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Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin. He has been demonstrating high levels of speed and athleticism in practice games for the MLB. Photo courtesy of @milb on Instagram<\/p>\nBaseball in February and March usually consists of veterans finding their rhythm and battles for the last roster spots, but that will be different\u00a0in\u00a02026. While the game\u2019s biggest stars are away at the World Baseball Classic, many prospects and international\u00a0talents\u00a0will get a chance to shine with their MLB clubs. Whether\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0representing\u00a0their country in the tournament or playing in half-empty spring training parks,\u00a0these are some players baseball fans should be paying attention to before the season begins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Top Prospects\u00a0Making Their Mark\u00a0<\/p>\n
As MLB Pipeline\u2019s No. 1 overall prospect, Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin has already attracted the attention of many this spring. The 19-year-old shined at the plate on Tuesday with\u00a0two home runs against the Red Sox, including one off former all-star Ranger Suarez.\u00a0Scouts say Griffin could make his major league debut this season, and if he continues to\u00a0perform this spring, that could be\u00a0sooner\u00a0rather than later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin. He has been demonstrating high levels of speed and athleticism in practice games for the MLB. Photo courtesy of @milb on Instagram<\/p>\n
Behind Griffin, Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle is another highly touted prospect looking to crack the majors.\u00a0The No. 2 overall prospect has quickly risen through Detroit\u2019s rankings, dominating across the minor leagues and winning the 2025 Arizona Fall League MVP.\u00a0He has been evaluated as one of the best pure hitting prospects this decade, with exceptional bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline.\u00a0\u00a0This spring training will be his first chance to experience MLB-level\u00a0pitching and\u00a0may be many fans\u2019 first impression of the exciting youngster\u2019s skills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rounding out the list of key prospects to watch is Athletics shortstop Leo De Vries. As the centerpiece of the trade that sent Mason Miller to San Diego, the 19-year-old switch hitter has\u00a0so far proven to be worth the deal. Despite his\u00a0young age, De Vries has already dominated through Double-A,\u00a0putting up\u00a0immediate production\u00a0at\u00a0the plate.\u00a0With a rare combination of power and plate discipline,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0entirely possible that if he\u00a0continues at\u00a0his current\u00a0pace,\u00a0he may reach the MLB level sometime this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Japanese Stars Adjusting to the Majors\u00a0<\/p>\n
This offseason saw a trio of\u00a0Japanese stars making the move to MLB, and this spring will be the first chance to see how they adjust.\u00a0With names like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto establishing themselves as some of the best\u00a0talents in the league, these are key names to follow going into the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Munetaka Murakami\u00a0was once considered one of the most\u00a0anticipated\u00a0players to come from Japan of all time, with some calling him the \u201cJapanese Babe Ruth.\u201d\u00a0At just 22 years old, he became the youngest player in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) history to win the triple crown in a record-breaking 56 home run season.\u00a0He won back-to-back MVPs in 2021 and 2022, but his production\u00a0noticeably\u00a0dipped in the last few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After posting a .318 batting average in 2022, that mark\u00a0fell\u00a0to just .244 in 2024 with a concerning 180 strikeouts. His 2025 season was hampered by an oblique injury, but he\u00a0still showed his remarkable power in that span.\u00a0The struggling Chicago White Sox still chose to give him a chance\u00a0this offseason\u00a0because of his immense upside.\u00a0Murakami is certainly one of the biggest names to watch in the next month\u00a0during\u00a0spring training and the World Baseball Classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another Team Japan representative in the\u00a0WBC is Blue Jays\u2019 infielder Kazuma Okamoto. Filling in the void left by Bo Bichette\u2019s departure, Okamoto comes to Toronto\u00a0after being one of the most consistent power hitters in the NPB, posting over 30 home runs in\u00a0nearly all\u00a0of the past seven seasons.\u00a0He has already shown off that power after blasting a home run off Clay Holmes\u00a0on Monday. Whether he can quickly adjust to the major league level will be crucial for the Blue Jays\u2019 outlook and could be a key factor in this year\u2019s AL East race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a disappointing 2025, the Houston Astros bolstered their rotation by signing right-hander Tatsuya Imai this offseason. He will be skipping the WBC this year to prioritize his\u00a0major league club before the regular season begins. Imai features a mid-90s fastball and a\u00a0unique arm-side slider that made NPB hitters look foolish last season. Unlike a typical slider that moves towards the glove-side, much like a screwball it breaks the opposite direction,\u00a0but with sharper, sweeping movement. While he\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have\u00a0triple-digit\u00a0velocities\u00a0like Yamamoto or Roki Sasaki, Imai is still an intriguing watch this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All-Stars in New Threads\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like any offseason, this year has seen many big names find new teams in free agency. Now is the first time to see them with their new squads and how they fit into\u00a0their organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Wednesday-Channel-KTUCK-1.png\")
Kyle Tucker, a right fielder in the MLB. He is one of the top players in the MLB, sporting a .266 batting average. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n
Possibly the\u00a0biggest acquisition over the winter was Kyle Tucker going to the Los Angeles Dodgers, adding another all-star to an already stacked lineup. Only fueling the criticisms of\u00a0two-time World Series champion\u00a0building a \u201csuper-team\u201d,\u00a0Tucker\u2019s presence in that lineup could put it among one of the most talented of all time. Many will also point to this deal as an example of why MLB needs a salary cap with collective bargaining discussions looming next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another major signing was Bo Bichette\u2019s surprising move to the New York Mets, where he will be forced to play third base for the first time in his career. Some have been skeptical of his ability to\u00a0play third, given he was a below-average defender at shortstop throughout his time with the Blue Jays.\u00a0However, he still brings an all-star caliber bat to a Mets team desperate to move past its past disappointments.\u00a0New York is hoping to see him quickly adjust to his new role as they\u00a0look to compete in the NL East after a lackluster 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Between the arrivals of elite international talent and arrivals of exciting young prospects, this\u00a0next\u00a0month will\u00a0showcase\u00a0the future of\u00a0the\u00a0league. While\u00a0the games themselves\u00a0may not matter,\u00a0many of these players will get a taste of MLB-level\u00a0talent, which is more important than any other\u00a0type of practice.\u00a0In both the WBC and spring training, there is plenty to look out for this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baseball in February and March usually consists of veterans finding their rhythm and battles for the last roster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-505352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}