We’ve had a lot to talk about thanks to the recent release of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospect rankings for the Boston Red Sox heading into the 2026 season.
So far, reactions have mainly been directed at the prospects already in the top 30. Now we’re going to switch it up a bit. Let’s talk about some of the prospects not in the top 30. Particularly, we’re going to look at five prospects who I think were either snubbed from the list or are sleepers to have big seasons. Five prospects who aren’t in the top 30 right now, but will be firmly planted in that discussion by the midseason rankings.
5 Red Sox prospects who will make the jump to top 30 status by midseason
Yophery Rodriguez (OF)
The 2026 season is likely going to be put under a microscope by fans for Yophery Rodriguez. There’s a simple reason for that: he was part of the return from the Milwaukee Brewers for Quinn Priester.
Priester was solid last year, but some of the underlying numbers and the eye-test just don’t correlate with the surface stats. The Red Sox could’ve used his arm in the rotation, though; there’s no denying that.
Rodriguez had a decent enough 2025 season. The left-handed hitting outfielder slashed .221/.316/.341 with 18 doubles, seven triples, and five home runs. He drove in 48 runs, scored 47 more, and stole 10 bases in 104 games.
Rodriguez showcased a high-quality glove and a strong arm in the outfield, while teasing potential “menace” status on the base paths. His bat fluctuated throughout the season, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited about its growth in 2026. It’s also important to remember that Rodriguez just turned 20 in December.
Rodriguez enters 2026 with an offseason in the organization and he won’t be learning on the fly anymore. Being traded a few games into the season last year had to have made his head spin for a bit. Now, he’s gotten uninterrupted time in the hitting program to improve his swing.
When Rodriguez was brought in, he was pretty highly regarded. One up-and-down season that featured being traded to a new organization a few games in, and playing at a level where he was more than three years younger than the average age, shouldn’t have changed things as drastically as they did.
Expect a course correction in 2026. Rodriguez builds on the defense, arm, and running, while improving his bat even just a bit, and we’ll be seeing much more positive talk surrounding him.
Brady Tygart (RHP)
Brady Tygart was a 12th-round selection in the 2024 MLB Draft but Boston hasn’t seen him in game action much to this point.
Tygart looked fantastic in his first appearance of the year (2 2/3 scoreless innings) on April 5 in Single-A. An injury kept him on the bench until August 7, though.
The right-handed pitcher posted a 3.26 ERA, .211 BAA, and 1.14 WHIP in six appearances (five starts) between Single-A and High-A last season. He struck out 27 batters compared to just seven walks in 19 1/3 innings between the two levels.
Tygart has been overshadowed by the absurd pitching talent that broke out last season while he was out with an injury. Payton Tolle, Brandon Clarke, Yhoiker Fajardo, and more stole the show. Two of those guys aren’t even in the organization anymore, and Tolle is going to graduate soon.
There’s still plenty of arm talent in the system, but it’s more open for prospects to make names for themselves. Tygart possesses fantastic secondary pitches and a fastball that has shown potential. If the Boston pitching lab can improve his fastball (and maybe add some velocity to the pitch that usually sits low-to-mid 90s), he’s going to be a problem.
Adonys Guzman (C)
Truthfully, it wasn’t easy to decide which catcher to put here. You could make arguments for Luke Heyman or Brooks Brannon thanks to their incredible power. But will either catch enough this season? If they play more first base, it might be harder to crack the top 30 list.
Gerardo Rodriguez and Jorge Rodriguez are both intriguing, but with all the catching brought in this season, they may not get enough playing time. Meanwhile, Franklin Primera might not even play affiliate ball in 2026.
That brings us to Adonys Guzman. The Red Sox added him this offseason in the trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which added Johan Oviedo and Tyler Samaniego (Boston shipped out Jhostynxon Garcia and Jose Travieso).
Guzman was a fifth-round pick for Pittsburgh last year, going 2-for-5 with a home run in his extremely limited time in Single-A. Meanwhile, the right-handed hitter put up monster numbers (.328/.411/.496) at Arizona in 2025.
Guzman is a strong defensive catcher with an incredible arm. That alone will generate some buzz for him. If he can do what he did in College (get on base without striking out much) and add a bit of power, he’ll become a hot commodity.
Maximus Martin (INF)
I loved Maximus Martin before the draft, I loved Maximus Martin when the Red Sox drafted him, and I love Maximus Martin now.
The 2025 10th-round selection slashed .270/.381/.371 with six doubles and one home run in 25 games between Single-A and High-A. He drove in 14 runs, scored 13 more, and stole six bases. Martin had some strikeout issues, but was drawing walks and showcased his power potential in that small sample size.
The Red Sox have a lot of talent in the middle infield throughout their organization. However, Martin’s versatility (experience at shortstop, second base, third base, and the outfield) shouldn’t make it too hard to get him out there regularly.
A middle infielder with power is always going to raise some eyebrows, and Martin has plenty of that. If he can limit the strikeouts a bit, we could see a 20/20 season that gets a lot of people talking.
Starlyn Nunez (INF)
Starlyn Nunez was the spark plug of the Salem lineup on a nightly basis last season. The switch-hitter slashed .249/.306/.407 with 24 doubles, eight triples, and eight home runs in 110 games. He drove in 52 runs, scored 54 more, and stole 21 bases.
Nunez is like Martin in the sense that there’s 20/20 season potential. He’ll certainly swipe more than enough bags to make that happen. Meanwhile, playing outside of Salem (I’d imagine he starts the year in High-A) will help with the home runs.
Nunez spent time at third base, second base, and shortstop last season. He made plenty of defensive highlights but also struggled with some of the easy stuff, leading to a massive pileup of errors.
Outside of that, there wasn’t much to complain about, though. Nunez has plenty of speed, legitimate pop potential, and didn’t strike out at a ridiculous rate (he could stand to draw more walks).
With all that in mind, Nunez won't have to do too much to step into the spotlight this year. If he can continue to produce while making the jump to High-A, his natural talent and electricity should garner him more than enough buzz to get into the top 30.