Hot Week & The Top 100: Two Of MLB's Top Prospects Highlight The Week

Two of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects highlighted this week’s top hitters from throughout minor league baseball. First baseman Ralphy Velazquez, MLB’s No. 32 prospect with the Columbus Clippers (Triple-A, Cleveland Guardians), and outfielder Walker Jenkins, MLB’s No. 15 prospect with the St. Paul Saints (Triple-A, Minnesota Twins), were both included on this week’s list.

Velazquez and Jenkins were joined by catcher ,Adam Zebrowski of the Columbus Clingstones (Double-A, Atlanta Braves); outfielder, Tony Blanco of the Greensboro Grasshoppers (High-A, Pittsburgh Pirates); and catcher, Broedy Poppel of the San Jose Giants (Single-A, San Francisco Giants).

Ralphy Velazquez, 1B, MLB No. 32 prospect – Columbus Clippers (Triple-A, Cleveland Guardians)

The Columbus Clippers last week took on the St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins) in a seven-game series that included a makeup game from a suspended game from earlier in the season. Columbus took just three of seven from the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate.
Despite only taking three wins, MLB’s No. 32 prospect had a huge weekend at the plate, going 10-for-22 and hitting .455/.500/1.273, with a 1.773 OPS in six games. He drove out six home runs, including three on August 22nd. He drove in 12 RBIs and had eight runs scored on the week, accumulating 28 total bases in six games.

Velazquez played in 35 games earlier this season with Double-A before being advanced up to Triple-A in May, where he has now made 69 Triple-A appearances. Over the course of those games, he is batting .280/.361/.559, with a .920 OPS. He has 11 doubles, one triple, and 20 home runs, with 50 RBIs and 44 runs scored in Triple-A; he also has one stolen base.

While Velazquez has a strong bat, the Indians currently have first base occupied by Rhys Hoskins and Nathaniel Lowe. While they could use his bat in the lineup, the question becomes where in the field do you use Velazquez, or do you put him as the DH if you call him up? The good news for the Guardians is that they have depth in Triple-A if they need it due to injury.

Waker Jenkins, OF, MLB No. 15 prospect – St. Paul Saints (Triple-A, Minnesota Twins)

In a flip of the teams, Jenkins and the Saints this week took on Velazquez and the Clippers, taking four of seven games from the Guardians’ affiliate in dominating fashion. 

Jenkins, MLB’s No. 15 prospect, was 10-for-20 on the week, hitting .500/.600/1.100, with a 1.700 OPS. He had four home runs (two on August 19 and two on August 23), driving in seven runs for St. Paul and stole three bases, with six runs scored. He totaled five walks on the week as well.

The 21-year-old and 2023 first-round draft pick found himself on the injured list early in the year and made rehab appearances in Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids before reuniting with St. Paul in June. Since then, he has appeared in 67 games with St. Paul. He is batting a combined .306/.406/.525, with a .931 OPS. He has 17 doubles, three triples, and 11 home runs, with 27 RBIs and 48 runs scored. He has been walked 41 times and has stolen 16 bases on the year.

Outfield is a position Minnesota has a little too much of as they try to figure out their depth chart, where and how to utilize it most efficiently, with a lot of strong bats down on the farm as well. It’s no secret that Jenkins is MLB-ready; however, the question for Minnesota, like that with Velazquez for the Guardians, is: where do you put Jenkins if you call him up?

Adam Zebrowski, C – Columbus Clingstones (Double-A, Atlanta Braves)

This week, the Clingstones welcomed the Rays’ Double-A affiliate Montgomery Biscuits to Columbus. They took four of six from Montgomery with a strong week at the plate for Zebrowski.

The 25-year-old went 7-for-16, hitting .438/.471/1.438, with a 1.909 OPS. He had one double and five home runs, driving in nine RBIs and six runs scored through four games. He was walked once and accumulated 23 total bases on the week.

