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Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 6/26/26

12:16
Eric A Longenhagen: Hey, chatters. We’ll get underway in 10 minutes, or so. Get your questions in.

12:27
Eric A Longenhagen: Okay, good morning everyone. Thanks for your patience. Quicker chat today due to a vet visit.

12:27
liljebbie10: Do you think Seth Hernandez makes it to AA by the end of the year? Do you think he could debut by the end of next year? Is his upside Bubba Chandler but throws strikes more consistently?

12:29
Eric A Longenhagen: I think they’ll make him sustain success with Greensboro before promoting him, but I do think the end of next year (late enough for him to retain rookie eligibility in 2028) is possible. Don’t give up on Bubba throwing strikes yet, he’s too young to be this impatient and conclude he won’t.

12:29
dansanchez86: Joseph Dzierwa real?

12:30
Eric A Longenhagen: To an extent. I think his ceiling is limited by his breaking ball quality. I don’t think he’s an ace or anything like that, but lefties with good changeups and command tend to be nice rotation pieces.

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Tampa Bay Rays Top 62 Prospects

Caden Bodine Photo: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Tampa Bay Rays. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.

A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.

All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »


Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 6/19/2026

12:03
Eric A Longenhagen: Howdy from Tempe, a mild 107 today. Folks are gonna roast here for the Combine next week, bring your long sleeve linens.

12:03
Braydon Roberts: Any initial thoughts on Sebastian Dos Santos? He just got a quick promotion like Rainiel Rodriguez last year.

12:04
Eric A Longenhagen: Not doing backflips like I was with Rainiel last year. Frame/tools/skills pretty medium on Dos Santos.

12:04
dan norman lear: Not a “prospect” anymore, but any info/sense on Hurston Waldrep?

12:07
Eric A Longenhagen: Still bringing the kitchen sink, problematically bad feel for location, 92-97 t98 this year, lots of early-count cutters because of his heater’s vulnerability. Get why they want him to throw this many pitches and try to start but that aint happening.

12:07
dan norman lear: Throwing a dart: Assuming no injuries, OD STARTING OF for the 2027 Rockies?

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Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 6/12/26

12:32
Eric A Longenhagen: Friday chat fam, what’s up? Hello from the kitchen island in Tempe as monsoon season looks like it has arrived early and we’re in line for some rain today.

12:33
Eric A Longenhagen: I wrote up the Twins with James this week. Two more orgs to go before we’re done with all 30. I’m starting on Rays this weekend, Brendan is doing Marlins. Pretty exciting stuff! Let’s see what you’ve got for me today…

12:33
WarrenJ: Happy to see Merphy Hernandez in your Twins writeup, even as an honorable mention.  Yohandy Morales isn’t a favorite of the prospect community, but he’s hitting 339/415/596 at Rochester.  Don’t the Nationals have to give him a try soon?

12:34
Eric A Longenhagen: Merphy can play some defense, man. I share in the Yohandy skepticism but think he’s in line for trial after Garcia is traded.

12:34
muenstertruck: No real question, but I’m excited that Daniel Espino finally got the call. I can’t imagine his stuff is quite as electric as it was before the injuries, but he’s still bumping 100 in the minors and the story behind it is amazing.

12:36
Eric A Longenhagen: He’s going to be a higher leverage reliever, I think. Sitting 96-100 with plus vert, slider generating plus miss. Ryan Helsley look to the mechanics. Hunter Harvey type trajectory for Espino.

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Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 6/5/26

12:02
Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning, y’all. Sorry for the slight delay, had a cat w/ bird situation to handle just as we were supposed to start.

12:03
Eric A Longenhagen: (bird was bleeding a bit but also flew away just now so…yay?)

12:03
miggy80: Nice to see a very young cubs overslot doing well, what is Hartshorns ceiling as of right now?

12:05
Eric A Longenhagen: Everyday 1B driven by OBP and contact, more doubles pop than huge raw. Like 55 hit, 50 power, plus plate discipline. Don’t think he’s a 30+ homer guy. We considered 50’ing him when he did Cubs, but thought the 45 was more in line with the value of the profile when it’s in A-ball.

