2 The Bigs

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Boston Red Sox 

Favorites: Franklin Arias (SS), Justin Gonzalez (OF)

Sleepers:

Ronny Hernandez, C: Hernandez is such an interesting case. He was always a great bat-to-ball prospect, both before and after he changed his sock color (traded from CHW to BOS). That’s what we love at 2 The Bigs, right? Well, we always want to see the “potential” for power to develop. Hernandez had “none,” according to most scouts. But something is happening in 2026. Here’s the insane year-over-year change in some key metrics we like to see:

SLG: .336 → .596 K-rate: 21% → 10.5% BB-rate: 12.7% → 18.2% ISO (Isolated Power): .085 → .325 HR/FB-rate: 5% → 25%

There’s more, but I’ll stop there. The power is unexpected, but the contact remains consistent. That’s the kind of prospect I love, and I’m willing to take a flyer in case this 2026 power surge is for real. He is unranked in the Red Sox system, but he may not be that way for long.

Henry Godbout, 2B: I know the 8th-ranked prospect and 2nd-round draft pick isn’t much of a “sleeper,” but due to an early-season injury, he’s flying completely under the radar. The UVA draft pick was always “hit-first,” and he’s shown that in his short 47-game career in A+. A .293/.436/.489 slash in his pro debut is nothing to write off. This will be an 80%+ contact hitter with power upside who the Red Sox are open to playing at SS and 2B. Don’t be surprised if round two of the Red Sox’ future infield centers around Arias and Godbout (round one, Campbell and Mayer, isn’t looking too hot).

Yoeilin Cespedes, 2B: I featured Yoeilin on my 5 Bounceback Candidates for 2026, and well, he’s bouncing back. The 20-year-old has an .820 OPS in 71 games in A+. A 25% line-drive rate and declining infield-fly rate show that there’s more power to unlock in his smaller frame. The plate approach needs a little work, but he’s very young for his experience level. Here’s why I expected a bounceback from him: 

“…as a 19-year-old, he had an 80% contact rate and a 23% hard-hit rate, and he got better as the year progressed. Granted, he still hit for a .732 OPS in August, but that was up +100 points from June and +200 points from July. He had 11 XBH, 11 RBI, and 5 SB in 25 games that month. He’ll spend most of his age-20 season in A/A+, and I think he’ll continue to acclimate well.“

From 2 The Bigs Bounceback Candidates for 2026

Guardians 

Favorites: Ralphy Velazquez (1B), Jaison Chourio (OF), Juneiker Caceres (OF), Cooper Ingle (C/OF)

Sleepers:

Anthony Martinez, 1B: Martinez was an 8th-round pick out of the University of California, Irvine. When you watch his tape, he’s got the “Rowdy Tellez” look. But the 6’3″ lefty first baseman is much better at putting bat to ball. Martinez carries an 87% contact rate and a 1.5 BB/K ratio, paired, of course, with a .500 slugging and .900+ OPS across A/A+. He’ll settle into A+ for most of the year but has a shot to push his debut timeline up to late 2027 if he continues to hit with this consistency and power.

Dauri Fernandez, SS: If Fernandez were three inches taller, he’d be a top-150 prospect right now. FanGraphs put him in the 2TB favorite profile category: “high-contact, good plate discipline, we’ll see on the power” (that’s directly from their scouting report). But I’ll buy a high-hit-tool international prospect in the Guardians organization any day (all the Caceres buyers out there know). Especially because he’s already showing that hit tool in stateside ball — a .275 AVG, 20% K-rate, and 78% contact rate as an 18/19-year-old in A-ball so far. If he adds even a little muscle and build to his frame, he could push his ceiling from a utility role to an everyday bat. There’s no question about the risk, due to things outside both Dauri’s and the Guardians’ control, but he’s someone to keep an eye on if we see some physical growth over the next year.

