Fresh MLB Rookie Power Rankings For Sal Stewart, Munetaka Murakami and the Top 15
Konnor Griffin—who the Pittsburgh Pirates have already given a nine-year, $140 million contract—will likely ultimately be the defining rookie, at least in terms of position players.
However, Griffin has gotten off to a slow start to his rookie season, as he's batting just .224 with a .602 OPS. There's no reason to think he won't ultimately end up in the running for the NL Rookie of the Year, but the 20-year-old hasn't hit his stride just yet.
So Griffin finds himself off our latest, merit-based list of the MLB Rookie Power Rankings.
15. Connelly Early: RHP, Boston Red Sox
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Connelly Early got outpitched by Cam Schlittler in Game 3 of last year's ALWCS with the New York Yankees, but the lefty has come back with a vengeance early in 2026.
Over his first six starts, Early has just a 2.84 ERA. For as much as has gone wrong with the Red Sox early in 2026, the 24-year-old lefty has been a bright spot.
Just a note, there are some indications that the way Early has pitched so far isn't sustainable. While he has the aforementioned 2.84 ERA, he also has a 5.05 expected ERA and a 4.61 FIP.
Usually, numbers like that catch up to you in the ERA department, so we'll see what happens. So far, he's gotten great results.
14. Andrew Painter: RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
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Andrew Painter's 5.25 ERA wouldn't lead you to believe he's worthy of inclusion on this list, but both his 3.93 expected ERA and 3.34 FIP suggest he's been much better than his ERA, and a victim of poor defense by what's been a miserable Phillies team to this point.
Painter's most impressive appearance of the season so far came on April 12, when he was scratched as the game's starter after a migraine, but rallied to strike out seven batters and allow just one run over five innings of bulk relief after "throwing up all morning."
Whether the Phillies as a team rebound, there have been some positive signs from their 23-year-old righty so far this season.
13. Chase DeLauter: RF, Cleveland Guardians
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Chase DeLauter is interesting because he has five home runs, but he hasn't left the yard since April 3.
In fact, he has just a .701 OPS in April, with the bulk of his damage so far this season coming when he homered four times in his first three games of the year.
To his credit, he's struck out just 12 times this season. The flip side of that is he's still only hitting .233, plagued by a .216 batting average on balls in play. He still has an .805 OPS, but it's hard to know how sustainable that is, given how much of it still traces back to those first three games of the year.
So, put a pin in our evaluation of DeLauter. He deserves to be on this list, but we'll have a clearer picture of how high in the next update.
12. Anthony Nunez: RHP, Baltimore Orioles
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Undrafted after transitioning to a two-way role at D-II University of Tampa following a failed stint as an infielder in the San Diego Padres minor league system, Nunez has quite the story.
The latest chapter is pretty special, as Nunez not only has reached the majors at age 24, but he's also thriving out of the bullpen for the O's. So far, he has been lights-out in his rookie season, pitching to a 1.35 ERA over his first 12 appearances, with 10.8 K/9.
Baltimore acquired Anthony Nunez from the New York Mets last summer for Cedric Mullins. That looks like a pretty shrewd pickup by president of baseball operations Mike Elias in hindsight.
11. Bradgley Rodríguez: RHP, San Diego Padres
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The Padres didn't really need another elite reliever, but they may have one in Bradgley Rodríguez.
While Mason Miller has understandably gotten most of the headlines regarding San Diego's bullpen, Rodríguez was worth a mention here.
Across his first 11 appearances of 2026, he has posted a 2.08 ERA. In 18 career MLB appearances, he has pitched to an impressive 2.55 FIP.
The Friars lost Robert Suarez in free agency this past offseason, but if Rodríguez continues to look like a high-end option and Adrián Morejón gets back, first-year manager Craig Stammen is going to have himself quite the trio with Miller.
10. Daniel Susac: C, San Francisco Giants
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Daniel Susac's biggest problem is that the Giants have one of the sport's top defensive catchers in Patrick Bailey, who continues to get the bulk of the starts behind the plate for Tony Vitello's club.
Susac—a first-round pick of the Athletics in 2022—has made the most of his opportunities, as he's recorded 11 hits in 23 at-bats, good for a .478 batting average.
The 24-year-old is currently on the injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis. When he's activated, it will be interesting to see if A) he stays hot at the plate and B) if he can begin to cut into Bailey's playing time.
9. Carter Jensen: C, Kansas City Royals
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Whether it's as a catcher or DH, Carter Jensen serves as a perfect compliment to nine-time All-Star Salvador Perez.
The left-handed hitting Jensen has mashed right-handed pitching so far this season, homering six times and posting a .979 OPS against righties. It remains to be seen if he'll ever be able to be a consistent option against left-handed pitching, but you can hang around in the league for a long time if you're able to crush righties, particularly if you're also able to put on the tools of ignorance.
Defensive metrics are a bit divided on his work behind the dish, as the former third-round pick has minus-four defensive runs saved, but also a two fielding run value, which is a metric that combines throwing, blocking, framing, arm and range to try to get a clear picture of someone's defensive ability as a catcher.
At 22, Jensen is able to co-exist with Perez. He's also flashing the potential to one day be his successor.
8. JJ Wetherholt: 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
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JJ Wetherholt's .238 batting average doesn't stand out, but the 2024 first-round pick is excelling in multiple other areas for the Cardinals.
Wetherholt has already homered five times, and despite not hitting for a high average, still has a .363 on-base percentage because he's able to draw walks. He also has racked up four outs above average at second base already.
