May 2026 – Imaginary Brick Wall

Posted on May 19, 2026May 20, 2026 by Michael Halpern

Tuesday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (5/19/26)

I usually drop these on Monday here on the Brick Wall, but I’ve been doing my Target Series the last 2 Monday’s on the Patreon, so Tuesday it is for this week. The May Mailbag Podcast is coming this week and the Updated May Dynasty Rankings are coming next week on the Patreon too. But first, here is the Tuesday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (5/19/26):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP MLB HITTER TARGETS FOR MAY 2026
-TOP MLB PITCHER TARGETS FOR MAY 2026
-TOP PROSPECT TARGETS FOR MAY 2026
-TOP 417 APRIL 2026 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (May Update coming next week)
-TOP 310 MAY 2026 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
–SPREADSHEETS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL 2026 MAILBAG! (May Mailbag coming this week)

Anthony Volpe – NYY, SS, 25.0 – Volpe’s upgraded supercharged shoulder check … 50% Hard Hit% with a 92 MPH EV … HAHA … shut the fuck up hahah … this shit is wild. Dude has a 201 wRC+ in 5 games hahah … I’m dying. I mean, I told you if Volpe came back with the supercharged shoulder that I’m going under the knife. I gotta start looking up doctors now I guess hah

Colt Emerson – SEA, SS, 20.10 – Emerson got the call to the majors and it didn’t take him long to make his mark with a his first homer that really showcased his excellent feel to hit more than his power. It was impressive bat control and contact ability. He slowed the bat down to get it with a 65.1 MPH swing and only hit it 97.2 MPH, but that is a microcosm of his hit/power combo. We know he can hit it harder than that but even if he doesn’t he has the feel to hit to do stuff like that too. He wasn’t ripping up Triple-A with a 105 wRC+, but he got red hot in the 2nd half of 2025, and maybe we see the same thing this year. Just what Seattle needs, another 2nd half player.

Steele Hall – CIN, SS, 18.9, RK – We can now officially say that Hall is annihilating rookie ball after going 4 for 4 with a homer, double and stolen base. He’s slashing .282/.451/.641 with 3 homers, 7 steals, and a 19.6/21.6 K%/BB% in 11 games. The 26.5% whiff% isn’t bad and has been getting better. He’s lifting and pulling and he’s running a ton. He’s still only 18 years old and age appropriate for the level. While he has to show it at higher levels, that explosive true top level upside is clearly shining through. I thought he was getting faded way too hard in FYPD’s, predicting he would end the year in top 20 prospect land, and while he has a long to way to go to get there, this is step one. I would imagine he gets the call to Single-A pretty soon, and then if he keeps it up, the hype is going to hit hard.

Sam Antonacci – CHW, 2B/3B, 23.3 – Antonacci continues to do nothing but hit, going 2 for 3 with 0 K. He’s now hitting .298 with a 12.5% K%. Just call him Sam McAntonacci. The guy has a .400 xwOBA. He doesn’t hit the ball weakly or anything either with a 10.1% Barrel%, 88.6 MPH EV, and 36.3% Hard Hit%. He hasn’t been a big lift and pull guy in his career, so he’s probably not going to hit a ton of homers, but he should hit enough combined with his BA and steals. He’s getting a caught stealing a ton right now, going 3 for 7 on the bases, but he was a really good base stealer in the minors, and I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt right now. He’s potentially on track to be one of the best hit/speed/enough power combos in the game.

Xavier Edwards – MIA, SS/2B, 26.9 – Dude is a power hitter now after drilling his 5th homer at 101.2 MPH. And the power is most certainly up with an 88.5 MPH and 36.2% Hard Hit%, but he’s also clearly not this good. He doesn’t lift and pull enough with those still only decent hard hit numbers. With his contact and speed though, any uptick in power is a big deal. Just call him Xavier McEdwards.

Noah Schultz – CHW, LHP, 22.9 – 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 6/0 K/BB vs. SEA … not a bad outing but the 20% whiff% and 92.5 MPH EV are a bit less impressive. He really hasn’t been all that impressive in his MLB debut in general with a 4.93 ERA and 21.6/14.2 K%/BB% in 34.2 IP. The 25.1% whiff% is only average. It’s not great. If we are looking for silver linings, the 95.4 MPH 4-seamer is a really good pitch with a 27.7% whiff% and .299 xwOBA. His sweeper and change are also missing plenty of bats with a 34% and 40.7% whiff% respectively. He’s got 3 fastballs with the sinker and cutter. The ingredients are so obviously in here to breakout but it’s not quite there yet. Maybe he’ll get traded to Milwaukee and make it easy on all of us ;).

