Every name on our fantasy baseball Top 700 Prospect Rankings moves relative to everyone else over the course of a season, but percentage rise is the cleanest way to see who vaulted the farthest from where they started. Below are the ten biggest climbers when we stack our preseason rankings against where the board closed out the year. A few were buried outside our preseason radar entirely; others were already rostered names who simply forced their way up the board.
The Top Five Power Risers of 2026
1. Eric Hartman, OF, ATL (Up 97.0% from the preseason)
Hartman (pictured above) had a season that is the headline of the list. He took a huge step forward in 2026 with High-A Rome, hitting 24 homers and stealing 38 bases in 94 games before earning a promotion to Double-A in early August. Across 128 games, mostly at High-A Rome, he belted 26 home runs and stole 56 bases while batting .249/.350/.456 with 69 walks. The power-speed combination drew national attention: he became the first player at any level, including the majors, to reach the 20-homer, 30-steal plateau in 2026. He is the first minor leaguer to post a 25-50 season since Andruw Jones.
The Double-A stretch against much older competition was a bit of a reality check. His numbers dropped sharply after the move, with a .182 average and .577 OPS, and just two homers in 34 games. Even so, he undoubtedly had a historic 2026 campaign, one that’s positioned him to potentially become a future core member of the Braves.
2. Josiah Hartshorn, OF/1B, CHC (Up 95.9%)
Hartshorn went from a sixth-round pick to the Cubs’ top prospect. He started at Low-A Myrtle Beach, then was promoted to High-A South Bend, where he was even better. In 83 Midwest League games, he logged 39 extra-base hits and an outstanding .965 OPS. Despite being the youngest player in the High-A Midwest League, at 19, he had the highest OPS of any hitter. He finished the year in Double-A and also represented the Cubs at this summer’s Futures Game. Hartshorn is the first Cubs player drafted out of high school to reach Double-A in Year One since 1970. In all, he finished with a .284/.407/.518 slash line with 23 home runs, 112 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases in 125 games.
3. Tate Southisene, SS, ATL (Up 92.0%)
Southisene, the Braves’ 2025 first-round pick, got off to a strong start in Single-A. He began the 2026 season with the Single-A Augusta GreenJackets, where he tore the cover off the ball in 51 games. In 51 Single-A games, the 19-year-old hit .297 with eight homers, 30 RBIs, and 36 stolen bases. He was then pushed up to High-A, where the adjustment took longer. With High-A Rome, he had a .255 batting average with four homers, 16 RBIs, and nine stolen bases in 38 games. Through July, he had a .279 batting average, a .408 on-base percentage, and an .877 OPS with 12 home runs, 46 RBIs, and 45 stolen bases in 89 total games. He was officially promoted to the Double-A Columbus Clingstones. He is finishing his 2026 season in the Arizona Fall League.
4. Alexander Frias, OF, STL (Up 91.4%)
Frias was acquired at the trade deadline, and his season was split between Milwaukee and St. Louis and the 18-year-old crushed the competition in the Arizona Complex League. In 32 games, he hit .441/.518/.678 with four home runs, 34 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. That production forced a promotion to Low-A, where the numbers came back to earth. Across 29 games, Frias hit .234/.325/.414 with four home runs and 28 RBIs. After the trade, he hit .247/.355/.376 with two home runs, 11 RBIs and six stolen bases in 25 games. The upside is big. Statcast-measured exit velocities as high as 117 mph were recorded for him this season.
5. Josiah Ragsdale, OF, STL (Up 90.9%)
Ragsdale had a breakout season and was also acquired by the Cardinals from Milwaukee. He accumulated 37 steals on 40 attempts across 116 games. He finished 2026 hitting .295/.418/.536 across High-A and Double-A. With his 20th homer, he became just the second player in affiliated baseball to reach the 20-homer, 30-steal plateau in 2026. Concerns remain. Strikeouts are a problem and he lacks polish defensively, but the talent is there for him to become a starter in center. He’s whiffing at a 36% clip against southpaws, and has approximately a 250-point split in OPS between left-handed and right-handed pitchers. Still, he could make the jump to the big leagues as soon as 2027 if he can keep this pace up.
The Top 20 Power Risers at a glance
| No. | Name | Pos | Team | B/T | Level | Age | ETA | RISE |
| 1 | Eric Hartman | OF | ATL | L/R | AA | 20 | 2027 | 97.0% |
| 2 | Josiah Hartshorn | OF | CHC | S/L | AA | 19 | 2027 | 95.9% |
| 3 | Tate Southisene | SS | ATL | R/R | AA | 19 | 2027 | 92.0% |
| 4 | Alexander Frias | OF | STL | L/R | Single-A | 18 | 2029 | 91.4% |
| 5 | Josiah Ragsdale | OF | STL | L/L | AA | 22 | 2027 | 90.9% |
| 6 | Bryan Rincon | SS | PHI | S/R | AA | 22 | 2027 | 89.4% |
| 7 | Ronny Cruz | SS | WAS | S/R | High-A | 19 | 2027 | 87.6% |
| 8 | Taitn Gray | 1B | TB | S/R | Single-A | 18 | 2029 | 87.4% |
| 9 | Yostin Pena | OF | NYY | R/R | Single-A | 18 | 2029 | 87.2% |
| 10 | Anthony Eyanson | SP | BAL | R/R | AA | 21 | 2027 | 87.2% |
| 11 | Murf Gray | 3B | PIT | R/R | AA | 22 | 2027 | 85.9% |
| 12 | Sebastian Dos Santos | SS | STL | S/R | Single-A | 18 | 2029 | 83.20% |
| 13 | Franklin Primera | C | BOS | R/R | Single-A | 19 | 2029 | 82.90% |
| 14 | Enddy Azocar | OF | BAL | R/R | High-A | 19 | 2027 | 81.7% |
| 15 | Ramon Marquez | SP | SF | R/R | High-A | 20 | 2027 | 80.8% |
| 16 | Caden Hunter | SP | BAL | R/L | AA | 22 | 2027 | 80.70% |
| 17 | Nolan Perry | SP | TOR | R/R | AA | 22 | 2027 | 80.60% |
| 18 | Leo Bernal | C | STL | S/R | MLB | 22 | now | 76.8% |
| 19 | Ricki Moneys | SS | MIL | R/R | R (DSL) | 17 | 2031 | 76.50% |
| 20 | Cristian Arguelles | OF | COL | L/L | Single-A | 19 | 2029 | 76.1% |