Welbyn Francisca, 2B: I’m buying into the elite hit tool that once had him as a near-top-100 prospect. A few injury-ridden seasons have made it challenging for Welbyn to get comfortable at the plate, but he’s still only 20 in A+, and he’s hitting fairly well for a kid with that kind of absence. I spoke about Welbyn on The Farm Report:

Orioles 

Favorites: Nate George (OF), Joseph Dwierza (SP)

Sleepers:

Victor Figueroa, 1B: This is a really interesting one — and by interesting, I mean an extremely high-risk, high-reward profile. What Victor does well, he does REALLY well. But what he doesn’t? You get where I’m going. The good: he’s a huge kid who hits for hard contact (35% HHR), home runs (21 in 71 games), and when he makes contact, it’s good enough to not ruin his profile (.266 AVG). The bad: he’s got a 32% K-rate, a longer swing, and a very good chance he’ll have to adjust his approach when he moves up levels. I’m not throwing the house on Figueroa, but he’s a very intriguing prospect nonetheless. If he were in the Guardians’ or Brewers’ system, I’d probably throw said house.

Jaiden Lo Re, SS: An elite hit-tool high school prospect from the 2025 draft. Lo Re has a very, very high floor for such a young kid. He can play several positions well, including SS, 2B, 3B, and CF. Through 27 games in A-ball, he’s hitting .350 with 22 BB and 10 K, but more importantly for his development, a 30% HHR, and less than 20% of his contact is “soft.”

Aron Estrada, 2B: I had Estrada as a BUY on Bowman Buy-Hold-Sell this offseason. Why? A good hit tool, nice in-game pop, and a low K-rate. The fact that he only walks about 5% of the time, yet is still able to keep the average up and the K-rate down, is impressive, especially given his very unique swing from the left side of the plate (he’s a switch hitter). This is one of those “performance over tools” buys, where Estrada continues to hit the ball well and hard at a young age, even with some flaws in that swing that have scouts projecting him to struggle at some point.

Rays 

Favorites: Cooper Flemming (SS), Brody Hopkins (SP), Theo Gillen (OF), Taitn Gray (1B)

Sleepers:

Anderson Brito, SP: Obviously the pitching factory (Tampa Bay) was going to have a pitching sleeper. Brito came over in a trade from Houston, so you know the Rays organization saw something in him, as they do with most of their trades. What they saw was an elite fastball and a great, mature curveball, along with some iffy command. What they also saw was a dominant Arizona Fall League performance. Because of the two-pitch arsenal and command issues, a lot of scouts project him as a setup man/closer. But there’s some rotational upside if he can work on the cutter and changeup and lower that walk rate. He’s gone 4+ IP in each of his last five starts. He just turned 22 last week, so it will be important to see how he progresses this summer and whether he can get the call-up to AA.

Santiago Suarez, SP: An upper-end fastball and elite control? That’s already a fantastic start. And the Rays are, of course, working on mastering two new pitches for him. But watch the tape, and you’ll see why he’s effective. He’s a right-hander who hides the ball until the last second, whipping his arm across his body with a hard push down the mound. It’s a silver lining, because it’s why he’s so effective against righties (.220 AVG) as the ball moves away from them, whereas the ball comes into lefties (.295 AVG). He’s struggling in AA because of it, but he’s a young, promising, starter-upside project who has the right organization behind him to work through his arsenal.

Tigers 

Favorites: Bryce Rainer (SS), Max Clark (OF), Josue Briceno (1B/C), Max Anderson (3B)

Sleepers:

Jesus Pinto, OF: This is a really deep sleeper. He’s not a top-30 prospect in the Tigers organization, but he was one of their bigger international signings in 2024. Why? You guessed it: his hit tool. This is purely a projection play, he hits a ton of soft contact, both in the air and on the ground. If the Tigers can work through his launch angle, there’s definitely some power upside. How much will depend on that and on how he grows into his 6-foot frame. But he hits well enough that he’s worth a cheap flyer to see if he can sneak up some rankings lists and work on driving the ball with velocity this summer.