2026 Hobby+ Update 1

OK, first Hobby+ update, and first time ever with pitchers! There’s plenty of players with double digit rises in my ranks spurred by both promotion and performance, and a few teens who are really making a mark with their all-around game. On the pitching side there’s a lot of players that are new to everyone – they’re 2025 Draftees. I dug in a little as to the reason for that below as well.

The PLive+ App Suite, for subscribed at our 60 Tier (likely 5/23), will show this update on 6/6. It’s truly a great tool that gives you a nice holistic look into where a player stands for the hobby based on performance, price, and future projection.

Pitchers

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Let’s start with those pitchers. Just keep in mind that right now the likely answer to your question of “why isn’t he on the leaderboard?” is because he doesn’t have enough innings. 30 innings is my minimum threshold. Miguel Sime Jr? Riley Quick? Johnny Slawinski? Yep, they’re all coming. They’re simply under that threshold. I’m also flexing this pitcher leaderboard down to players with a Hobby+ of 40 or greater. It will lengthen as pitchers start accruing more innings.

If you read my writeup on Kade Anderson in our 2025 Bowman Draft preview, you know I’m not at all surprised to see him near the top of this leaderboard. I absolutely expect him to graduate (from the board, not from prospect status) before the year is out. Anthony Eyanson is a little more of a surprise that he’s this high this soon. I didn’t catch wind of his fastball improvements until well after my Draft writeup. If I had known he had made those improvements to both the velocity and shape, I would have been much higher, because I was extremely impressed with the rest of his arsenal as it was. His mix is as real as it gets now, and I think he has the floor of a high-K mid-rotation SP with a clear ace upside. Of course, the Boston market is completely unforgiving to any market trepidation – his cards (already triple digits for an auto) are way out of my realm of affordability at this point.

As you may notice – there’s a lot of 2025 Bowman Draft names near the top here. Is that because the class was generationally good? For now, I’ll say doubtful. These (mainly collegiate) pitchers are just easing into action. Some had soft landing spots, there’s not a clear book on how to hit them, and they’ve also made improvements since the last time they appeared in competitive action. So that a guy like Joseph Dzierwa appears so high on this list should be met with skepticism. Not to say anything negative about Dzierwa specifically. He’s a very fun prospect as a 6’8” low-arm slot finesse lefty. His command has been excellent as advertised, and there’s just been much, much more whiff than I anticipated when I pegged him with a ceiling of 4 in our 2025 Bowman Draft writeup. It’s now a solid 5, and certainly quite a bit of It Factor to go with it. I’m not willing to commit to a recommendation on his current pricing though. I want to see him struggle and rebound from it first.

If I had run an end-of-year update on Pitcher Hobby+ last year, Karson Milbrandt (2022 Bowman Draft) would have been #17. So to me, despite not widely being considered a Top 100 prospect, he wasn't exactly a sleeper coming into the year, and he definitely isn’t now after blasting completely through AA in less than 60 innings total (between last year and this year). His next start will be in AAA, and I would absolutely not be surprised to see him in Miami before the end of July. Having swing-and-miss stuff has never been the issue with Milbrandt – it’s been all aspects of command. However, he showed improvement as the season wore on last year, and when he’s missing his spots now, it’s not in an area that hurts him. If he can maintain that in AAA, watch out – he could truly beat the projections even the rosiest of prognosticators had before this season and end up as a #2 SP with a high K%. He’s a guy with no autographs in 2022 Draft, but other than Elite Extra that same year, he also has no other pack-issued cards. His Chrome parallels have shot up quite a bit in the last month, but be on the lookout for folks listing his cards who aren’t quite aware of his hobby situation.

I’m definitely going to have all season to write about Seth Hernandez and Wei-En Lin, and I’ll let the other 2025 Draft guys settle for a little longer (as I outlined above). Instead I’ll finish the pitcher section with Joe Whitman (2023 Bowman Draft). Like Karson Milbrandt, Whitman has some pedigree as a 2nd Round pick. However unlike Milbrandt, his surface level bottom line has never stood out in much of any fashion. Whitman was a late-blooming Kent State product (via Purdue) who was drafted as a projectability lefty. However, until this year, there was more regression than gains in his fastball overall, and while his slider showed promise, his change remained a bit underdeveloped. Well, in the offseason it looks like he found something – increased physicality? Maybe. Tough to tell based on video. But this year his fastball velocity has ticked back up to working in the 93-96 range, the slider is as good as ever, and he’s attacking the zone more than ever. He still doesn’t use the change much but he realizes hitters have to respect it because it’s so different in its movement than his slider. As of his final AA start (now promoted to AAA), this combination has netted a change in his K-BB% from 15 to 26.5. Just really great improvement for a guy who’s always had favorable expected stats (his xFIP was 3.61 last year despite the underwhelming performance). His cards are still quite affordable too. It’s a bit surprising considering he’s playing for a team with a strong market – he also serves as a secondary sleeper pick in this update. I’m looking for a piece to buy.