Shane McClanahan – TBR, LHP, 29.0 – 5 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 6/2 K/BB vs. BAL … not his best outing, but even in this one we see the old Shane starting to pop up more and more with a 33% whiff% and 95.8 MPH heat. His season line looks like the old Shane too with a 2.82 ERA and 25.8/9.3 K%/BB% in 44.2 IP. The K/BB really isn’t back to prime form, and neither is the 28.1% whiff%, so he’s still not the guy who was arguably the #1 pitcher in dynasty at one point, but he’s clearly re-establishing himself as an impact fantasy pitcher. I’ll put #2/3 borderline on him right now. After all of his setbacks and long road recovery, it’s just genuinely great to see him back to where he is.

Max Meyer – MIA, RHP, 27.2 – 6 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 6/2 K/BB vs. ATL … The excellent slider led the way as usual with a 43% whiff%, leading to a 27% whiff% overall. He now has a 2.85 ERA with a 26.7/8.4 K%/BB% in 53.2 IP. The 31.9% whiff% backs up the strikeouts. But I have to say that I’m still not willing to treat him as a young ace or near ace. The 4.28 xERA isn’t buying it at all. All of his pitches have been getting lucky according to xwOBA. Even in this outing the 93.8 MPH EV against showed luck was on his side. The other ERA estimators are kinder to him, but even those mostly have him as a mid 3’s ERA guy, which is where I land on him too. So more of an impact mid rotation guy is how I would value him in trades personally.

Junior Caminero – TBR, 3B, 22.9 – 2 for 4 with a 105.8 MPH homer for his 13th homer of the season and 7th homer at home. I didn’t have much doubt to begin with, ranking Caminero 12th overall on the Top 1,000, but if you did, I think we can put the minor league ballpark thing to rest now. It don’t matter what ballpark he’s in, he’s going to be one of the premier power hitters in baseball for a long time.

Sal Stewart – CIN, 1B/3B, 22.5 – Nice to see Stewart come back alive as he went the opposite way on a 77 MPH swing that cleared the fence for his 11th homer. He also tacked on a 106 MPH single. He now has 2 homers, 3 steals, and a .820 OPS in his last 11 games. He’s starting to stabilize. He’s still running a ton which I love. The only thing I would like to see is more pulling in the air, but I know he has that skill in him, so I’m not too concerned about. He also has the power and ballpark to be just fine hitting oppo field dingers (this one was in Philly). I was buying low through the struggles and it seems he’s now come out the other end of it.

Kendry Rojas – MIN, LHP, 23.5 – Rojas slowly worked his way into the starting rotation, and now that he’s in, he’s not letting the opportunity slip through his fingers, going 4 IP with 2 hits, 0 ER, and a 3/1 K/BB vs. HOU. He’s coming at you with 96 MPH from left side and it put up a 45% whiff%. The slider notched a 50% whiff% and the changeup notched a 40% whiff%. He had a 81.2 MPH EV against. It was utter domination. He wasn’t quite this good out of the pen, but the stuff is nasty and fastball/slider/changeup combo all miss bats. There is control risk and he can still be raw, but his upside is worth the pick up if you are a pitching needy team.

Michael King – SDP, RHP, 30.11 – 7 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 9/2 K/BB vs. LAD … This one was against the Dodgers and he both missed bats (29% whiff%) and induced weak contact (82.7 MPH EV against). He now has a 2.31 ERA with a 25.8/10.5 K%/BB% in 58.1 IP. He looks pretty much back to where he was when he was dominating last year. The only slight concern is that the walk rate is up and the K/BB isn’t great, but he wasn’t even really a great K/BB guy last year either. At the least, he’s a fully locked in #2 and that could be light.

Walbert Urena – LAA, RHP, 22.4 – 6 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 4/2 K/BB vs. ATH … he’s a weak contact machine with an 85.1 MPH EV against in this one and a 86.1 MPH EV against on the season. He also missed bats in this one with the changeup (50% whiff%) and sweeper (43% whiff%). The more he keeps it up, the more you gotta believe in him, but I’m still only treating him as a guy to ride until we see more. 1.35 WHIP isn’t good. The 20.7/13.1 K%/BB% isn’t good. The stuff is big, he can miss some bats and he induces weak contact, so again, I’m down to ride it, but I’m not paying up big for him or anything.

