Kevin McGonigle, INF, Tigers: McGonigle ranks as BA's No. 2 prospect. As far as spring training performances are concerned, however, he has no peers. McGonigle has hit for contact and power and has defeated anything and everything thrown his way. The latest example came Tuesday, when he went 3-for-3 in a pre-WBC exhibition against the Dominican Republic. His opening statement came when he jumped starter Luis Severino's first pitch and clubbed it an estimated 461 feet to right-center field. He added singles off of Severino and Camilo Doval in his next two trips before being replaced by Woody Hadeen. The game doesn't count toward his stats in the Grapefruit League, where he is 6-for-15 with two doubles and a triple.

RELATED: J.J. Cooper examines whether Kevin McGonigle and Konnor Griffin need to spend any time in Triple-A before their potential big league debuts.

River Ryan, RHP, Dodgers: When healthy, Ryan's pure stuff is among the best in an organization filled with pitchers who can light up radar guns and Hawk-Eye readouts. The righthander made his big league debut in 2024 but missed all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He's back now, and so is his monster repertoire. In his latest outing, Ryan fired two scoreless innings in relief of starter Roki Sasaki. He brought his four-seamer up to 98 mph and got four whiffs—one on the four-seamer, two on his slider and another on his cutter.

Ryan Lasko, OF, Athletics: Lasko—one of a pair of Rutgers-bred talents in the system—has 60-grade speed, defense and arm strength. If either of his power or hittability clicks, his ceiling would raise significantly. Those raw tools showed up on a line-drive triple against Eric Pardinho of Team Brazil. Lasko hit the ball hard—107 mph—and motored from home to third in just more than 12 seconds. He tripled twice in 89 games in 2025 and reached Triple-A.

Carter Jensen, C, Royals: Jensen is one of the finest catching prospects in the game. Soon, he could be a staple of a Royals lineup with all-world shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. as its engine. On Tuesday, in his squad's exhibition game against Team Cuba, he collected a pair of hits, including a double. His single—off of righthander Denny Larrondo—was struck at nearly 111 mph, one of the hardest-hit balls of the day across the sport. Jensen made his big league debut this past summer and should have a big role in Kansas City's fortunes in 2026.

Harry Ford, C, Nationals: As part of their offseason retooling, the Nationals added a player they believe could be their catcher of the future. That player was Ford, who came from Seattle in the deal that sent reliever Jose Ferrer to the Pacific Northwest. Ford is preparing for the World Baseball Classic with Great Britain, which faced the Brewers on Tuesday. Ford went 3-for-5 with a home run before giving way to Brewers prospect Matthew Wood. He also singled twice.

Editor’s Picks

WBC Power Rankings: We power rank all 20 teams set to take part in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, from title contenders to basement dwellers. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

TJ Nichols, RHP, Rays: After an offseason overhaul, the Rays' system reigns once more as one of the best in the game. Nichols was in place before the deals started dropping, and he's slowly morphed into one of the better arms in Tampa Bay's stable. On Tuesday, he threw two shutout frames in relief of opener and top prospect Brody Hopkins. Nichols' heater topped at 98 mph, and he got three empty swings before exiting. One whiff came on his four-seamer, while the other two came on his slider. Nichols finished the year with a strong turn at Double-A and could make his debut in 2026.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Pitching for Puerto Rico, Yankees RHP Elmer Rodriguez fired three scoreless innings against his former club-turned-rival the Red Sox. He fared much better than Boston lefthanded pitching prospect Jake Bennett, who recorded just two outs on 35 pitches to open the game while yielding three runs on four hits.

• Twins RHP Andrew Morris fired three scoreless, hitless innings on Tuesday against the Rays, striking out three batters along with a pair of walks. He ranks 13th in their system.

• Mets RHP Jonah Tong started against Nicaragua and threw 2.2 innings, allowing five hits and a solo homer to SS Freddy Zamora along with three strikeouts.

• Blue Jays No. 5 prospect Gage Stanifer ran into some issues against Canada. He gave up four runs on three hits, including a homer, over 15 pitches without recording an out.

• Pirates prospects Konnor Griffin, Duce Gourson, Jhostynxon Garcia and Billy Cook all drove in runs against Colombia.

• Team Italy thumped the Cubs 9-4 thanks in part to a strong day from Cubs prospect Owen Ayers, who went 2-for-2 with a homer against his own organization. Kyle Teel and Thomas Saggese also went yard.

• Giants RHP Blade Tidwell will want to forget his outing against USA’s loaded lineup. He gave up five runs including homers to Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony over 2.2 innings.

In Case You Missed It