MLB rookies to watch in 2026: Which hitters and pitchers are already standing out?

Rookies in MLB are a very different deal than rookies in other sports. In football and basketball, for instance, rookies are joining the team right after the draft, making an impact mere months after officially joining the organization. That’s hardly the case in baseball, as rookies have to work their way through multiple levels in the minor leagues after being drafted or signing a free-agent deal. 

The 2026 season has already seen a ton of big-name rookies take the field, and many of those youngsters are names baseball fans will be hearing for years to come – and many likely have already if they follow the MLB Draft and prospect scenes.

The MLB rookies turning heads early in 2026

With SeatGeek serving as the Official Ticket Marketplace of MLB, you know we’ve been keeping close tabs on MLB’s newest players in the early stages of 2026. Here are our early observations for some of the biggest names so far. 

Top rookie hitters

A handful of rookie hitters have already started to flash the tools and upside that could make them mainstays for years to come.

Pittsburgh Pirates SS Konnor Griffin

Griffin’s numbers are hardly noteworthy given he has an OPS in the .600s and is hitting just .218, but he’s just 19 years old for goodness' sake. The consensus top prospect in baseball, Griffin flew through the minors and joined the Pirates on April 3 and inked a massive extension just a week later. 

Griffin has largely looked like a 19-year-old facing MLB pitching, but he’s not completely overmatched. He’s also starting to really trend in the right direction with a four-game hitting streak and five hits and a walk over that stretch. 

The good news for the Pirates and Griffin is it appears there’s enough going on in the lineup to offer the young infielder protection, which isn’t something we would have been able to say the last few years. Griffin will naturally have a ton of eyeballs on him for a long time, but at least for this year he doesn’t have to be a savior for Pittsburgh’s lineup. That fact alone should help him develop at the big league level.  

Chicago White Sox 1B Munetaka Murakami

The Kyle Schwarber comparison for Murakami seemed a bit lofty as the Japanese slugger joined MLB, but it sure seems like an accurate one so far. 

Like Schwarber, Murakami doesn’t hit for much average (.208) while striking out a lot (31 strikeouts in 72 at-bats), but boy does he slug and get on base. Murakami owns a .376 on-base percentage so far and is slugging a .542. He has blasted eight home runs to date, including a grand slam as part of three straight games with a homer over the weekend. Interestingly enough, Murakami has only hit singles (seven) and home runs (eight) with no doubles or triples mixed in across his 15 total hits. 

It’s an odd profile, certainly, but any doubts about Murakami’s ability to handle MLB pitching appear to have been misplaced. The strikeouts and whiffs will always be high, but if he slugs like he has while working walks (20 in 22 games), he’ll be just fine with the White Sox. 

Detroit Tigers SS Kevin McGonigle

McGonigle has been everything the Tigers were looking for and then some since debuting on Opening Day, as the young shortstop is arguably already the team’s best hitter. McGonigle is hitting .317 with an OPS just a hair under .900, with most of his slug coming from doubles (seven) rather than the long ball (one). 

Something I always keep an eye on with young hitters, especially those who draw rave reviews for their contact/hit tool, is how often they’re striking out and how often they’re taking their walks. That’s another area where McGonigle also stands out, as he’s drawn 13 walks compared to 12 strikeouts. Not bad for someone who doesn’t turn 22 until August. 

Cleveland Guardians OF Chase DeLauter

DeLauter debuted last postseason for the Guardians and earned himself an Opening Day roster spot despite very limited action in the minors. The lack of minor league ABs was more of a product of injuries than DeLauter’s talent level, as the 2022 first-round pick put up huge numbers in the minors and back in college. 

DeLauter showed early on what he could do, homering twice on Opening Day and four times in Cleveland’s series in Seattle. It has been a bit tougher since, with DeLauter homering just once since and hitting only .219 on the year. I’d bank on the young outfielder starting to put it together soon, though, as he – like most of the Guardians’ lineup – makes a lot of contact and doesn’t strike out much. He also has a ton of pop that clearly plays at this level, and that’s something the Guardians have lacked outside of Jose Ramirez in recent years. 

St. Louis Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt

The No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Wetherholt entered 2026 with high expectations given his projected high floor and that few expected the Cardinals to contend, meaning the young infielder had a clear path to playing time. St. Louis has surprisingly played well to start the year, and Wetherholt has certainly flashed at times. 

The West Virginia product is hitting .228, but he owns an on-base percentage of .378. He also has left the yard three times and has swiped four bases while scoring 17 runs and drawing 14 walks. Wetherholt just seems like a ballplayer who will be a steady presence in St. Louis’ lineup for a long time, and he’s been heating up of late, hitting .261 with a .455 on-base percentage and two of his three home runs over his last seven games. 

Cincinnati Reds 1B Sal Stewart

There were always questions about where Stewart would wind up defensively, but there was little concern about his bat. After an .839 OPS in 18 games late last season, he’s OPSing over 1.000 and has swatted eight home runs to go along with 21 RBIs and five doubles. Stewart is also willing to take his walks, with 14 compared to 18 strikeouts across 23 games played. 