JT Ginn – SAC, LHP, 27.0 – 8 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 10/1 K/BB vs. LAA … it’s Ginn’s 3rd lights out performance in a row. He has a 94.3 MPH sinker that can keep the ball the ground. The slider and change can miss some bats. The cutter and 4-seamer give him the 3 fastball combo. Like Urena, it’s hard to buy in too hard with a mediocre K/BB (21.7/8.4 K%/BB%), and his 23.2% whiff% isn’t great either, so he’s just a guy I’m happy to ride but not pay up for.

Tatsuya Imai – HOU, RHP, 27.11 – 4.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 5/0 K/BB vs. MIN … yea, this sucks, but the guys still put up a 43% whiff%. The fastball sat 95.8 MPH. The slider and change missed a ton of bats. He’s been brutal, I know, but I would stay patient here. I think he’s going to figure it out.

Nick Becker – SEA, SS, 19.5, RK – Time for a Nick Becker check … and it’s not good. He’s a 19 year old in the rookie ball and has a 35.4% K% and a 41.8% whiff%. He’s actually hitting well with a 135 wRC+, but that swing and miss, especially at already 19 years old, just puts him in insane danger zone territory. It’s more or less exactly what we didn’t want to see. His value is on the decline.

Andrew Painter – PHI, RHP, 23.1 – 6 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, and a 3/2 K/BB vs. CIN … solid outing but the 4-seamer put up a 0% whiff% and he had a 9% whiff% overall. He now has a 5.77 ERA with a 19.1/7.2 K%/BB% in 43.1 IP. The ship sailed on Painter being a true ace level pitching prospect last year, but nobody wanted to believe it. I get it. It’s sad when an injury diminishes such a great prospect. But if you didn’t believe then, you better believe now. He’s still talented with breakout potential down the line, but it’s just not the guy from 2022.

JR Ritchie – ATL, RHP, 22.11 – 4 IP, 6 hits, 6 ER, 4/1 K/BB vs. MIA … the 93.8 MPH 4-seamer didn’t get a single whiff and put up a 95.2 MPH EV against. He put up a 24% whiff% overall. Ritchie has just never been my guy, and that take is cementing with his MLB debut. He has a 4.91 ERA with a 18.4/14.0 K%/BB% in 25.2 IP. The 4-seamer isn’t that good and the whiffs are below average overall. I’ve never been impressed with the stuff. I do still believe he can become a solid MLB pitcher in time. I don’t hate him, but I didn’t see the big fantasy value to go after as a pitching prospect.

Nick Lodolo – CIN, LHP, 28.3 – 5.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 3/5 K/BB vs. PHI … he’s been rusty as hell since returning with a 7.20 ERA and 16.4/13.4 K%/BB% in 15 IP. Nothing to worry about though. It’s just all part of the plan. He’s not nicknamed the Eternal Target for nothing. He’ll get hot and start pitching well, but because of these early blowups and late start to the season the season line won’t look great, making him, yup, a legit Target going into 2027 for the 29th year in a row. You know something had to happen to keep him a Target. The Universe works in mysterious ways.

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Posted on May 5, 2026May 8, 2026 by Michael Halpern

Top 310 May 2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings (Patreon)

This is a non debuted prospects rankings, which I love to do, because it really highlights the next wave of talent that we haven’t been ranking over and over again for years now. You can reference my Top 417 April 2026 Dynasty Rankings (Patreon) for my rankings on all the fun already debuted “prospects”. It’s still early in the season, but you know me, I lean being aggressive, for better or worse, and I was aggressive in this full shuffle up and re deal. The full Top 310 along with a spreadsheet is on the Patreon. Top 20 free on the Brick Wall down below. So without further ado, here is the Top 310 May 2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 417 APRIL 2026 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-TOP 310 MAY 2026 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
–SPREADSHEETS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL 2026 MAILBAG!
-PREDICTING THE 2027 TOP 50 PROSPECTS RANKINGS

*Off-season ranking in parenthesis but keep in mind my off-season rankings have the most lenient eligibility possible (under 130 BA or 50 IP) and these have the most strict eligibility possible (0 AB or IP in the majors)

1) (4) Jesus Made – MIL, SS, 19.0 – Made vs. Leo is the new Griffin vs. McGonigle which was the new Chourio vs. Holliday which was the new Gunnar vs. Carroll which was the new Witt vs. Julio which was the new Wander vs. Kelenic which was the new Acuna vs. Vlad which was the new … you get the point. We have an old fashioned #1 prospect standoff right now. Both are 19 years old with excellent across the board production at Double-A. Neither are showing major hit tool issues or groundball issues. Both are running. It’s dead even, but someone has to be #1 and it’s Made. The tie breaker was the better K% and more steals/better success rate.

