2 The Bigs

Level: Double-A (recently promoted)

Season Stats: .319/.446/.554

14 HR 44 RBI 31 SB (63 BB:89 SO)

Honor Roll Week Stats: .292 AVG 4 HR 4 RBI 3 SB

Bowman Set: N/A (Potential 2026 Bowman Chrome 2026) 

College: Boston College

Draft: Round 7 (2025)

Analysis: There’s a real chance that MLB’s Top 20 prospects will contain only Dodgers and Brewers. As it looks, the Brewers have yet another standout player rising through the ranks out of Boston College. Maybe Sal Frelick gave them a tip about Josiah Ragsdale.

Ragsdale started his collegiate career at Iona where he was quietly putting his name on the map as he led the team in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, and stolen bases. He also set a new program record for hits (74) in his sophomore year. In his junior year at BC, he cemented himself as a draft candidate where he hit .319 with 5 HR, 5 3B, 30 RBI and 30 SB. This prompted the Brewers to confidently select him in the 7th round of the 2025 draft.

Josiah had quite the power surge this week, hitting 4 HR including two in one game. Not only is Josiah getting comfortable at AA, his power is developing at a rampant pace, making him a name to watch at the deadline and for where he ends up on a future bowman checklist.

Pro: From college through his pro debut it was always known Josiah could hit. The lingering question was whether he would be a singles hitter, or would the in-game power develop. The power has started to come to fruition in his 2026 campaign, leading to 11 HR and 4 at the AA level. He also dropped his GO/AO (ground to air ratio) from 2.9 to .9 year-over-year.

Caution: Albeit a small sample size in Double-A, with the better pitcher talent across 16 games he has a35% K-rate. Keep an eye on his approach as he gets comfortable in AA and accumulates more at-bats.

Analysis: The Minnesota Twins are quietly building a nice “college to the show” pipeline with Brooks Lee (Cal Poly), Austin Martin (Vandy), and Kaelen Culpepper (Kansas St) nearing his promotion. None of these players prevented the Twins from selecting who they thought would be the best player available with the 16th overall pick in the 2025 draft.

Marek Houston isn’t letting the depth chart stop him from fast-tracking is path to the majors. When he arrived at Wake Forest three years ago as a freshman, he went out on the field and won the starting Shortstop position at the prestigious baseball school.

Winning a starting SS position as a freshman is no small feat, but he struggled offensively in his first season, hitting .220. The promising thing about Marek was that he developed and improved each of the next two seasons. His junior year was his best, where he hit .354 with 15 HR (nearly doubling his total from the year prior) and walked the same amount as he struck out (46 BB:46 SO).
Entering pro ball, Marek continued the same successful approach, hitting .314 across 433 AB in two levels. What makes his development more exciting, is the power uptick he has showcased this past week. Marek had 2 HR (5 XBH) 5 RBI while maintaining his advanced approach.

Pro: Marek has continued to control the zone well and hit for average. The sample size is now big enough to have confidence in that approach and his bat-to-ball skills. With that, he’s getting on base more, leading to more impact on the bases (38 SB). When drafted, the Twins planned to workshop his swing to help him barrel more balls without changing his approach. This led to the higher average without selling out to hit for more power. It’s working, as he’s hit 20 2B and 9 HR this season.

Caution: As strong of a fielder Houston has been touted to be, he has 11 errors on the season, mostly from making a ton of unbalanced throws. He’ll need to work on this as the game continues to speed up as he moves up the system. As mentioned, we have seen glances of uptick in power dating back to his junior year at Wake Forest (15 HR) but we will want to see that continue translate in professional ball.

Analysis: Aloy is coming off one of the most decorated seasons for a collegiate player in recent past. He took home the Golden Spikes Award (best NCAA Division 1 player), Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award, Consensus All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and All-SEC First team. The Baltimore Orioles selected him in the 1st round (31st overall) of the 2025 draft. In his final season at Arkansas he slashed .350/.434/.673 with a team-high 21 HR, 68 RBI and a team-leading 81 runs scored.

Wehiwa slotted into a very good Frederick Keys (Orioles High-A) team where he has shared the field with many of the team’s top hitting prospects (Nate George, Ike Irish, Vance Honeycutt & Victor Figueroa). Aloy has not shied away from the challenge as he has maintained an impressive .300 AVG across 410 AB. It was during the week of July 20th where it seemed like Wehiwa was clicking on all cylinders, as he hit 2 HR 8 RBI and most importantly, controlled his strikeout rate (13%). Not only did I take notice to this jump, but the Orioles top brass did as well, as they made the call to bring him up to AA this week!

Pro: Aloy has elite power upside for a premium position (SS). Many scouts and evaluators expect him to stick there, which is a plus if he can continue to barrel the ball consistently (15 HR). He also has been hitting for average (.300 across 330 AB)..

Caution: With the elite power projection, there are some swing and miss concerns (96 K) in High-A. With the call to AA it will be interesting to see how his contact and K-rates hold-up against the toughest level in the minor leagues.

Pro: Max has easy 25-30 HR upside potential and has already hit his first home run of the season fresh off the IL. The other promising aspect of his short stint back is the patient approach, leading to a 1:1 BB:K ratio. Max is chasing less, and being much more selective at the plate. This has not only improved his OBP, but his entire slash as he is seeing better pitches, and driving them out of the park.

Caution: The torn labrum ended his 2025 campaign early and has taken a lot of 2026 development time already. He has a relatively small sample size of AB and the Marlins have an excess of outfielders in the system ahead of him. The chase rate is one that has evaluators concerned as he was chasing secondary pitches 40% of the time in college. As he continues to recover and see more playing time, it will be important to see if he can keep the improved approach alive.