12:05
alec_eiffel: Hey, a Dax Kilby sighting at the Rookie league! Just stay healthy kid!

12:05
Eric A Longenhagen: Wooot, now go hit please.

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Pittsburgh Pirates Top 50 Prospects

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.

A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.

All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »


Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat – 2026 Regional Edition

12:04
Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe on a gorgeous Friday, I’m excited to overeat baseball today. I’ve got Squeeze Play on but the Kentucky/Wake game is the big one starting shortly, so if you have to pick one I suggest that.

12:05
YardGoat: Hey Eric, do you have a prediction for who makes it to Omaha?

12:09
Eric A Longenhagen: Last week I mentioned Georgia Tech, UCLA, Auburn. Auburn’s path was made easier by the way the brackets shook out. If I’m looking for a deeper seed to sneak in it’s coming from the Chapel Hill and Lincoln regionals.

12:10
Justin Krupp: Have you seen Luis Hernandez in person this year or heard anything from scouts to lend context (good or bad) to what hes done so far this year?

12:12
Eric A Longenhagen: Yeah, like six times. I like him, I don’t think he has the enormous physical tools of a guy who we eventually rank 3rd or anything like that. He’s a skilled, smaller player who gets a lot out of his body because of how well he rotates.

12:13
Eric A Longenhagen: Do they not have velos in Morgantown? Lemme crack the trackman real quick…

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Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 5/22/26

12:45
Eric A Longenhagen: Hey from the shade at Scottsdale Stadium as the Zags and Dons stretch for this morning’s elimination game. I’m here to see Karsten Sweum and Mikey Bell, among others. Sorry my attention will be divided but it’s conference tourney time and we’ve all just gotta do what we’ve gotta.

12:45
liljebbie10: One other question, with Esmerlyn Valdez coming up today, what are you thoughts on him? What is his upside for the Pirates?

12:46
Eric A Longenhagen: I updated his tool grades and report on The Board and on his player page. Here is a brief version:

12:48
Eric A Longenhagen: Selectivity, power, less pull ability than last year, really late on a lot of heaters so far. Bad defense. 45. Nice piece, 5-thru-7 hole bat with OBP and power. I don’t believe in the year over year improvement in his K% and still think he’s a 40 contact hitter and barely playable on defense, so not a true “everyday” guy, but still a contributing piece.

12:48
Surplus Valuez = Profits = Stolen Wages: Happy Friday. When yous were doing the Cubs list, was there any feedback that Juan Cabada may end up in the OF? Or is there high confidence for the IF?

12:49
Eric A Longenhagen: Second base but not great there.

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Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 5/15/2026

12:02
Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from sunny Tempe, where the temps have begun to crank a bit. Check out the Orioles list if you haven’t yet. I’m working on Pirates next, Brendan on BoSox. Good systems, all.

12:03
Jeb: How long until Seth Hernandez is the #1 pitching prospect in baseball?

12:03
Eric A Longenhagen: I’d guess end of year he’s in the mix once he’s held this stuff for a whole season and hopefully thrown strikes against hitters who actually have a shot against him.

12:04
lukesingy: How are you feeling about Dylan Crews? Still a top prospect who just needs time in the minors?

12:04
Eric A Longenhagen: I still think he’s so talented that he’s going to be good. Will he be franchise-altering? That outcome is leaving the building.

12:06
giantsprospects: Have you seen anything like what Luis Hernandez and Josuar Gonzalez having been doing to start the ACL season?

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Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat: 5/8/2026

12:03
Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe, where the temps are going to hit 100 and (it looks like) stay there for the foreseeable future. Brendan and I are working on the Orioles system writeup, I’m working on draft update. Enjoying another day in in the desert. Thanks for being here.  

12:04
GB: Lonbard get a grade bump?

12:05
Eric A Longenhagen: Not just yet, it’s gonna be fascinating and instructive to see him and Volpe side by side for the next little bit.

12:05
Erick: not sure what you can do about this, but christian scott’s stuff+ numbers from last night aren’t showing on his page / game log despite last night’s showing for other players. just thought i’d pass it along

12:05
Eric A Longenhagen: What I’m looking at has them visible:

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