The selection process for this article is grueling. All off-season is spent determining which prospects feel most likely to breakout. Film is watched, FanGraphs pages are reviewed, scouting reports are read, insider news is accounted for, and it all culminates in a selection. However, it dawned on me this off-season that a breakout prospect for a shallow league may look very different than a breakout prospect for a deep league. To solve this, I adjusted my breakout article to look a bit different. Below, there are two different sections. The first section is shallow league breakouts. This focuses on prospects that are already fairly well known, but could turn into high-value targets this season. The second section focuses on deep-league prospects. These are prospects with significantly less fanfare who could help take your dynasty team’s farm system to the next level.
Shallow League Breakouts
Andrew Fischer, 3B, MIL
Fischer will be a popular breakout pick this spring, especially after his recent performance in the World Baseball Classic. The 21-year-old, who was the 20th overall pick in last summer’s draft, is one of many raking for Team Italy. In just 11 at-bats, Fischer has three extra-base hits, including a homer, and five RBI, en route to a 1.235 OPS. He’s making tons of loud contact with above-average EVs, including a max of 106mph. When you factor in what he did following his selection in the first round, Fischer is already establishing himself as an offensive force, even in a limited sample.
Fischer is no stranger to success. He thrived at three different stops in his collegiate career, including mashing 25 homers with more walks than strikeouts in his draft year at Tennessee. The 6’0″, 210 lb left-handed swinger produces high bat speeds and uses his raw strength to consistently make hard contact, establishing power as his primary carrying tool.
There is certainly room to grow with his bat-to-ball skills, but he’s at least serviceable when he’s not mashing. Don’t be fooled by the eight bags either; he’s not a fast runner, he relies on his high baseball IQ to take advantage of situations. The biggest question for Fischer is where he’ll play long term. He’s primarily played at the hot corner, but saw time in right field with the Vols and could flip across the diamond to first as well. Either way, the bat will play at any position.
Dante Nori, OF, PHI
Having Fischer and Nori on this list is not just recency bias towards Italy; Nori was already trending up in the second half of 2025; it’s just coincidental that his breakout is starting in the WBC. The 21-year-old, who was actually born in Canada, started figuring things out with the power and improved his quality of contact, adding another element to his already toolsy profile.
From June 13th on, Nori found a new gear with his power. Over his final 71 games, Nori had 12 doubles, eight triples, three of his four homers, and 38 steals. Other than a soft September, Nori was a monster down the stretch and really made up for a slow start in his debut. That momentum carried over to the WBC, where he’s slashing .438/.474/.875 with two homers and a steal in just 16 at-bats.
The profile is littered with intriguing tools, none of which has more upside than his 70-grade speed. Nori’s speed and boundless energy have fueled much of his success early on. In addition to the wheels, Nori makes above-average contact, posting a near-90% in-zone contact rate last season while maintaining a sub-15% strikeout rate in year one as a pro.
There are still some underlying concerns about the quality of contact, as his exit velocities and barrel rates were underwhelming early last season. However, they did tick up during his second-half surge. Ultimately, if Nori can get to double-digit power and pair that with his contact skills, stolen bases, and high OBP rates, the ingredients are certainly there for him to be a major breakout in 2026 and beyond.
Braden Nett, SP, ATH
The Leo De Vries–Mason Miller trade is still an odd transaction in my mind. On the surface, you see the Padres’ desire to get better, and acquiring a high-end young closer certainly fits the bill. But, moving a top-5 prospect guy in De Vries, PLUS adding in Braden Nett and Henry Baez, skews the trade towards the A’s. Nett is one of my favorite dynasty targets right now.
His 2025 season was solid as he logged 105.2 innings with a sub-4.00 ERA and 24.8% strikeout rate. The 23-year-old made considerable gains with his command and control, increasing his strike rate by 4%, trimming his walk from the mid-teens to 10.3%, while still maintaining a decent strikeout rate. Most importantly, Nett did all of this while jumping to Double-A and playing for two different organizations.
At 6’3″, 185 lbs, Nett has a tall, athletic frame with fluid movements and easy velocity. His four-seam fastball sits 95-97 mph but has touched triple-digits on numerous occasions with outstanding carry up in the zone and above-average bat-missing ability. Nett pairs the heater with an outstanding 12-6 curve, which serves as his best breaking pitch, a slider, a sweeper, a cut fastball, and a splitter. All six pitches have been effective in spurts, but at present, it’s the four-seam/curve/cutter combination that leaves hitters empty.
Nett generated a 12.1% swinging-strike rate last season, up over a percent year-over-year, but it’s commanding his six-pitch mix that draws the most attention. Walks have been a problem early in his career, but he’s still fairly raw. He wasn’t pitching in 2022 when the Padres signed him and then missed most of 2023 with an elbow injury. So it’s really been just 2024 and 2025, and Nett made considerable improvements last season. I’m really excited for 2026 and the breakout that’s incoming for Nett.
Jack Wenninger, SP, NYM
On the opposite end of the command spectrum is Mets’ right-hander Jack Wenninger. The 6’4″ right-hander has been stellar with strike-throwing throughout his career, and it’s boosted the arsenal even further. Speaking of which, it’s a four-pitch mix for Wenninger, headlined by one of the best splitters in the minors. The splitter features late, heavy tumble as it falls off the table entirely.
Perhaps most importantly, he uses the splitter against hitters from both sides of the plate with equal success. In addition to the split, Wenninger has a mid-90s fastball, a sharp slider, and a curve. His bread-and-butter remains the fastball-split combo, but if the slider can take another step forward, he’s got SP2 upside.