Hitting Skill

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Matthew Wood (2023 Bowman) has always been intriguing and frustrating in the same breath. He’s always run an extremely intriguing contact rate and a very high BB% with a low K%. But, now he’s brought it to a new level. His K% now stands at a career low 12%, and his BB% a career high 20%. As you can imagine he is very passive at the plate, however, he’s also hitting for more power than ever. All this adds up to an OPS that’s .130 higher than last year’s career high. But Max, the dude’s hitting .220. I know! That’s what makes him so frustrating! He’s getting BABIP’d to death, but that’s also part of his profile – .210 BABIP though? That’s not sustainable for this guy, who has increased the quality of his fly balls and also hits a solid chunk of batted balls for line drives. He’s a 25 year old catcher at AA, and that makes him a near-zero for the hobby, and he’s treated as such. He’ll never really have a comeuppance in my Hobby+ leaderboard, and probably will never be an MLB starter. But if you’re into cheap dart throws who could have a fun offensive profile, there’s a chance Wood is emerging to be your guy.

I’m not a Dodgers hater, but the way they develop their talent sure is envious. Charles Davalan (2025 Bowman Draft) is doing shades of the same exact thing that he did last year as Arkansas – an extremely high contact rate with more walks than K. However, he’s also tapped into some surprising power. His XBH% is an excellent 42 right now – a mark that’s an 11% improvement from college. Impressive stuff considering the move to a wood bat. It’s never going to be big power with Davalan, but if he can continue to make pitchers pay by going gap to gap, that’s a profile that will play as an everyday regular, quite easily. For who he is without market considerations, I’d say he’s appropriately priced. But if you think he’s going to break through and be a regular in the Dodgers lineup by 2028, he’s easily a buy right now.

He doesn’t really deserve mention as he’s just outside the top 20 here, but I’m going to wish Robert Arias (2024 Bowman Chrome) a fond best wishes as he recovers from a dislocation fracture in his ankle. It will surely keep him out for the remainder of the year, but man was I ever just waiting for him to have a hot week to write about him. He was doing so well in Low-A, likely knocking on the door for a promotion and showing considerable power gains in addition to the speed and hit he was already known for. If his card prices sag over the next 8-10 months, I’d definitely be interested in buying more.

Age-Dependent Power

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It’s cheap and derivative to do the pun thing and say he just continues to level up his game, but Jhonny Level (2025 Bowman) has done just that. He’s the clear #1 guy who hasn’t (or hadn’t) yet touched High-A – but that’s already changed, as he was promoted for this week. He really earned that promotion in just these past two weeks. He showed that he can be the same guy he has been all season at the plate, while adding power to it. He smacked 5 HR in that span, while maintaining a sub-20 K%. I personally still feel there’s a possibility that not even his hit tool gets quite to plus, but if everything else is average or better, his autos (and there are a few options there) are still in a range that’s pretty comfortable. The power remains the biggest question, but it’s a great sign that it’s there that has keyed his rise in this update.

Last update I wrote about Caleb Bonemer, a young-for-his-level performer who was showing a genuine power breakout with a big sacrifice to his contact numbers. This update we have Nathan Flewelling 2024 Bowman Draft) rising to meet Bonemer in my Hobby+ leaderboard (just below him here). He hits the same beat as Bonemer with the in-game power breakthrough, but he’s a year younger at the same High-A level. While his contact rate is fringy and always has been, it’s a great sign that he’s now being able to get to real thump in his bat while maintaining the fringe rate. He’s doing it by elevating the ball just a bit more – so there’s evidence to believe in it. It’s probably not just BABIP luck. While I can get on board with Bonemer being and deserving to be more expensive, I can’t explain the fact that Flewelling is roughly half the price. Well, that’s not true. I can explain. He’s a Ray and a catcher – but that shouldn’t be that much of a deterrent, should it?

Keep an eye on Wyatt Sanford. In our 2026 Bowman Preview I wrote about his power showing potential, but not necessarily having projection. Clearly, even if that remains, his current game power is more than enough to propel more than I anticipated hobby-wise, considering the totality of his speed and defensive profile. With 10 HR, the dude has already doubled his total from last year. The K% is still ugly and the contact rate is quite bad. But keep in mind that he’s a year young for High-A, this is his first taste of it, and he wasn’t a lock for the promotion in the first place. We’ll take the loudness on the offensive side all day – now we just need to see improvement under the hood.

Hobby+

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Franklin Arias (2025 Bowman) takes over the number #1 spot this update after Eric Hartman and Devin Fitz-Gerald were just near league average the past few weeks. Arias just continued what he’s been doing, and continues to level up his power game. There’s not much more to say at this point.