The Reds have a ton of young and exciting talent both on the mound and across the diamond, and Stewart has really hit the ground running, showing he can be a foundational piece as a cornerstone in the middle of Cincinnati’s lineup. In 41 games, Stewart has 13 homers. That’s a roughly 52-homer pace across 162 games. Do the Reds have a Pete Alonso type on their hands?

Top rookie pitchers

On the mound, this rookie class has already delivered plenty of impact, with several young arms looking comfortable against big league hitters right away.

Cleveland Guardians LHP Parker Messick

The Guardians’ pitching development program appears to have nailed it once again with Messick, who has not just been the top rookie starter in the early stages of 2026, but he’s been one of baseball’s top arms in general. 

The young southpaw flirted with a no-hitter in his last outing, and he’s 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA in four starts this year, allowing only three earned runs in 25 2/3 innings with a lowly 0.779 WHIP. He’s done an excellent job at getting hitters to expand out of the strike zone, and he’s also kept opposing bats from barreling up baseballs, with a 3.3% barrel rate, per Baseball Savant. His deep pitch mix has bamboozled opposing hitters to start the year, and it doesn’t look like Messick is showing any signs of slowing down. 

New York Mets RHP Nolan McLean

Outside of Toronto’s Trey Yesavage, who has yet to start this season due to injury, no rookie starting pitcher entered 2026 with more eyes on him than the Mets’ McLean. He posted a lowly 2.06 ERA in eight starts last year, earning himself a spot on Team USA for the World Baseball Classic and cementing himself as one of the top contenders for Rookie of the Year for the 2026 season.

McLean has more than backed up the hype, registering a 2.28 ERA and miniscule 0.761 WHIP through four starts. He’s missing bats at an elite rate with a stellar 10.6 K/9, and he has a ridiculous 3.8 H/9 rate entering his next start. Plus, he’s coming off seven innings of two-run ball against the defending-champion Dodgers. McLean has allowed no more than two runs in a single start and will look to spin his third straight quality start the next time he gets the ball, which comes on Tuesday against the Twins.  

Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler

It’s easy to be overshadowed by Paul Skenes, who won Rookie of the Year honors in 2024 before winning the Cy Young last year, but Chandler is a heck of a young arm that should help anchor Pittsburgh’s rotation behind Skenes for a long time. 

Chandler was very good in brief action late last year for the Pirates, and he’s off to a great start through his first four outings in 2026. Chandler owns a 3.15 ERA over 20 innings pitched. The big eyesore for Chandler has been walks as he has walked 13 for a 5.9 BB/9 rate. But, he appears to be trending in the right direction there, as 10 of those 13 walks came in his first two starts. 

Boston Red Sox LHP Connelly Early

Early shined in four starts for the Red Sox last year, and he picked up where he left off to begin 2026. Last year, Early posted a 2.33 ERA in four outings for Boston. This year? A 2.29 ERA mark in four starts. His strikeouts are down from the gaudy 13.5 K/9 line he posted last year, but 9.2 K/9 is hardly anything to scoff at. 

Early, like many young pitchers, has seen his walk rate climb, as he’s allowing 4.6 free passes per nine innings pitched. It hasn’t really mattered so far, but it’s something to keep an eye on. The underlying metrics also suggest Early may be getting a hair lucky with his overall results, but he’s certainly a promising young arm for a Red Sox team that suddenly has a ton of excellent left-handers in the rotation.

Philadelphia Phillies RHP Andrew Painter

If you keep tabs on top MLB prospects, Painter has been on your radar for quite some time. He was Philly’s first-round pick in 2021 and after an excellent start to his pro career, he was viewed by many as a top – if not the top – pitching prospect the game had to offer. Tommy John surgery in 2023 halted some momentum, but he cracked the Phillies’ Opening Day roster this year and has been a solid arm so far.

The tall right-hander has basically alternated good and bad starts so far while also being under careful watch with his pitch count. In his two good outings, he allowed two total runs across 10 1/3 innings with 15 strikeouts to two walks. The two bad ones – including on Sunday against Atlanta – saw Painter give up seven runs in eight innings with five strikeouts to two walks.

It’s good to see Painter pounding the zone, but that did play a part in getting roughed up by the Giants and Braves. The talent is easy to see, though, and it will be interesting to see how the Phillies use Painter moving forward with ace Zach Wheeler expected back next weekend and both Taijuan Walker and Jesus Luzardo off to horrid starts to this season. 

Cincinnati Reds RHP Rhett Lowder

The buzz with the Reds’ farm system for a while was centered around its core of bats, such as Elly De La Cruz and Stewart, who we talked about earlier. But the Reds also have had quite a few interesting young arms debut in recent years. The headliners have been Hunter Greene and Chase Burns, with Andrew Abbott debuting in 2023 and making the All-Star Game last year. Lowder, a 2024 first-round pick, debuted last year and has really hit the ground running. 

Through five starts, the young right-hander has a 3.10 ERA in 29 innings, pitching at least six innings three times. The strikeout numbers aren’t quite what we saw in the minors (18 in 29 innings), but outs are outs, and Lowder is certainly doing well in that department. He needs to do a bit more to get hitters’ barrels off the ball, but the Reds have to feel good about where Lowder is at, especially with Greene sidelined for the foreseeable future.