4 Hitters I like for the Upcoming 2026 Minor League Season
Credit: Montgomery Biscuits
If you missed last week, I released the four pitchers I like for the upcoming season, so now we’re moving on to the five hitters I think will do well in 2026. Looking back at the three hitters I liked going into 2025, Zach Levenson broke out for the Cardinals, posting a 121 wRC+ between High-A and Double-A. Trey Paige posted a subpar 98 wRC+ across the same levels as Levenson, and Josh Kross got off to a blistering start before cooling off later in the year, finishing with a 101 wRC+ between Palm Beach and Peoria. A reminder before we begin: none of my picks for this article are on my top 30 list, so let’s get started.
OF Colton Ledbetter
My first pick is a player the Cardinals acquired in the Brendan Donovan trade this offseason: outfielder Colton Ledbetter, who just missed my top 30 list by a couple of spots. Ledbetter posted a 112 wRC+ last year for the Rays’ Double-A affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits, in the Southern League, one of the most difficult hitting environments in all of minor league baseball. In recent years, the league-average OPS has been in the .660-.670 range.
My optimism for Ledbetter’s success in 2026 starts with the fact that he could move from the Southern League to the more hitter-friendly Texas League or International League. My second reason for optimism is that Ledbetter has consistently been an above-average hitter, with his 112 wRC+ representing the lowest mark of his career. He took a step back in terms of power production in 2025, posting just a .114 ISO after recording a .210 ISO during the 2024 season, when he hit 16 home runs. However, that decrease in power also allowed Ledbetter to cut his strikeout rate by nearly five percentage points. Another thing that could benefit Ledbetter this season is Dalton Hurd and the Cardinals’ new hitting staff, which, combined with better offensive environments, could set him up for success in 2026.
Tapping back into the power Ledbetter showed in 2024 while keeping the swing-and-miss at a manageable level will be key to a potential breakout in 2026. With good speed and fielding ability, there is a chance Ledbetter reaches the majors this season if he shows progress with the bat. I’ll be interested to see whether the Cardinals promote Ledbetter to Memphis to start the season or give him another look at Double-A before moving him up.
3B Cade McGee
Cade McGee is my next pick, as the 23-year-old is coming off a decent first full season after being drafted in the ninth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Texas Tech. McGee posted a .214/.334/.362 slash line (104 wRC+) with nine home runs and 50 RBIs in 78 games for the Palm Beach Cardinals. What makes me optimistic about McGee’s 2026 season is that he did two things really well in 2025, both of which I think could propel him to greater success this year.
First, McGee barrels the ball at a solid rate, as his 6.3% barrel rate last season ranked in the 71st percentile among all Florida State League hitters. Pair that with a 24.9% PullAir Rate, which ranked in the 85th percentile, and the potential for more consistent power is there if the exit velocities improve. Those two factors, along with McGee’s solid plate discipline — a 13.7% walk rate and a 25.1% chase rate — provide a strong foundation. McGee had a rough July, posting a .619 OPS, and ended up on the injured list toward the end of the month, which ended his season a couple of months early. Now fully healthy, McGee has apparently been making loud contact consistently on the backfields, according to Brian Walton, and if that continues throughout the season, a big year could be ahead for the third baseman.
The biggest thing McGee needed to improve coming into 2026 was his power. Even though he made good contact in the air relatively consistently, his exit velocity data — including a 100.3 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and an 85.3 mph average exit velocity — were both below average at Palm Beach this past season. Early reports out of minor league camp suggest he is hitting the ball hard, and I hope we see that translate into games this season.
SS Anyelo Encarnacion
This may be my boldest pick of the entire group, as Encarnacion posted a .213/.328/.325 slash line and a 93 wRC+ this past season between Low-A and High-A. The 22-year-old posted some of the best exit velocities of any player in the Florida Complex League this past season, including a 106.3 mph 90th percentile exit velocity, which ranked in the 92nd percentile; a 92.4 mph 50th percentile exit velocity, which ranked in the 80th percentile; and a 45% hard-hit rate, which ranked in the 84th percentile.
There is no doubt that Encarnacion has impressive raw power, but he has yet to translate that into game power, hitting only seven home runs in 2025. Encarnacion has posted ground-ball rates north of 50% in each of the past two seasons in the lower levels of the minors, and his whiff rate at Palm Beach this past season was 37.9%, which ranked in the 12th percentile among all Florida State League hitters. While Encarnacion swung and missed a lot during the 2025 season, he also posted a 16.7% walk rate and a 25.6% chase rate at Palm Beach, both of which were above average for the level, though his walk rate dropped to 5.7% at Peoria.
What makes me especially bold on Encarnacion’s development is the fact that the Cardinals were able to help big swing-and-miss profiles such as Joshua Baez and Deniel Ortiz this past season. Encarnacion has a chance to become the next player to benefit from the Cardinals’ new development system in 2026.
For Encarnacion to have a chance at a breakout in 2026, he needs to cut the strikeout rate from the mid-30s to a more respectable level while also getting the ball in the air more consistently. In years past, I would have doubted that the Cardinals could fix this profile, but this is why it’s a bold pick — and I’d love to see it happen.
SS Miguel Hernandez
Given the lack of data we have on Hernandez, this is a pure vibes pick, mixed with some positive feedback from people in and around the DSL. Hernandez posted a .281/.408/.444 slash line last season with a team-leading five home runs. He also posted a 124 wRC+ and a .163 isolated slugging percentage across 36 games.
While we don’t have advanced data on Hernandez, we do have a general idea of his profile, and he appears to do two things very well that I value in DSL players, which makes me think he could have success this season on the complex. First, he is very good at pulling the baseball, posting a 68.4% pull rate last season. Pair that with a 40.2% fly-ball rate, according to FanGraphs, and that helped Hernandez produce a team-leading 13.5% HR/FB rate. Contact percentage stats from the DSL are not always the most reliable, but his 75% contact rate is solid for his age, especially considering his power output. His 20.7% strikeout rate is also not high enough to make me overly concerned about excessive swing-and-miss as he moves stateside. From the video I have seen, Hernandez utilizes a heel lift that allows him to create solid coil before using a step to transfer his weight through the swing.
Hernandez has impressed so far on the backfields, including hitting a home run and a triple through the first few scrimmages and games. If he keeps this up and performs well at the complex, I wouldn’t rule out a Palm Beach debut for the 17-year-old later in the season.
