MLB Draft League alumni are making an impact across Major League organizations throughout March. A total of 31 prospects were featured in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 team rankings. Additionally, 52 alumni were selected for the preliminary Spring Breakout rosters with 38 making the final cut and four more were signed to Minor League contracts.
Broken down by each Draft League team, the Frederick Keys, West Virginia Black Bears and Williamsport Crosscutters each lead the way with six prospect alumni on top 30 rankings. Five have appeared with the State College Spikes and Trenton Thunder, and four prospects previously played for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Amongst Major League organizations, the New York Mets hold the most league alumni in their rankings with five, including two who made their MLB debuts in 2025 between RHP Jonathan Pintaro (Frederick 2021-22) and RHP Jonah Tong (Frederick 2022). Tong, who ranks the highest amongst MLB Draft League alumni as MLB’s 48th overall prospect, and Pintaro are joined by LHP Hayden Harris (Frederick ‘21) and OF Nathan Church (State College ‘21) as ranked prospect alumni who made their MLB debut in 2025.
Along with the 31 former Draft Leaguers, two members from Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team in 2025 were named to their respective organization’s rankings: RHP Will Hynes, the first Canadian prep prospect to be taken in the draft, ranked 24th for the Cleveland Guardians. With the Toronto Blue Jays, 3B Tim Piasentin ranks at No. 20 prospect and will also be featured in the 2026 Spring Breakout.
Here is each prospect ranked within their organization’s top 30 by year they appeared in the MLB Draft League:
Top 30 Rankings
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
2022: LHP Kohl Drake (ARI No. 12), LHP Zach Thornton (NYM No. 15)
2023: RHP Tony Rossi (NYY No. 30)
2024: RHP Peyton Olejnik (LAA No. 29)
It was a busy 2025 for Kohl Drake as he reached Triple-A for the first time with the Rangers before being sent to the Diamondbacks, along with two other prospects, at the MLB trade deadline in exchange for Merrill Kelly. Coming in at No. 12 in Arizona’s prospect rankings, Drake also earned a spot on the 40-man roster which resulted in a Spring Training invitation.
Thornton pitched to a 1.98 ERA across 14 starts in High-A and Double-A, along with a 0.81 WHIP and .187 BAA. The impressive sophomore campaign saw the left-hander jump into the top half of the Mets prospect rankings, slotting in at No. 15.
State College Spikes
2021: Church (STL No. 23)
2022: C Owen Ayers (CHC No. 11)
2023: C/1B Will Bush (HOU No. 20)
2024: RHP Jaxon Dalena (SDP No. 24), 3B/1B Deniel Ortiz (STL No. 24)
Despite landing on the 60-day IL in the beginning of August, Ayers took the Arizona Fall League by storm, resulting in debuting on the Cubs’ top 30 following the trade that brought Edward Cabrera to the Cubs at No. 23. Ayers began his return to action as the AFL’s first Hitter of the Week, going 5-for-11 with three extra base hits and four RBI. The switch-hitting prospect would keep the momentum throughout the fall, named to the Fall-Stars Game and ending the season as the Breakout Player of the Year with a 1.130 OPS during the regular season, four total home runs and 20 RBI. From the 2024 team, Deniel Ortiz found success in his first full season of affiliate ball, named to the All-MiLB Prospect Second Team. Through 107 games between Single-A and High-A, the Cardinals 16th round pick in 2024 hit .300 with 13 home runs and stole 39 bases.
Trenton Thunder
2021: RHP Garret Hawkins (SDP No. 14)
2022: RHP Micah Bucknam (TOR No. 18)
2023: OF Isaiah Drake (ATL No. 30)
2024: OF Jackson Strong (DET No. 29)
2025: RHP Miguel Sime Jr. (WAS No. 16)
The Thunder are the only team in the Draft League where each season produced an organizational top-30 prospect. Two of them were the first alumni to be selected in the 2025 MLB Draft with Sime Jr. (111th overall) and Bucknam (112th). Sime Jr. most notably set the league record with the fastest pitch on the very first pitch of Opening Night at 100.8 mph, and then eight pitches later throwing a heater at 100.9 mph. Representing the 2021 team, Hawkins enters 2026 after being named the San Diego Padres Minor League Pitcher of the Year. In 45 games the right hander struck out 80 batters and had 38 scoreless innings across 29 games across High-A and Double-A.
