The Minor League awards are set to close out the 2026 season on Sept. 28, with MLB Network carrying the fourth annual show at 8 p.m. ET. Seven honors will be presented, including a new organization-level award, and the All-MiLB Prospect Team will also be revealed.
Quick facts
- Andrew Fischer’s 48 home runs are the highest Minor League total this century, passing Ryan Howard’s 46 in 2004.
- Mariners left-hander Kade Anderson posted a 1.06 ERA before his late-August promotion, the lowest by a Minor Leaguer with at least 90 innings since 1963.
- The Dodgers, Giants and Rays are finalists for the new farm-system honor.
- Seven alternate identities, from the Columbus Scrambled Dogs to the Utah Dirty Sodas, are in the running for the branding award.
Fischer, Milwaukee’s 2025 first-round selection, headlines the Hitting Prospect of the Year field after a thunderous season. His 48 homers are the most by any Minor Leaguer since Ron Kittle hit 50 in 1982.
He is joined by Tampa Bay outfielder Theo Gillen and St. Louis catcher-first baseman Rainiel Rodriguez. Gillen, a 2024 first-rounder, turned in a .315/.419/.546 slash line with 22 homers and 44 steals.
Rodriguez, 19, reached Double-A and hit .324/.413/.574 while drilling 27 home runs. The Cardinals prospect is rated as the game’s leading catching prospect.
The recent winners of the hitting prize were Pittsburgh’s Konnor Griffin in 2025, Boston’s Kristian Campbell in 2024 and Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday in 2023.
Anderson leads the Pitching Prospect of the Year finalists after overwhelming Minor League hitters following his selection at No. 3 overall in the 2025 Draft. His 1.06 ERA came during an offensive-heavy year across the minors, and he led the 2026 pitching group in several statistical categories before reaching the majors.
Baltimore placed two arms in the field. Left-hander Joseph Dzierwa, the club’s 2025 second-round pick, climbed to Double-A and finished at 2.27 with a .186 opponents’ average and a 0.90 WHIP.
Right-hander Anthony Eyanson worked across two organizations and two levels after arriving from Boston in the Adley Rutschman trade at the deadline. He ended with a 1.54 ERA, a .175 opponents’ average and 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings, later joining Dzierwa in Double-A Chesapeake’s rotation.
The award’s past three recipients are Mets right-hander Jonah Tong, Cardinals lefty Quinn Mathews and Drew Thorpe, who was in the Yankees system when he won in 2023.
Another three-player finalist group features Braves outfielder Eric Hartman, Giants right-hander Ramon Marquez and Blue Jays right-hander Nolan Perry. Hartman was a final-round pick from the Canadian high-school ranks in 2024, began this season at No. 21 in Atlanta’s system rankings, and surged to Double-A as a 20-year-old.
Hartman finished with 26 homers and 56 steals. Marquez signed with Philadelphia for $10,000 in January 2025, reached High-A this season and became part of the deadline package involving Luis Arraez and Caleb Kilian.
Over 69 innings, Marquez recorded a 2.22 ERA, a .162 opponents’ average and 13.7 strikeouts per nine. Perry, a 12th-rounder in 2022, returned from Tommy John surgery after missing all of 2025 and authored a 2.50 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 117 strikeouts in 82 2/3 innings.
Nolan McLean of the Mets won that honor last year, following Campbell in 2024 and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero in 2023.
Anderson and Eyanson are also candidates for Minor League Debut of the Year, putting their first full pro seasons under a second spotlight. Cubs outfielder-first baseman Josiah Hartshorn completes that ballot after a rapid rise through the system.
Chicago signed Hartshorn, then a high-school prospect, for a record $2 million bonus for a sixth-rounder in 2025. At 19, he reached Double-A in his first professional season and posted a .925 OPS with 23 homers, 112 RBIs, 91 walks and 17 steals.
Griffin claimed the debut award in 2025, while Padres prospects Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas won the two previous editions.
The defensive finalists bring together Twins shortstop Marek Houston, D-backs center fielder Druw Jones and Padres catcher Salas. Houston, a 2025 first-round pick, entered pro ball with a polished glove and has shown the arm strength and 60-grade actions needed to stay at shortstop.
Jones is seeking a repeat after taking the award in 2025, backed by his work as one of the minors’ top center fielders. Salas is now in the major leagues, but his Minor League defensive work featured a 60-grade arm, a 70-grade fielding evaluation and improved control of the running game, along with strong blocking, receiving and game-planning skills.
Carson Williams of Tampa Bay won in 2024, and Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong took the inaugural version in 2023.
The new organization award recognizes system-wide work rather than a single player. The Dodgers enter as the top-ranked farm system in the current in-season rankings, with six Top 100 prospects and further candidates who could join that list.
San Francisco has made the sharpest climb, moving from No. 19 before the season to No. 5. Continued production from its leading hitters, plus a strong Draft class and deadline additions that deepened the pitching inventory, drove the Giants’ improvement.
Tampa Bay sits No. 2 in the current system rankings, carrying five Top 100 prospects and several players who broke out this year.
The alternate-identity award includes the Columbus Scrambled Dogs, the identity used by Double-A Columbus Clingstones of the Braves system; the Las Vegas Headliners, Triple-A Las Vegas of the A’s; and the Louisville Humidity, Triple-A Louisville of the Reds.
The remaining nominees are the Palm Beach Frozen Iguanas, Single-A Palm Beach of the Cardinals; the Reading Iced Coffees, Double-A Reading of the Phillies; the Tulsa Ranch Dippers, Double-A Tulsa of the Dodgers; and the Utah Dirty Sodas, Triple-A Salt Lake of the Angels.
Last year’s winner was the Barkansas Dizzys. The Jersey Diners won in 2024, while the Amarillo Calf Fries took the first award in 2023.