The Cardinals probably aren't going to contend in 2026, but between Wetherholt's strong start and Jordan Walker looking like one of the best power hitters in baseball, there have been some very encouraging long-term developments in St. Louis so far this season.
7. Rhett Lowder: RHP, Cincinnati Reds
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Rhett Lowder was selected by the Reds with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest. A year later, he dominated over his first seven MLB starts, posting a 1.17 ERA.
However, a right forearm strain and left oblique injury prevented Lowder from pitching in the majors at all in 2025.
Lowder has come back with a vengeance in 2026. His 6.6 K/9 doesn't stand out, but Lowder still has a 3.18 ERA and 2.92 FIP to show for his first six starts this season. His 93 mph fastball is pretty modest by today's velocity standards, but he also mixes in a sinker, slider and changeup, and frankly, it's hard to argue with the results he's gotten to this point.
6. Parker Messick: LHP, Cleveland Guardians
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Cleveland always seems to develop pitching.
Perhaps after Parker Messick posted a 2.72 ERA over his first seven MLB starts last year, we should have seen this coming. But the southpaw has been one of baseball's best starters in the first month, rookie or otherwise. He's 3-0 with a 1.76 ERA and 0.880 WHIP, which is in the top 10 among all starters in baseball.
A second-round pick out of Florida State in 2022, Messick has a 2.30 ERA and 2.79 FIP to show across his first 12 MLB starts. If the Guardians are able to get Tanner Bibee back on track, Stephen Vogt will have a pretty impressive trio at the top of the rotation with him, Messick and Gavin Williams.
5. Moisés Ballesteros: DH, Chicago Cubs
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Moisés Ballesteros seems destined to be a DH, given that he's played less than a game's worth of time in the field currently between catcher and first base. That's fine, his bat plays enough to justify him as a DH.
Rated the No. 34 prospect in baseball by B/R's Joel Reuter entering the season, Ballesteros is currently hitting a crisp .397 with a 1.136 OPS. Granted, manager Craig Counsell has protected Ballesteros to this point, having him face almost exclusively right-handed pitching. If he continues to hit anything like this against righties, though, it will be hard not to give him more of a look against lefties.
Even if Ballesteros ends up being a first base/DH type that plays primarily against right-handed pitching, there's enough thump in the 22-year-old's bat to think he'll be a key cog for the Cubs for a long time.
4. Munetaka Murakami: 1B, Chicago White Sox
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Initially expected to get a contract in excess of $100 million, Munetaka Murakami's market didn't pan out how he had hoped this past offseason, forcing him to settle for a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox.
Right now, the rest of the league has egg on their faces.
Even with Murakami striking out at a rather-alarming 33.6 percent clip, he's been such a strong power producer that he's an early AL Rookie of the Year favorite. Murakami's 11 home runs are, at the time of publication, tied with Yordan Alvarez for the MLB lead. He's also got a .935 OPS, and an 18 percent walk percentage.
The White Sox would probably be wise to try to reach a long-term extension with Murakami sooner rather than later, because if he reaches free agency for a second time, his market is going to be much more robust.
3. Sal Stewart: INF, Cincinnati Reds
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Even if the Reds City Connect 2.0's (seen above) are an eyesore, nothing can make Sal Stewart look badly right now.
Stewart homered five times in his first 18 MLB games last year, and he's picked up where he left off in his first full campaign in the show. He's currently leading MLB in RBI, having also homered nine times and posted a .987 OPS. Terry Francona's lineup badly needed a bopper, and Stewart has given them that. If Eugenio Suárez is able to get going once he returns from the injured list, the Reds are going to have a great one-two punch from a power perspective.
For as ominous as things felt when the Reds lost ace Hunter Greene until at least July as he recovers from arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow, they've been one of baseball's best teams in April. Stewart is at the forefront of that.
2. Nolan McLean: RHP, New York Mets
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As a team, the Mets have been one of the biggest calamities in baseball during the first month of the season. However—just as was the case when they melted down late in the 2025 season—Nolan McLean has been a silver lining.
Over his first six starts of the 2026 season, McLean has a 2.55 ERA and 2.25 FIP. He leads all rookie starting pitchers in WAR, according to FanGraphs. His 11.5 K/9 is fourth among all starting pitchers in the sport, trailing only Jacob Misiorowski, MacKenzie Gore and Cristopher Sánchez.
The Mets have gotten off to an ice-cold start in 2026, following a collapse in 2025 that saw them go 28-37 after the All-Star break.
There are quite a few things owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns need to figure out. But judging by the 2.27 ERA McLean has through his first 14 MLB starts, the Mets appear to have developed a bona fide ace.
1. Kevin McGonigle: SS/3B, Detroit Tigers
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Kevin McGonigle isn't hitting home runs at a high clip, as he has a modest two at the time of publication. But the rookie infielder is doing everything else offensively at such a high level for the Tigers that he's impossible to ignore.
McGonigle is hitting .330, has already tripled twice, has a .951 OPS and currently has walked more times than he's struck out. For good measure, he has three defensive runs saved at third base. Unsurprisingly, he leads all rookies in WAR, according to FanGraphs.
The Tigers reached an eight-year, $150 million extension with McGonigle in April, a pact that bought out his first three free-agent years and will keep him in Detroit through his age-29 season. Even if that means he's making more in the short-term, getting those two extra years of control will be worth it in the long run.