West Virginia Black Bears
2021: LHP Mitch Bratt (ARI No. 14)
2022: 2B/3B Sam Antonacci (CWS No. 9, 2B No. 10), LHP Shane Murphy (CWS No. 29)
2023: Thornton, OF/2B Devin Saltiban (PHI No. 21)
2024: RHP Ryan Lambert (NYM No. 18)
Antonacci put together a memorable 2025, finishing fourth across all of Minor League Baseball in on-base percentage (.429), named a South Atlantic League (High-A) All-Star and putting together one of the most impressive Arizona Fall League performances. With the momentum and added attention that also placed him on the White Sox’ top 30, the second baseman ranks as MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 second base prospect, grading out as one of the top defenders (50 arm, 50 field) and recognized as a top riser amongst the group.
Williamsport Crosscutters
2021: RHP Tyler Uberstine (BOS No. 15), RHP Josh Bostick (SFG No. 24) LHP Eduardo Rivera (BOS No. 26)
2022: RHP Braden Nett (ATH No. 6)
2023: RHP Jack Wenninger (NYM No. 7), OF Joseph Sullivan (HOU No. 14)
Through 135.2 innings for Double-A Binghamton with 147 strikeouts and a 2.92 ERA, Jack Wenninger made the biggest jump across Mets’ prospects from 29th at the beginning of 2025 to number seven. During his 2025 campaign, the 2023 sixth-rounder made the starts that sent the Rumble Ponies to the Eastern League Championship and the title clinching game, capping off the year with an 11-strikeout performance.
Frederick Keys
2021: Harris (ATL No. 22), Pintaro (NYM No. 24)
2022: Tong (NYM No. 3, RHP No. 7, MLB No. 48), Pintaro
2023: RHP Chen-Wei Lin (STL No. 26)
2025: C Truitt Madonna (SDP No. 24), SS/2B Bruin Agbayani (MIN No. 30)
Becoming the ninth MLB Draft League alum to make their Major League debut, Tong is still prospect-eligible after making five starts (18.2 IP) for the Mets at the end of August and September. To open 2026, the Ontario native ranks seventh amongst right-handed pitching prospects and 48th across all of MLB per Pipeline. Tong also holds a share for the best fastball with a 70 grade and changeup at 60. The Mets’ No. 3 prospect is also coming off of being named the MiLB Pitching Prospect of the Year and, like Harris, named to the All-MiLB Prospect First Team for 2025.
Spring Breakout
^ Denotes final official roster
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
2022: LHP Kohl Drake (ARI), RHP Hayden Minton (DET)^, LHP Zach Thornton (NYM)
2023: C Cole Conn (ATH)^, RHP Zane Barnhart (BAL)^, RHP Tony Rossi (NYY)^
2024: LHP Grant Umberger (CWS), RHP Zachary Cawyer (KC)^, RHP Peyton Olejnik (LAA)^
State College Spikes
2022: C Owen Ayers (CHC)^, 1B Will Simpson (TBR)^
2023: RHP Corey Avant (ATH)^, C/1B Will Bush (HOU)^, OF Chase Call (HOU)^
2024: RHP Fidel Ulloa (COL)^, RHP Jaxon Dalena (SDP)^, 3B Robert Hipwell (SFG), 3B/1B Deniel Ortiz (STL)^
Trenton Thunder
2021: RHP Garrett Hawkins (SDP)^
2022: RHP Micah Bucknam (TOR)^
2023: OF Isaiah Drake (ATL)^, RHP Ryan Birchard (MIL)^, 3B Charlie Pagliarini (SEA)^
2024: OF Jackson Strong (DET)^, SS Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek (NYY)^, RHP Luke Gabrysh (PHI)^
2025: RHP Miguel Sime Jr. (WAS)^
West Virginia Black Bears
2021: LHP Mitch Bratt (ARI)
2022: 2B/3B Sam Antonacci (CWS)^, LHP Shane Murphy (CWS), Olejnik (LAA)^
2023: RHP Louis-Philippe Langevin (KCR)^, Thornton (NYM), OF Devin Saltiban (PHI)^
2024: RHP Jackson Kirkpatrick (CHC)^, RHP Ryan Lambert (NYM), RHP Eric Loomis (TEX)^
Williamsport Crosscutters
