2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: November 4th, 2026:

This write-up feels like I’m going back to my roots. Yes, all of our coverage this year, from The Farm Report to our social content to the write-ups, has focused on the analytics as well as my personal feel for these prospects. But today, I want to really dive into the data. We’re going to look at seven prospects who 1) improved their hit tool year over year and 2) ranked in the top 10 percent in swinging-strike rate. This means they not only improved their overall plate approach, but they were also in the “elite range” of making contact.

The condition, of course, is that the prospect played in both 2025 and 2026. That means some of my favorite 2026 hit tools didn’t make this list. But that’s enough of the intro; let’s dive in.

Eduardo Quintero (LAD)
A+/AA, 20 years old
Let’s start with a star. Quintero was phenomenal in 2025, posting a .293/.415/.508 slash line as a 19-year-old in A/A+. He had a 79% contact rate (Contact%) and a 7.8% swinging-strike rate (SwStr%) while swinging only 37% of the time. That swing rate was in the bottom 10% across A/A+, meaning he was one of the most patient hitters in the league. That makes his .923 OPS even more impressive, because it means that when he swung, he hit, and hit hard. He tallied 19 HR, 69 RBI, 101 R, and 47 SB across 113 games. Insanity.

So how could he improve on that in 2026? Well, he did. His average (+15 pp) and on-base percentage (+28 pp) are both up, his contact rate rose to 82%, and his SwStr% dropped to 6.2%. What’s impressive is that he takes a lot of strikes. He waits patiently for his pitch and then takes advantage of it. I saw that live in Arizona. He took two pitches to go down 0-2, battled back, fouled off some pitches, and on 2-2 got his fastball and roped it the opposite way into the gap for an RBI double.
Quintero is one of my favorite prospects in the sport and will be a consensus top-10 prospect by spring training.

Franklin Arias (BOS)
AA/AAA, 20 years old
This should come as no surprise to many. Arias rose to become a top-5 prospect in baseball because of the year he had in 2026. But the hit tool was always there. Yes, his average and contact rates improved, but power is where he made his mark.

His slugging percentage was up 170 points to .557, and he tripled his home run total while walking nearly 40% more than he did in 2025. Arias always had the floor of an everyday starter in the bigs. Now? He has solidified himself as a shortstop with batting-title potential who is sure to make the Red Sox’s Opening Day roster, whenever that day actually comes (get the deal done, MLB).

Hector Osorio (TEX)
A/A+, 21 years old
We called out Hector on The Farm Report earlier in the year for this exact reason. In 2025, he had a 12% K-rate and a 15% BB-rate, with a near-.400 OBP to go along with a .250 average. It’s impressive that he got on base that much with a mediocre average, but what he did in 2026 was even better.

He posted a .295/.411/.543 slash line with a 12% K-rate across 87 games. His OPS jumped well over 200 points to .954, and he increased his contact rate year over year. What’s interesting to note is that he got more aggressive at the plate in 2026. That’s the key here, and it’s an extreme rarity: he swung more, struck out less, and hit for more power. He proved everything he needed to in High-A and should spend most of 2027 in Double-A and Triple-A for the Rangers.

Emilien Pitre (NYM)
AA/AAA, 23 years old
When Pitre was dealt at the deadline, Stags called him out as a Deadline Buy for College 2 Chrome . Here’s what he said:

Pitre was already a 2TB sleeper pick shared last month, and he fits the profile we love. The elite bat-to-ball skills paired with plus speed are something the Mets have recently put an emphasis on (AJ Ewing, Carson Benge, Mitch Voit). Pitre fits the profile perfectly. Similar to Kent, I am buying Emilien, as he’s already in AA. And the Mets, outside of Mitch Voit, are lacking infield prospects who are knocking on the door of the bigs, so I expect Pitre can move quickly through the organization.

Well, in 2026 he cut his K-rate nearly in HALF, from 20% to 11%. His entire slash line is up, and so are his line-drive rate (+2 pp) and contact% (+7 pp). His Whiff% and K% were both in the 96th percentile (per TJStats) for Double-A. Sure, he’s not going to hit 20 homers as a second baseman, but who cares? In an age where a .300 average and a sub-20% K-rate are a rarity, Pitre has the ability to do just that for the Mets in 2027 and add a nice 30+ SB to that line.

Ty Southisene (TOR)
A+, 21 years old

Yes, you all know how big of Tate Southisene fans we are here at 2TB (check out our interview with Tate from the AFL). But how about his brother Ty, who was drafted by the Cubs and then traded to the Blue Jays at the deadline? The 2024 4th-round pick had a solid pro debut last year (.245/.388/.277). Yes, the slash line doesn’t look insane given the lack of power, but the 15% K-rate and 82% contact% with 69 R and 41 SB in 91 games were. And yes, that’s an 82 SB per 162-game pace.

In 2026, the approach tightened up. His K-rate was down and his entire slash line was up, including a slugging percentage that rose more than 100 points. Sure, he hit only 1 HR, but he added six triples in just 77 games. Yes, the hobby is all about power, but everyone loves a good Chandler Simpson-type story. Especially, as mentioned, at a time when contact isn’t viewed as “mandatory” if you hit home runs. Ty hits the ball well; he just hits a lot of ground balls. But that plays perfectly with his speed. Now that he’s settled into the Blue Jays system, I’m excited to see what he does in 2027, likely spending most of his time in A+/AA.

Adrian Santana (MIA)
A+/AA, 22 years old

Is this a hit tool list or a trade deadline list? Adrian, the third player on this list who was dealt at the deadline, was sent to the Marlins in the Liam Hicks deal. Just like Ty, you’re not going to see a ton of home runs here. What you will see is a kid who strikes out barely 10% of the time, hits a ton of line drives, and sprays the ball to all parts of the field.

Look at this. Here are his percentile rankings in both High-A and Double-A this year:

Percentile	High-A	Double-A
Whiff%	98	97
Z-Contact% (in-zone contact)	93	94
K%	97	92

The shortstop doesn’t get beat much, even during his adjustment to Double-A, where he hit .246 across 31 games. The at-bats were competitive, which tells me he’s going to see a massive jump in that average in 2026. He’s a switch-hitter, but I’m getting a bit of a Juan Pierre vibe from the young Marlins prospect when he hits from the left side.

Yolfran Castillo (TEX)
A/A+, 19 years old

We’ve covered several old-school hit-and-run prospects in a row, so let’s switch it up. Castillo is a 6’2″ shortstop from Venezuela who definitely has some pop “potential” (you’ll see why I put potential in quotes). But what’s most impressive is that it hasn’t affected the 55-grade hit tool scouts gave him coming out of the 2024 signing period. You all know that I don’t jump in on international prospects until they come stateside. Well, 2026 was his first full stateside year, and here’s his full line:

119 G (A)
.286/.390/.416, 8 HR, 86 R, 58 RBI, 55 SB
1:1 BB:K ratio and 84% contact%

His whiff and contact rates were both above the 90th percentile for A-ball, and he was one of the younger prospects in that league. I put his power “potential” in quotes because he hit only 8 HR across those 119 games, but he makes a ton of hard contact, so this is more about him continuing to grow and develop so that power shows up in games. I’m betting that it does next year.

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