Rules:
This is fantasy value over real-life value
Hitters are weighted a bit heavier than pitchers, given the added injury risk
Proximity matters, but this is a dynasty-length view
All notes current as of Sunday, August 16, 2026.
51. SP Christian Zazueta (Dodgers) - AA
Previous Rank: null ETA: Late 2027 Comp: A Joe Ryan starter package
Prime Skills: Zazueta is a lanky near-side-armer with phenomenal command who ran a 23.8% K-BB rate over 67 innings at A ball last year and has already been promoted through High-A to Double-A. The Dodgers system is ridiculous right now, Zazueta specifically works a four-pitch mix from a weird arm slot with an elite reported negative 4.3 degree vertical approach angle on the fastball, extreme deception that gets hitters swinging under the heater constantly. Unlike Ryan, he throws a standard changeup against a splitter with excellent freezing fade and doesn’t carry a curveball or sinker, though he might benefit from adding both eventually. The changeup is his primary secondary, and his slider carries a gyro, vertical-drop shape that freezes hitters and pairs beautifully off the low release point on the four-seamer. He rarely throws the sweeper, and it plays almost like a deep curveball given his arm angle. This week he struck out eight and walked none, allowing just one hit over five innings on 60 pitches in that first Double-A look.
Arsenal Grades:
• FA (93-97 mph): 60/65
• CH (82-85 mph): 55/60
• SL/FC (84-87 mph): 50/55
• ST (80-83 mph): 40/45
• Command: 55/65
Ranking Explanation: Zazueta’s gap between his fScore and his public ranking is exactly the kind of value worth chasing in points and OBP formats where his command-first profile plays best. He ranks behind the more established arms like Flora and LaGrange in this tier.
52. OF Braylon Payne (Brewers) - AA
Previous Rank: 66 ETA: 2028 Comp: Lawrence Butler
Prime Skills: Payne’s power and speed both graded as loud tools on draft day, and the swing-and-miss cost of accessing that power is the real number worth tracking, a 35.8% whiff rate that ran considerably higher than anticipated entering the year, paired with a ground-ball rate that stays stubbornly elevated for a hitter this explosive. His 90th-percentile exit velocity sat at 105.1 mph last year, an impressive mark for a player who spent roughly 90% of that season as an 18-year-old, and the angle profile has bounced back this year after regressing in both contact and launch shape a year ago. He’s shown no real trouble against left-handed pitching, a useful signal given how many young power-speed outfielders develop a same-side platoon hole as they climb and has an amazing 42 extra base hits in only 81 games, which is insane considering he’s still only 19-years-old and just reached AA.
Hitter Tool Grades:
• Hit: 30/40
• Plate Approach: 40/50
• Power: 50/60
• Speed: 65/70
Ranking Explanation: Payne’s fScore has actually ticked down since Memorial Day even as the raw power has grown louder, the whiff rate spike is the direct cause, and it’s the swing skill separating him from a top-100 industry ranking his tools alone would otherwise support. He ranks behind Zazueta above him on pure floor, an elite-swinging-strike-rate pitcher carries less variance right now than an 18-year-old still fighting a 35.8% whiff rate of his own.
53. SS Tyler Bell (Rockies) - Dev
***No Pro Data
Previous Rank: null ETA: 2028 Comp: Didi Gregorius mashed with Jackson Merrill
Prime Skills: Pulling from my own draft coverage since Bell wasn’t part of the Memorial Day rankings. He ran a 1.119 OPS through SEC play at Kentucky this spring with a .510 on-base percentage, and every tool graded 50 or better on the amateur boards, a balanced profile rather than one carrying trait doing all the work. He was actually the highest unsigned pick from two years earlier before landing at Kentucky, evidence I trusted the bat well before this spring’s performance validated it against SEC pitching specifically, and I’d have him a clear top-five college bat in this year’s class off that swing alone - it’s a beauty from both sides of the plate as a switch hitter and he has a ton of room on his lean build to add muscle to boost his power profile. We should also keep in mind he injured his shoulder on Opening Day last year, missed some time and may have been playing with an injured shoulder to finish out the season.
Hitter Tool Grades:
• Hit: 50/60
• Plate Approach: 45/55
• Power: 40/55
• Speed: 55/60
Ranking Explanation: I might be the high guy on him based on his back of the baseball card lines, but I trust the swing to play plus from both sides, which is why I have him rated ahead of several college bats further down this list with actual games played. He ranks behind Payne and Zazueta above him purely on total track record, both have real professional performance data backing up their own rankings where Bell still has none.
54. 3B Murf Gray (Pirates) - AA
Previous Rank: 98 ETA: Late 2027 Comp: Austin Riley with a little Aaron Judge in the swing
Prime Skills: Gray’s exit velocity readings have already surpassed the tracked max readings of Juan Soto, Munetaka Murakami, Julio Rodriguez, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Ronald Acuna Jr., a wild list to appear on for a player with 28 homers through his first 107 professional games. A 12.2% barrel rate matches Junior Caminero’s, and a hard-hit rate north of 45% matches Acuna and Austin Riley, both active MLB stars, not aspirational comps. What separates Gray from a pure masher profile is that this power arrived without a bloated whiff rate, just 22.8% in his Low-A look, including a tiny 11.1% specifically against four-seam fastballs, though the number climbs against sliders, worth tracking as he sees more advanced breaking stuff at Double-A. His chase rate sits at 29.9%, the one real flag in the data, and it’s already trending the right direction as the season’s progressed. He has a ridiculous 50 extra base hits in 107 games this year.
Hitter Tool Grades:
• Hit: 45/55
• Plate Approach: 40/55
• Power: 55/65
• Speed: 40/40
Ranking Explanation: Gray went 73rd overall last year as a money-saving competitive-balance pick after some outlets had him as a third-to-fifth-round talent, and his current fScore blows past that draft slot entirely, exit velocities beating Soto and Harper’s tracked maxes belongs nowhere near a 73rd-overall profile. He is one of the biggest risers in this rankings update as I had liked him post draft, but was a bit skeptical of the fantastic hit / power combo continuing as he got up to higher levels. His contact rates are down about 5% at AA vs high and low A against more advanced pitching, so we should definitely watch that moving forward.
55. OF Trevor Condon (Cardinals) - A
Previous Rank: null ETA: 2029 Comp: Pete Crow-Armstrong
Prime Skills: Pulling from my own draft coverage since Condon wasn’t part of the Memorial Day rankings. He hit .504 with 9 homers, 42 RBI and 15 steals over just 36 games as a high school senior, good enough for Georgia’s Gatorade Player of the Year, and the calling card is a 70-grade run tool paired with a 60-grade hit tool, the best speed-and-hit combination among prep bats in his entire draft class. That foundation, elite bat-to-ball skill plus double-plus wheels, tends to age well even before the power fully develops. Condon is one of the toolsiest players in the entire draft class, his swing is simple and his lower body movements and snap are will generate a good amount of power. He could be the Konnor Griffin of this class from a highest ceiling standpoint and this kid is a high intensity, high work ethic player in line with JJ Wetherholt. He’s built for a kid and has more lean muscle and a bigger frame than Tyler Bell, a college kid already in their development.
Hitter Tool Grades:
• Hit: 40/60
• Plate Approach: 35/50
• Power: 40/60
• Speed: 65/70
Ranking Explanation: Condon ranks behind Gray above him purely on level, Gray’s producing real professional numbers right now where Condon hasn’t thrown a bat yet as a pro. He ranks ahead of Crisantes below him because a 70-grade speed tool paired with a 60-grade hit tool projects a higher peak season line than a bat still working back from a shoulder injury, even one with real prior production of its own.