In year two as a pro, Wenninger was outstanding. Across 135.2 innings at Double-A, he put together a 2.92 ERA and a 26.4% strikeout rate. The strikeouts were slightly down year over year, but he posted better overall results, including a dip in his walk rate and a swinging strike rate over 14%. With his blend of command, physicality, and stuff, Wenninger has a steady floor for production with even higher upside. It’s likely that Wenninger not only breaks out more in 2026 but also reaches the Mets’ rotation later in the season.
Deeper League Breakouts
Wei-En Lin, SP, ATH
The rise of Wei-En Lin has gone almost entirely unnoticed in prospect circles. The 20-year-old was a mid-year international signing in 2024, and in year one, he started his ascent by mid-year 2025. Lin climbed three levels in 2025, throwing 87 innings with a 3.72 ERA and a 27.1% K-BB rate, aided by a dazzling 6.3% walk rate. Lin averaged 12.7 strikeouts per nine thanks to a 16.1% swinging-strike rate and 30.1% CSW. Opposing hitters managed just a .648 OPS against Lin.
The stuff is so good for Lin. His four-seamer averaged 95-96mph from the left side early on, but dipped down the stretch in his debut season. Ultimately, even with the velo shift, his effectiveness saw only minimal impact. Beyond the heater, Lin has two unique breakers, a nasty slider, and a curveball, along with a changeup that has flashed as a plus offering. I do have some slight concerns with durability, only because the frame isn’t overly strong, and the velo dipped late, but I’m excited to see how Lin rebounds this season.
Richard Matic, 3B, NYY
Matic is a big kid, standing 6’2″ and well over 200lbs. The 17-year-old had a strong year in year two in the DSL, slashing .336/.487/.566 with five homers and 11 steals. Matic trimmed his strikeout rate slightly, but saw his walk rate climb by over 8% thanks to some tangible changes in his approach, particularly cutting his swing rate considerably and chasing far less often.
Part of that is the experience he gained in year one, along with the maturity that comes with being a year older and recognizing the steps needed to continue improving. Either way, it’s a huge improvement for a kid who doesn’t turn 19 until July.
On the surface, the improvements speak for themselves. Matic got to power in 2025, something he didn’t do the previous year, and that came with a big change in batted-ball distribution. He’s always been pull-heavy, but Matic kept the ball off the ground more this season, and the results followed.
The other huge gain came with his contact skills. In 2025, his overall contact rate was nearly 70%, up from 55% in 2024. The nice thing about his improvement is that he’s still only relevant in deeper leagues, so taking a flyer on him is a low-risk, high-reward play. Still, if the gains stick, Matic has the physicality and skills to become a power-play moving forward. Let’s keep an eye on his domestic debut as an 18-year-old in 2026.
Anthony Eyanson, SP, BOS
The Red Sox desperately needed to address pitching depth in their organization, and the 2025 draft class started that process. In addition to first-round pick Kyson Witherspoon, the Sox grabbed two other prominent SEC arms, Marcus Phillips and 2026 breakout-to-be Anthony Eyanson. After throwing a career-high 108 innings at LSU in his final collegiate season, Eyanson did not take the ball for his new organization in 2025, but he has already dazzled in spring training. As a junior for the Tigers, the 6’2″ right-hander won 12 games and struck out 152 hitters, posting a 33.9% strikeout rate with a walk rate of just 8%.
Eyanson relies heavily on spin, boasting two excellent breaking pitches. His low-80s slider is absolutely devastating, with tons of depth and whiffs at high volume. His curveball is mid-70s with a 12-6-esque break, featuring above-average depth and diving down in the zone. In an organization hell-bent on breaking pitches, coming in with the base of skills that Eyanson has is a massive win for him and the Red Sox.
The key to his development will be the fastball. Typically, it sits in the low-to-mid-90s, occasionally pushing to the upper-90s, but there aren’t any outlier traits in its movement or profile. The breaking pitches are already plus, and if he can get the heater even to be league-average, Eyanson is a guy with SP2/SP3 potential, and 2026 is going to show how good the skills are, so buy in now.
Red Sox 2025 3rd rd pick Anthony Eyanson’s stuff is up across the board from where it was at LSU. FB 95-98, SL 86-89, CH/SP 88-92, CB 80-82. Polished arsenal. Feel for spin. Missed bats w/all pitches. Here’s a 98 mph FB for a strikeout today. His FB averaged 93.1 at LSU in 2025. pic.twitter.com/uEiGXzWL9t
— Ian Cundall (@IanCundall) March 13, 2026
Wuilfredo Antunez, OF, CLE
Since signing with the Guardians in 2019, 23-year-old Wuilfredo Antunez has done one thing: mash. After debuting in 2019, he missed ’20 and ’21 following the pandemic, but picked right up where he left off. Over five MiLB seasons, Antunez has posted a .273/.348/.472 slash line, tallying 38 homers, 72 doubles, and 59 steals. His 2025 campaign was the best, though. Splitting his time between High-A and Double-A, he hit .275 with 18 homers and 16 steals in 101 games.
Offensively, his profile is sound and consistent. Antunez is often in the 7-9% walk rate and 21-24% strikeout rate range with little variation. He sustains upper-70s contact rates, showing his bat-to-ball skills and hit tool despite an overly aggressive approach. The power comes naturally and is aided by a slight uppercut swing, which leads to elevated fly-ball rates, particularly to his pull side.
The speed is intriguing as well, because given his ability to hit for power and run, Antunez has 20-20 potential down the road. One thing to keep an eye on is his age. Although he played the 2025 season at 23, it’s important to remember he missed two seasons early in his career, so his age-to-level concerns aren’t valid. Don’t sleep on the well-rounded offensive asset that Antunez is and watch for him to break out in a big way at Triple-A this season.