2) (5) Leodalis De Vries – SAC, SS, 19.7 – No shame in being #2 to Made. This is a battle that could flip flop their entire careers.

3) (17) Edward Florentino – PIT, OF/1B, 19.6 – Florentino got a late start to the season but has looked like a superstar since returning, slashing .306/.469/.722 with 4 homers, 1 steal, and a 20.4/24.5 K%/BB% in 11 games split between Single-A and High-A. Maybe it’s a little risky moving him to 3rd overall above some of these upper minor bats, but he’s showing a level of potential superstar that I’m not sure those upper minors bats are showing at the moment.

4) (22) Josue De Paula – LAD, OF, 20.1 – … other than De Paula, who most certainly has that superstar potential, but I still fear he’s not a guy going to sell out for game power. That is only a quibble though, as he’s conquering Double-A with no issue, slashing .309/.442/.454 with 3 homers, 9 steals, and a 15.0/18.3 K%/BB% in 26 games. The 17% whiff% is impressive. Even without selling out for game power, he has the raw juice to hit dingers anyway. The other snafu is the Dodgers. It’s really hard to trust this team to actually roll out the red carpet for their young prospects, especially one who isn’t great on defense. But other than that, you know Josue has been my guy since he was a complete unknown in the DSL, and with him dominating the upper minors, the restrictor plates are completely off. I was debating Florentino vs. De Paula for awhile, but Florentino’s lift/pull and a clear path in Pitt in general is what swayed me.

5) (6) Walker Jenkins – MIN, OF, 21.2 – Down goes Walker again. This time with a shoulder injury after colliding with the OF wall. The Twins curse strikes again … and again and again and again. So disheartening. He was just starting to heat up at Triple-A and the underlying numbers looked good with a 92.1 MPH EV, 17.8% whiff% and 13.8 degree launch. He would have ranked 3rd, but with yet another injury, I just can’t put him there. So frustrating, and maybe this is even still too high but I don’t want to kill him yet. If you are fed up, I get it

6) (40) AJ Ewing – NYM, OF, 21.9 – Ewing is my best call on the Predicting the 2027 Top 50 Prospects Rankings this off-season, predicting he would be a Top 10 prospect by this off-season, and writing, “I dropped Corbin Carroll and Pete Crow Armstrong’s name when I called Ewing a major target in 2024 FYPD’s, and now we will see the Carroll/PCA like blow up. The massively underrated power will show up with 14 homers in 120 games in the upper minors. Combined with the speed, plate skills, and defense, everyone will realize this is an elite prospect in both fantasy and real life.” … and now I think he’s there already. He has a 92.4 MPH EV with a 50% Hard Hit% in 6 games at Triple-A. His 2 homers has already almost matched his entire homer total from 2025 (3 homers). And of course, everything else is there, slashing .388/.500/.588 with 2 homers, 16 steals, and a 16.0/18.9 K%/BB% in 24 games. He’s still not a home run hitter, but this is a fantasy beast even if he can get to 15-20, and there is clearly raw power to tap into down the line. I was all in on Ewing in his draft year, I was all in this off-season, and I’m staying all in. I know this looks high, but using Max Clark as an anchor, why does Clark deserve to be over Ewing? It’s close of course, but I think Ewing has the edge

7) (89) Franklin Arias – BOS, SS, 20.5 – I had Arias ranked 46th overall on my End of Season Prospects Rankings. I gave him a strong blurb in my Top 1,000, writing, “The hype has definitely cooled a bit from last off-season, and the funny thing is I now see I might be slightly higher on him than other places, or at least I’m fully on board with his current value.” … and then I just slowly got cold feet and slipped him to 89th overall this off-season. To be fair, 89th overall was about his value other places too, but I just can’t help myself with hit tool first types hah … I’m going to keep ranking these types high in the future though, and Arias is proving he deserved a lofty ranking, slashing .359/.433/.731 with 8 homers, 2 steals, and a 11.1/7.8 K%/BB% in 22 games. He’s lifting a lot more with a big leg kick, the raw power should only keep ticking up as he gets older, and he’s now proving the hit/plate skills against advanced competition. I’m still not sure the power/speed combo will be huge, but this is obviously a special bat, and I’m done underrating hit tool first types.

