For the final full week of the Draft League we take a look at the Ironmen – those who played the entirety of both halves of the 2026 Draft League. The position players are led by CJ Richmond (State College), Chris Stanfield (Williamsport), Justin Journette (State College), Camden Ross (State College) and Nick Barone (Williamsport), while Joe Colucci (Trenton), Billy Barlow (Aberdeen), Hunter Holzemer (West Virginia), Jeremiah Newman (Mahoning Valley) and Zach Kilby (State College) have consistently toed the rubber since early June.
Ben Barrett (West Virginia) is the lone two-way talent, accumulating 26 2/3 innings on the mound and 237 plate appearances combined over both halves. More of a finesse right-hander who leads and finishes with his slider and tops out at 92 mph with his sinker, Barrett’s long-term future is likely in the batter’s box.
Among all the ironmen Colucci and Barlow are arguably the top two prospects, much due to their development in the league the past three months. Barlow was featured in Week 10 and Colucci in Week 12.
Colucci pumps it up to 96 with his sinker and also has the ability to spin and sweep it from a three-quarter slot. After a lackluster first half of the season that saw him walk eight in nine innings, the 6-foot-5 right-hander has turned the corner in his development. He’s walked just four in 18 1/3 innings while striking out 19. His sinker and 80-82 mph curve serve as his primary weapons. His second half statistics further include a 19.5% whiff rate on his sinker that averages 93.6 mph, but it’s his curveball that produces outs and leads his arsenal. It’s a filthy breaker with late, frisbee-like action at times. Its 47.7% whiff rate is 93rd percentile and 29.6% Z-whiff is 87th. He’s thrown his bender for strikes 61% of the time and it has resulted in a .167 opponent’s batting average. Despite his age, the soon to be 23-year-old has more than enough stuff and control to get hitters out at higher levels of professional baseball.
Barlow is a long-time personal favorite. It’s no secret that he struggled in the first half of the Draft League season, but the 6-foot-2, 230-pound right-hander found his mojo in the second half with 31 strikeouts in 27 innings. His power sinker is the key to his success. This pitch has averaged 90.7 and topped at 95.7 mph. He’s also developed a putaway 84-86 mph cutter that’s produced a 99th percentile Z-whiff rate of 38.5% in the second half of the season. A swing role arm who pitched over 178 innings over five seasons between Clemson and Florida, Barlow has everything needed to receive an opportunity in affiliated baseball. Yes, his control needs sharpened, but that’s what more innings and experience in the Minor Leagues is for. He may have to grind for several years, but, at the least, a cup of Big League coffee is easily foreseeable.
Like Colucci, Holzemer slowly-started his Draft League experience with a 6.05 ERA and 15 walks in 19 innings during the first half. Since July 8, the start of the second half, the 22-year-old has allowed just 39 hits in 44 1/3 innings while striking out 41. In total, the 5-foot-11 left-hander has logged 63.2 innings after pitching just 29 1/3 innings for the University of San Francisco this spring. For Holzemer, it all starts with his 86-88 mph sinker that he throws roughly one-third of the time. He can also zip the four-seamer to the top of the zone, topping out at 92 and averaging 90. Holzemer’s changeup is also a quality offering at 82-83 with good bottom and some slide action, while he manipulates his 77-79 slider with more sweep to left-handed hitters and a bit more depth to righties.
Newman has struck out 63 over a total of 60 2/3 innings this summer as a swing arm. He’s been especially effective in the second half producing a 2.98 ERA over 45 1/3 innings. The 6-foot right-hander boasts three heavy whiffers in a 90-93 mph fastball, an 85-87 mph cutter and a 79-80 mph slider. The slider leads the trio with a 99th percentile whiff rate of 56%. It’s a nasty, late-breaking offering made even more difficult to square with a whippy arm action that creates good deception. His four-seamer is a 90th percentile in-the-zone whiff pitch with a 23.5% swing/miss rate.
Kilby has struck out 48 in 36 combined innings and 28 in 21 1/3 in the second half as an often-used reliever. He attacks with a best-pitch slider from a high three-quarter slot. Averaging 80 mph, it’s a major weapon that hitters have chased at a 99th percentile rate of 43.9% during the second half. Kilby will touch 87 with his four-seam fastball that he’s able to move around to all four quadrants of the strike zone and he’ll also equal-use an 81-mph changeup and a 70-mph curve. His change-of-pace has some circle armside action while his bender will flash quality depth.
The Spikes carried the most returning positional players from the first half to the second half and the trio of Richmond, Journette and Ross provided plenty of impact over their lengthy three month stay in the MLB Draft League.
Ross was one of the league’s top offensive catchers in both halves and his 30 game on-base streak was the longest this summer in the league. His .477 OBP ranked fifth in the first half and his current second half OBP of .447 ranks fourth. Not only does he get on base and put balls in play, but he’s able to drive balls and hit them hard with a 36.8% hard hit rate and 13.5% barrel rate on the summer. The former Western Kentucky backstop has five home runs, three triples and 14 doubles.
Similar to Ross, Richmond was an on-base machine while also flexing his muscle between both halves. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound left-handed hitting slugger has 50 walks on the summer, clearing second place by 12, and his eight total home runs rank third, just two behind the lead. The Purdue graduate had some of the best overall hard hit numbers with a hard hit rate of 44.1%, barrel rate of 13.8% and max exit velocity of 111mph. His 18 doubles are currently tied for the league lead and his 51 RBI are just one behind the league lead. He also runs well for his size, swiping 22 bags over his 70 games so far.
Rounding out the trio is another power hitter as Journette has blasted six second-half home runs after leaving the yard just twice in the first half. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-handed hitting outfielder is tied for third with eight home runs and has the hit tool to match with a .296 batting average. The power numbers were provided by a 21.9% barrel rate and 110.6-mph max exit velocity. Journette had some staggering numbers against the fastball, putting up a barrel rate of 40.9% and flyball rate of 60.9%. His 43 RBI were also top five, alongside Ross and Richmond.
Part of the Crosscutters’ consistency to lead the league is the consistency in the lineup with Stanfield and Barone. Out of LSU, Stanfield has become the league’s stolen base king with 42, surpassing the 36 set by Aaron Whitley (Trenton) and Trey Lipsey (Frederick) in 2025. Entering the final two days of the regular season, the outfielder has also tied the all-time lead with 52 runs and has taken the team franchise-lead with 65 hits. He had some standout performances across both halves with a five-hit night on June 27, the 13th player in league history to accomplish the feat. He was also the only one of the baker’s dozen to steal four bases in the same game. In the second half, he played the hero July 11 when he capped off a three-hit night with a walk-off home run in the sudden death extra inning. On the year as a whole, he’s slashing .310/.431/.362 with an OPS of .793. In the first half he carried an OPS of 1.019 with a slugging percentage of .525 and has an on-base percentage of .403 in the second half.
Also in the outfield, Barone has been a reliable bat slashing .284/.387/.358 with a .745 OPS. The transition period from first to second half in July was where he really shined, hitting .351 in 20 games of July with eight multi-hit nights. Having stretches of hitless nights, he still has the ability to drive the ball with a 31.8% hard-hit rate. His biggest night came on Aug. 13, when the right-hander was responsible for six runs, split evenly between RBI and times he scored himself. Part of him being responsible for half of Williamsport’s 12 runs that night was collecting four hits, one being a two-run double in his first at-bat of the day to set the tone.
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