2021: LHP Eduardo Rivera (BOS), RHP Tyler Uberstine (BOS), RHP Josh Bostick (SFG), OF Christian Olivo (CHC)^
2022: RHP Braden Nett (ATH), OF Matthew Etzel (MIA), OF Eddie Micheletti Jr. (TOR)^
2023: OF Joseph Sullivan (HOU)^, C Ryan Ignoffo (MIA)^, RHP Jack Wenninger (NYM)^, RHP Titan Kennedy-Hayes (PHI)^
Frederick Keys
2021: LHP Hayden Harris (ATL)^, RHP Jonathan Pintaro (NYM)
2022: Pintaro
2023: RHP Chen-Wei Lin (STL)
2024: RHP Jay Allmer (BOS)^
2025: SS/2B Bruin Agbayani (MIN), C Truitt Madonna (SDP)^
Signings
After the beginning of spring training four MLB Draft League alumni, including two pivotal members of the 2025 West Virginia Black Bears from the second half, landed professional contracts within the American League Central.
On Thursday, Feb. 12, the Chicago White Sox obtained the contract of OF Adam Fogel from the Missoula PaddleHeads of the Frontier League. Fogel appeared in 29 games for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in 2022 where he recorded 11 extra-base hits with 12 RBI. The California native joins right-handed pitchers Michael Gemma (West Virginia, 2024) and Trey Cooper (West Virginia, 2025) as Draft League alumni that have joined the White Sox since the conclusion of the 2025 season.
On Monday, Feb. 23, the Cleveland Guardians signed RHP Wes Burton to a Minor League contract. The Tulane graduate led the entire summer with four saves and finished fifth with 11 games finished, including the final out of the 2025 MLB Draft League Championship. Making 13 total appearances for the Black Bears, Burton struck out 30 of the 56 batters he faced, allowing only two earned runs for a 1.54 ERA. In three of his outings, the Santa Monica native retired all three batters faced in order and on eight occasions earned all three outs of the inning via strikeout. Burton joins RHP Luke House from the State College Spikes as Draft League pitchers to sign MiLB deals with the Guardians since the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Several days later on Monday, March 2, OF Alex Ungar signed a Minor League deal with the Chicago White Sox. The 24-year-old led the second half with a .522 slugging percentage and 19 extra-base hits, finishing second in doubles (13) and stolen bases (24) as well as top five in home runs (3), total bases (72), runs (36) and OPS (.934). In 37 games, the Sacred Heart graduate recorded four three-hit and three multi-XBH performances.
Both Burton and Ungar were named to the first All-Second Half Team in MLB Draft League history following the Black Bears claiming their third league championship.
After playing parts of three seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, SS Bryce Arnold’s independent contract with the Winnipeg Goldeyes transferred to the Guardians on Tuesday, March 10. The 2023 Frederick Key made it as high as Triple-A for the Buffalo Bisons in 2024, with 20 home runs and 98 RBI across 208 games through four levels in the minor leagues. Signed as an undrafted free agent, Arnold slashed .297/.341/.432 with a .774 OPS in 10 MLB Draft League games and recorded a home run on the very first pitch he saw for Frederick.
Since the conclusion of the 2025 MLB Draft League season, 15 former players have signed new deals with Major League organizations.
For more information about the MLB Draft League, visit mlbdraftleague.com or follow @mlbdraftleague and @draftleaguedata on X, and @mlbdraftleague on Instagram.