8) (9) Max Clark – DET, OF, 21.5 – Doing everything at Triple-A but showing power with only 1 homer and a mediocre 35.4% Hard Hit% in 29 games. He’s still young and the power is only going to tick up from here, but he’s a bit more contact/speed than optimal, and I think it means a few guys sneak past him right now

9) (12) Colt Emerson – SEA, SS, 20.10 – He’s only 20 at Triple-A, so we have to grade on a curve, but he hasn’t been that great with a 94 wRC+, 29.3% K%, 87.1 MPH EV and 50.8% GB%. Again, he’s only 20, and his value holds steady, but he’s not blowing up yet

10) (39) Rainiel Rodriguez – STL, C, 19.4 – Obliterating High-A like he’s obliterated every level before it, slashing .306/.433/.529 with 3 homers, 2 steals, and a 18.3/16.3 K%/BB% in 23 games. There is little doubt this is one of the most special bats in the lower minors. I predicted I was going to be too low on Rodriguez in my Predicting the 2027 Prospects Rankings, ranking him 6th overall (so why didn’t you raise him you ask, idk, I’m stubborn I guess ha)

11) (75) Seth Hernandez – PIT, RHP, 19.10 – I have zero regrets about having some caution on high school righties, but he ain’t in high school anymore with a 1.23 ERA and 50.0/7.3 K%/BB% in 22 IP. The fastball sits 97.2 MPH and the 3 secondaries (changeup, slider curve) all have about 70% whiff percentages. If you want to find a quibble, the fastball actually isn’t missing a ton of bats with a 26.6% whiff%, but that isn’t even that bad. His upside seems to be on a level all to himself. He’s the new #1 pitching prospect in baseball

12) (15) Thomas White – MIA, LHP, 21.7 – 2.13 ERA with a 39.6/8.3 K%/BB% in 12.2 IP at Triple-A. The 95.1 MPH fastball/sweeper combo has been dominant. The change has been solid. He’s done nothing to lose his hold on the #1 non debuted prospect in baseball, but Seth Hernandez just took it from him

13) (47) Kade Anderson – SEA, LHP, 21.11 – 0.37 ERA with a 43.2/4.5 K%/BB% in 24.1 IP. He still doesn’t have the overpowering fastball, so the true test will be vs. MLB hitters, but clearly he is putting the Anderson vs. Doyle to rest, and he’s now in the running for #1 pitching prospect in baseball. I just think Hernandez’ and White’s stuff are on another level, but he’s right there

14) (55) George Lombard – NYY, SS, 20.11 – Very clearly looks like the Yanks SS of the future, and that future can come in the 2nd half with across the board destruction of Double-A. He projects as an impact all category contributor. Just when the entire industry cooled on him, the explosion came

15) (37) Zyhir Hope – LAD, OF, 21.3 – Seeing the hit tool transfer was the most important thing in the upper minors, and it’s passing with flying colors with a 22.8% K% and 24.1% whiff%. Obviously the majors is the ultimate test, but this is big to see, because the power/speed combo will do the rest (5 homers and 4 steals in 26 games)

16) (41) Caleb Bonemer – CHW, SS, 20.7 – Power is exploding at High-A with 11 homers in 26 games, but the reason I was slightly cautious on Bonemer this off-season was because I thought there could be some hit tool risk against more advanced competition, and that hit tool risk is showing with a 30.3% K% and 34% whiff%. For the record, Bonemer was an FYPD Target for me and I was all over his 2025 breakout. I also love to see him smashing High-A. But I do think we can’t completely hand wave away the hit tool risk.

17) (20) Aidan Miller – PHI, SS, 21.11 – Yet to debut with a back injury. Back injuries can be recurring and a constant problem, so it’s not a great, but I don’t want to completely tank him for it. If I owned him, I would want to remain patient

18) (21) Sebastian Walcott – TEX, SS, 20.2 – Yet to debut with internal brace surgery which he’s hoping to return from in August in a best case scenario. We’ve seen hitters return from TJ/elbow injuries with no problem, so it’s really mostly a concern defensively. I’m buying low here.

19) (49) Robby Snelling – MIA, LHP, 22.4 – Just patiently waiting for the call to the majors as he beats up on Triple-A hitters

20) (70) Charlie Condon – COL, 1B, 23.1 – Hit tool concerns are stabilizing at Triple-A with a 18.5% K%, although he’s only been solid overall with a 107 wRC+. I still want to bet on this power bat in Coors, and he’s knocking on the door of the bigs

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Posted on May 4, 2026 by Michael Halpern

Welcome to the First Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings Week of 2026!

The first Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings Week of the season has arrived! I’m going over 300 deep with new blurbs for every player. These will be for non debuted prospects as the purpose is to truly highlight the next wave of talent. And there is a ton of talent popping right now in the next wave. Top 25-ish will be free here on the Brick Wall. Full rankings will be on the Patreon along with a spreadsheet. First post is dropping tomorrow. Can’t wait. See ya then …

-Halp