Josue De Paula (2023 Bowman) is the most obvious riser in this update. It’s definitely on the power side where it was most impressive, but not with HR. While he did hit 3 HR in the two week span, it’s the 10 doubles number that stands out. That’s a ridiculous number to hit in 45 AB’s. Oh, and by the way, in those 45? Only 3 K. He might be good at baseball. This isn’t new news, there isn’t much to do with this hobby-wise. But, he’s taken his place near the top of my leaderboard now.

James Tibbs III (2024 Bowman Draft) has completely shed platoon concerns at this point. It’s only the defensive limitations that keep his autographs from getting to something like triple digits. His performance has also leveled up this year, but it’s AAA and while he’s hitting the ball quite hard with regularity, it’s with a below average contact rate. He’s getting away with a lot right now. That can be fine long-term, don’t get that wrong, but it can also be a frustrating profile. That mid-20’s K% will very likely slip north of 30 in the majors. We’re also paying the Dodgers tax right now. They did great in acquiring him and maximizing his talent, as they often do. But he really feels more like a trade candidate (for the 3rd time) than a guy who comes up and plays a role for the big club with his current team. In that case, his 1st autographs will be headed to a softer market. Even if he gets the call, I don’t see them exceeding where they are now. It's a great performance thus far, but I would be a seller now if I was holding.

Alfredo Duno (2023 Bowman Chrome) has appeared in my leaderboard every time from Update 2 forward last year. That bakes in the time before he really started breaking out (10 HR in Aug-Sept) last year – he’s been a solid player for a long time in 20-year-old-prospect terms. But now we’re seeing the true full-on breakout as he settles into his first taste of High-A. He’s already a consensus Top 50 prospect, and his card prices continue to rise to compensate for that. If you’re a high roller, there’s still time to get in. He’s cheaper than almost all of the hitters ahead of him. Sure…he’s a catcher. There’s a slower development. But his power is very real – he could/should end up as our next Samuel Basallo prospect-wise in the next year or so, and with a better defensive ceiling!

He’s fairly obviously a great get from last year’s Draft at this point, but I’ll give a full co-sign to Josiah Hartshorn. His hot start in High-A has him rising nearly to the top 10. There was a question as early as a few weeks ago – “is he really a better pick than Cole Mathis”? While I think Mathis (who does make an appearance further down the leaderboard) should be a solid ballplayer with a good hobby ceiling, he hasn’t been challenged enough to make that call, while Hartshorn is now at the same level and undisputedly performing better, and he’s 3.5 years younger. He’s the first prep hitter from the entire 2025 Draft class to reach High-A. Equally impressive is that he’s handling RF right now – he has that defensive spectrum rung to fall down to what is long thought to be his 1B home. Do I think Hartshorn could be a franchise cornerstone? At this point, the answer isn’t no. If Cubs fans also think this, his cards are well within the realm of affordability. But let’s not confuse that with cheap, as they rise by the minute.

Edwin Arroyo (2021 Bowman Draft) sneaks in here with one last appearance before graduation at #20. No autographs, and priced appropriately, but if you can find his parallels for cheap I would recommend the pickup. Jacob Gonzalez graduated in this update, as the White Sox saw a need for his very hot bat with the injury to Munetaka Murakami – we shall see how real the changes he made were now. Other notable graduates are Pedro Ramirez (#10) & Jonah Cox (#62). I get the sneaking suspicion that Cooper Ingle (debuting at #27 as he started late due to injury) could be next.

Sleeper

I know we all like Murf Gray – he’s been really good for the Pirates – the nouveau nom du jour development organization. (See Herky, I can do French too.) But his cards have shot up to the point where he is no longer really in the sleeper realm. But you know who has a similar profile, but hasn’t shot up nearly as much? Jake Munroe, his 2025 Bowman Draft-mate. He’s been at High-A the entire season unlike Gray (who started a level lower). He’s already smacked 10 HR, and his ISO overall stands at .277. Pretty darn good. His contact numbers are also great like Gray’s, but Munroe adds in the plate discipline component. Now, he is more of a pull hitter – it’s not really a plus hit at this juncture, but he is great at elevating. If he can find more persistent hard contact as that pull hitter – well, that’s the very image of a power 3B prototype, isn’t it? At half the price of Gray (and you may be able to find cheaper), I’d choose Munroe every day of the week.

Conclusion

It’s mostly familiar names on the hitter side, but I think Munroe is a nice sleeper who should stick around in the 50’s of my leaderboard all season. The pitchers are a completely different story, as I think it will be pretty volatile as pitchers wear down in the summer months. It really is an endurance contest for those guys, and it’s a bit of a crossroads because some aren’t even at my innings threshold! The Complex players are a few updates away, but those are always fun guys when they start popping into my leaderboards.

Until next time, collect what you love!