, 19 RBI and four steals during the first 14 games. The uber-athletic outfielder will certainly work his way into 2027 prospect conversations, if he hasn't already done so.
CHECK STATUS
Luke Stevenson, C, SEA – Cal Raleigh bashed a staggering 60 homers last year, yet here we are not much later and the M's catching position is in shambles as the Big Dumper is struggling with a .159 average and only going deep 14 times. Though Stevenson won't see the bigs in 2026, he's enjoying a stellar campaign at High-A by going .237/.407/.477 with 18 homers and 74 RBI over 92 contests. He's slightly slumped of late and continues to battle strikeout concerns, but he's also drawn 90 walks overall. As the 35th selection from 2025 Draft, Stevenson ranks as one of Seattle's better offensive prospects.
Dylan Jordan, P, LAA – Jordan initially flashed enormous K upside at Low-A with 113 through 80 innings. When batters did make contact, it mostly resulting in weak groundballs via a 1.51 GO:AO. The 20-year-old righty recently got bumped up to High-A, where he's struggled to keep the ball down and consistently locate the strike zone - though the strikeout numbers remain at 17 across 12 frames. Jordan will need to prove he can repeat his delivery and throw strikes, but the potential is certainly there.
Josiah Ragsdale, OF, STL – Ragsdale came over to the Cardinals with Alexander Frias in a surprising NL Central deal with the Brewers. The 22-year-old lefty scorched High-A and Double-A before the trade, yet has since been far less successful only hitting .203 with two homers and two RBI in 15 games after a .316 with 19 long balls and 31 steals from the previous 86 contests. The current sample size is small and Ragsdale has rocketed up the phenom charts this campaign, though it's slightly curious he's hit a wall since switching organizations.
Conor Essenburg, OF, ATL – Essenburg is already on his third level this season with the majority of it being spent at Low-A, where he's more than held his own slashing .286/.427/.564 with 14 home runs, 44 RBI and six steals. The 19-year-old has managed 55 walks through 59 outings, yet has also fanned 88 times. Atlanta felt comfortable enough with the progress to promote Essenburg to High-A, where his plate discipline has been much better with more free passes (18) than Ks (16) from 17 contests. The 2025 fifth-rounder and two-way high school player has exclusively transitioned to the hitting side and already looks to be rewarding the team's faith.
DOWNGRADE
Alfredo Duno, C, CIN – A minor downgrade for Duno, who currently finds himself on the Injured List at Double-A with a hamstring ailment. Though a longshot anyway, this should quell any question of a September call-up for one of the top catching prospects. Prior to the injury, the 20-year-old went .288/.397/.500 with three homers, eight RBI and one steal across 18 games at Double-A with almost as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13). There's a real possibility of a late-2027 ML debut for Duno, assuming health and continued production.
