As the third month of the baseball season begins, the sample sizes for prospects continue to expand. The MLB Pipeline crew is taking the opportunity to dig a little deeper to highlight players who are balling out, but might still be flying under-the-radar.
On the latest MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, with host Jason Ratliff, continued to identify the most intriguing prospects across the Minors landscape by division. With the AL East, AL Central, AL West and NL East in the rearview, the gurus homed in on the NL Central this week.
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Here are the five most intriguing prospects from the National League Central:
Pirates: SS/CF Konnor Griffin (PIT No. 2/MLB No. 37)
The skinny: The ninth overall pick from the 2024 Draft, the 19-year-old Griffin is having an excellent pro debut. He just polished off a sensational May, and is slashing .310/.371/.511 with eight homers and 25 steals for Single-A Bradenton.
Mayo's take: "I know we haven’t necessarily been picking the top, top names, but I can’t not talk about Konnor Griffin, because he is very intriguing. Last year's Pirates' first round pick, arguably the best all-around toolset of anybody in the draft class. Some small questions about the hit tool. The Pirates don't always send their high school guys straight to full-season ball right out of the gate. But he had such a good Spring Training, he kinda looked like he belonged in big league games in Grapefruit League action, so they sent him to Bradenton, and he’s coming off a ridiculous May. He’s just really fun to watch because he can do everything on the baseball field."
Cubs: RHP Ryan Gallagher
The skinny: The 22-year-old righty was a sixth round pick in the '24 Draft. He's been one of the best pitchers in the High-A Midwest League, pitching to a 2.92 ERA and 48-11 SO-BB ratio over eight starts for South Bend.
Callis' take: "I'm going to break the rules because I'm taking a guy who is going to join the Cubs' Top 30 list on Thursday when Matt Shaw graduates ... and he's not going on the bottom of the list! The Cubs had seven Top 100 prospects coming into the year and all were hitters outside of Cade Horton. There are literally only three active Minor League pitchers on the Cubs Top 30 list, so they need to find some more pitching, and it seems like they found a guy in Ryan Gallagher. ... He was Big West Conference freshman of the year in '22, then had Tommy John surgery and missed '23. He was an All-American last year and led Division I in WHIP, and was fourth in hits per nine innings and seventh in ERA. ... Since he's turned pro, he added about 2 mph to his fastball. It's still not big time velocity, but it has a ton of induced vertical break and he commands the fastball very, very well."
Reds: SS Tyson Lewis (CIN No. 9)
The skinny: A second-round pick in '24, the 19-year-old is only getting started in the Arizona Complex League but has been impressive, with a .383 average and 1.018 OPS through 12 games.
Mayo's take: "The Reds are following the same path for Lewis as they did for Sammy Stafura, which is sending him to the Complex League first this year. So far, very small sample sizes, but he's raking. The approach has been good. As a high schooler he got a little too pull happy, and he does like to tinker a lot. So we have to see if he can stick with what he's doing. But my guess is, if he keeps hitting like these, he's going to hit his way to [Single-A] Daytona. It's an encouraging start for Tyson Lewis."
Brewers: SS/3B Luis Peña (MIL No. 9)
The skinny: An under-the-radar member of Milwaukee's vaunted '24 international class, Peña won the Dominican Summer League batting title and stole 39 bags in his pro debut. He hasn't stopped hitting this year, batting .339 with 22 steals as an 18-year-old for Single-A Carolina.
Callis' take: "Peña has better numbers than Jesús Made. Like Made, a little less famously so, made the jump to Single-A at age 18, and he has a .969 OPS, 14 extra-base hits in 30 games. He can really, really run. I don't know if he has quite as much pop in his bat as Jesús Made, who still probably projects as a slightly better hitter despite the numbers Peña has put up so far. But Peña gets the job done at shortstop, too. He's playing some second base, has enough arm to play third base and probably enough bat. File it under the category of 'Good Problems to Have.' The Brewers have two 18-year-old shortstops who are good enough to hit at Single-A and have to share the position."
Cardinals: LHP Ixan Henderson (STL No. 25)
The skinny: An eighth round pick in '23 who emerged as a nice surprise last season, Henderson has a 2.27 ERA and 56 strikeouts through nine starts at Double-A.
Mayo's take: "He's intrigued me since 2023. He was in Fresno State's rotation and I remember when the Cardinals took him in the eighth round that year. He feels like a Cardinals pitching prospect. He's a whole-bigger-than-the-sum-of-his-parts kind of guy. He's a lefty with a good feel for pitching. I felt like that was a good fit. He's off to a very good start in Double-A, which I think is a big test."