Zebrowski has found himself bouncing around between Double-A and Triple-A this year. Over the course of his time in Double-A, he has batted .287/.348/.610, with a .958 OPS. He has eight doubles and 15 home runs, with 34 RBIs and 27 runs scored. The 25-year-old has walked 14 times and has one stolen base.

While he’s batting well in Double-A, he has struggled in Triple-A, posting a .717 OPS in 70 plate appearances. He’ll need to prove he can maintain a stronger performance at the plate to find himself staying a full season in Triple-A.

Tony Blanco Jr., OF – Greensboro Grasshoppers (High-A, Pittsburgh Pirates)

Greensboro was in Bowling Green this week, taking on the Rays’ High-A affiliate in a six-game series in which they took five of six. All of their wins featured them scoring six or more runs per game, including an 11-run game on Sunday.

Blanco Jr. played in five of those six games and went 8-for-17, hitting .471/.571/1.235, with a 1.806 OPS. He hit one double and four home runs (two each on August 22 and August 23), driving in seven RBIs, and had five runs scored; he walked three times this week and accumulated 21 total bases on the week. In terms of his RBIs, Blanco Jr. had three RBIs on Saturday, and then four RBIs on Sunday, ending the week well at the plate.

Blanco has played all of 2026 in Greensboro outside of four games spent on rehab assignments prior to being activated off the injured list.

Over the course of 70 games in High-A, the young 21-year-old is batting .264/.352/.606, with a .958 OPS. He has hit 16 doubles, one triple, and 23 home runs over the course of the season, driving in 54 Rbis, and 44 runs scored. He has been walked 31 times, stolen one base, and accumulated 154 total bases.

Broedy Poppell, C – San Jose Giants (Single-A, San Francisco Giants)

San Jose took on the Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres); The Giants’ Single-A affiliate dominated Lake Elsinore, sweeping the six-game series, scoring nine or more runs in four of the six games, 21 runs on the 21st, and five or more in the last two games of the series.

Broedy Poppell, the 24-year-old catcher, played in all six games. He had 26 plate appearances over those six games, going 10-for-20, hitting .500/.630/1.100, with a 1.730 OPS. He had four doubles, a triple, and two home runs, driving in nine RBIs and nine runs scored. He walked six times this week, stole one base, and accumulated 22 total bases.

Drafted by the Giants just last year in the 13th round of the draft out of Florida A&M, Poppell is in his first professional season and found himself advancing to Single-A after just eight rookie-level games. He is batting .243/.358/.414, with a .772 OPS. He has 12 doubles, one triple, and eight home runs in High-A, with 38 RBIs and 49 runs scored. He’s got a great amount of speed, stealing 14 bases and accumulating a total of 92 bases through 66 games.

MLB Pipeline Top-100

We already mentioned that Velazquez and Jenkins were in the top five hitters of the week as a whole from throughout the minor leagues this week. Joining them on the top five list that includes only top-100 prospects is No. 3 prospect, catcher Rainiel Rodriguez of the Springfield Cardinals (Double-A, St. Louis Cardinals); the No. 71 prospect, shortstop Seaver King of the Rochester Red Wings (Triple-A, Washington Nationals); and the No. 80 prospect, outfielder Kevin Alvarez of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros).

This week, Rodriguez (Double-A Springfield) was 14-for-24, batting .583/.577/1.083, with a 1.660 OPS. He had three doubles, three triples, and three home runs, driving in nine RBIs.

King, the shortstop with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings (Washington), was 11-for-25, batting .440/.548/1.000, with a 1.548 OPS. He had a triple and four home runs, driving in 10 RBIs, and stole three bases.

Alvarez, the No. 80 prospect and outfielder with Fayettville (Single-A, Houston Astros) was 4-for-12, batting .333/.550/.917, with a 1.467 OPS. He had two home runs on the week, with six RBIs, six walks, and stole three bases.

The minor leagues only have a few weeks left of their season as minor leaguers look to close out their 2026 campaigns well.