JUST BASEBALL TOP 50 DRAFT PROSPECTS - #21-25

 

2026 MLB Draft – Top 50 College Prospects

https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb-draft/mlb-draft-top-college-prospects/#entry-135444

21. Derek Curiel – OF

HT/WT: 6’2/182 | Bat/Throw: L/L | School: Louisiana State | Hometown: West Covina, CA | Projected Age: 21.1

A long-heralded prep bat for years, Curiel elected to go to campus and made an immediate statement for the Tigers, becoming the table-setter for a National Championship squad.

Curiel has always prioritized contact over power with his game, but even with that approach, Curiel’s pure contact skills and approach are really, really good. It’s a tranquil and rhythmic operation from the left side of the plate, staying in control throughout his load and consistently getting the bat to the baseball.

Curiel rarely whiffs, draws walks at a high clip, and utilizes the gaps to generate his extra bases. There is some passivity, which has allowed opposing pitchers to get ahead and use their best stuff against Curiel, but it’s nothing overly egregious.

While he does have projection left to his frame, Curiel won’t be a slugger. He doesn’t have the bat speed and torque of his peers, which limits his overall ceiling. He’s shown over-the-fence production down each foul line, sending it the opposite way more often than not. The outlook on offense looks to be a potential 60-hit/40-power player.

Defensively, Curiel has manned left field primarily for the Tigers, and that’s likely where he’ll stay with Chris Stanfield back in the fray. He does have strong instincts and is a solid route-runner, but his arm strength and average speed will relegate him to left field.

We’ll see how the overall profile evolves over the next year, but it’s hard to find a better hit tool in the country.

 

22. Carson Tinney – C

HT/WT: 6’3/220 | Bat/Throw: R/R | School: Texas | Hometown: Castle Pines, CO | Projected Age: 21.3

Tinney’s journey through collegiate baseball has been a unique one to date. Originally from Colorado, Tinney ventured to Notre Dame to start his career, but a torn ACL in 2024 kept him sidelined.

He had some struggles to start 2025, but he became one of the hottest bats in the country during the second half. After falling short of the postseason, Tinney is now at Texas, where he’ll replace Rylan Galvan for the Longhorns.

Tinney’s power is among the best in the country, grading out as potentially double-plus at the next level. There’s a lot of pure strength in his frame, but Tinney generates solid bat speed and leverage in his swing. He hits the stitches off the baseball routinely, plus his ability to pull the baseball in the air is a huge plus. He’s a guy who will mash mistakes.

The hit tool will lag behind the power, admittedly. He’s a patient hitter with the ability to draw a copious amount of walks, and he handles velocity decently, but he struggles to adjust to off-speed pitches and runs high whiff rates on them. Even if Tinney is a .220 hitter, odds are that Tinney is capable of hammering 30+ home runs. That’s still valuable.

Behind the plate, Tinney has an incredibly strong arm and throws out runners consistently. He can be slow out of the crouch, which is a problem that plagues larger backstops, though the arm strength helps ease those woes. Hunter Goodman is an easy comparison to make here, and it’s certainly a plausible outcome.

 

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23. Chris Rembert – 2B

HT/WT: 6’0/202 | Bat/Throw: R/R | School: Auburn | Hometown: Pensacola, FL | Projected Age: 21

Auburn’s group of freshmen was among the best in the country in 2025, but it was Rembert who stood out the most.

Rembert finished the season with a slash line of .344/.467/.555, fourteen doubles, ten home runs, and a nearly identical K:BB ratio in the SEC. It’s a compact frame with proportionate strength, plus he’s become a smoother athlete since stepping onto campus.

It’s a healthy offensive package. There’s some twitch at the plate with quick hands and solid bat speed, sending the ball back up the middle and to the pull-side consistently. Rembert does a solid job of handling velocity, and he can ambush heaters for power.

However, he does swing over breaking balls and can struggle to generate quality contact on secondaries. He shows patience at the plate, seldom chasing and racking up a hefty amount of walks. He coils his core well and flashes average to above-average power, especially to the pull-side. If he can clean up some of the troubles with secondaries, it’s a potential 50-hit/55-power profile.

Defensively, his arm strength does limit him to the right side of the dirt, but he’ll be a reliable defender at second base. He has soft hands, solid footwork, and a gliding nature to his motions that will keep him in that position long-term, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Auburn try him out at shortstop next spring.

He projects to be one of the first draft-eligible sophomores off the board next July.

 

24. Tegan Kuhns – RHP

HT/WT: 6’3/189 | Bat/Throw: S/R | School: Tennessee | Hometown: Gettysburg, PA | Projected Age: 21.1

One of the better pitching talents to reach campus after the 2024 draft, Kuhns found some success as Tennessee’s Sunday guy, but it’s what he did on the Cape that has scouts and analysts looking towards a breakout in 2026. In three starts with Brewster, Kuhns allowed just two runs, striking out twenty and walking just one. It was an excellent showing.

Kuhns has a slender, athletic frame with plenty of projection yet to come, plus he has outstanding arm speed with some deception mixed in. Kuhns sinks into his lower half well with his drop-and-drive mechanics, allowing him to generate power from the ground up.

It’s easy velocity, too. Kuhns has already reached back for 98 MPH, though he’ll find himself holding 92-95 MPH throughout starts. He commands the heater well, especially on the top rail, where he’ll generate most of his whiffs thanks to the riding life and backspin on the offering. An argument can be made that this is Kuhns’ best pitch.

He has a strong breaking ball that he spins excellently in the upper-70s/low-80s that he can manipulate, morphing between a shorter curveball and a larger sweeper. The curveball itself flashes more 11/5 shape at its best, with spin rates creeping up on the 3,000 RPM barrier.

Kuhns added an upper-80s cutter to act as a bridge offering halfway through the spring, plus there’s feel for a tumbling mid-80s splitter, as well.

His secondary command was a bit lackluster in the spring, but that changed drastically during the summer. He’ll need to show the ability to carry that over to the SEC in 2026, but Kuhns is in line for a breakout sophomore campaign. Given all the traits and metrics, Kuhns could wind up rising up boards quickly.

 

25. Ryan Lynch – RHP

HT/WT: 6’3/235 | Bat/Throw: R/R | School: North Carolina | Hometown: Moorestown, NJ | Projected Age: 21

A draft-eligible sophomore from New Jersey, Lynch became one of Scott Forbes’ most trusted arms out of the bullpen in Chapel Hill. As the season drew to a close, Lynch began to see time as a starter, and he passed each test with flying colors.

After a successful summer trip to Japan, Lynch is now in a position to start for the Tar Heels in 2025, and there’s enough upside to suggest a full-fledged starter as a professional.

Lynch is more of a “data darling” at this stage, but he’s how you draw them up. A big-bodied right-hander with good athleticism, Lynch moves free and easy down the bump with a very low release height that hovers around the five-foot mark.

As a result, his fastball gets a ton of running action out of the hand, though he’s played with two shapes to date. One is a heavy two-seam/sinker that bores in on the hands of righties, while he’ll flash a more vertical four-seam with a flat VAA to the plate. He’s reached back for 98 MPH at his peak, mainly sitting in the 92-96 MPH bucket, holding velocity well and peppering the zone with strikes.

His best pitch is a mid-80s sweeper that flashes plus with significant sweeping action and lift. At times, he’s generated over five inches of lift and upwards of fifteen inches of sweep. It’s a gnarly offering.

He has yet to deploy a change-up, but he’s teased it during warm-ups. He’ll generate a ton of groundballs and have a higher floor than most of his peers, but his size, arsenal, and command are enticing for teams.