The first two years of Spring Breakout play produced several memorable moments. Paul Skenes throwing a 102-mph fastball to Jackson Holliday and striking him out on a 92-mph slider, and Spencer Jones walloping 826 feet worth of home runs in 2024. Four of the game’s top dozen prospects homering in the Red Sox-Rays game, highlighted by a 435-foot blast from Roman Anthony, plus Trey Yesavage showing off his nasty splitter in his unofficial pro debut in 2025.
Get ready for more prospect fun next March. MLB announced 16 Spring Breakout games to be staged March 19-22 as part of its 2026 Spring Training schedule reveal on Wednesday. Every organization will play at least one contest featuring its top prospects in a Major League Spring Training ballpark, while the Brewers and Phillies will play two to accommodate the odd number of teams (15 apiece) in the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues.
Among last year’s Spring Breakout participants, 92 appeared in the big leagues during the regular season, including rookie standouts such as Anthony, Cade Horton, Nick Kurtz and Jacob Misiorowski. One hundred and three Breakout players appeared on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects rankings during the year, and 46 alumni claimed spots in the Futures Game in July.
Here’s the complete Spring Breakout schedule for 2026, with MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings from August in parentheses:
Official rosters won’t be determined until next spring, but here are some of the best potential individual and team matchups we could see:
(Top 100 rankings in parentheses)
Baseball’s top two prospects could match up against each other in a Spring Breakout game for the first time (Holliday was No. 1 and Skenes was No. 3 in 2024). MLB Pipeline’s 2025 Hitting Prospect of the Year, Griffin has the best all-around tools in the Minors, while McGonigle is the best pure hitter at that level.
We not only could get the No. 1 prospect facing off against No. 2, but also No. 3 taking on No. 4. Both De Vries (part of the Mason Miller blockbuster trade with the Padres in July) and Made are advanced teenage shortstops with five-tool upside.
Another possible battle of offensive-minded shortstops. Wetherholt might have been the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 Draft had he not suffered a hamstring injury during his junior season at West Virginia, and Willits did go No. 1 in the 2025 Draft.
This could be the best hitter vs. pitcher matchup in Spring Breakout. Both of these guys have longer injury histories than they’d like — or they might already be in the Majors — but Jenkins has 30/30 center-fielder upside and Painter has a rare combination of stuff and polish.
(Farm system rankings in parentheses)
Mariners (3rd) at Brewers (4th), March 20
This game could feature another tantalizing hitter/pitcher battle, with lefty Kade Anderson (the No. 3 overall choice in this year’s Draft) opposing Made. The Mariners boast a baseball-best eight Top 100 prospects, led by shortstop Colt Emerson (No. 9), Anderson (No. 23) and outfielder Lazaro Montes (No. 29). The Brewers counter with four, three of them shortstops: Made (No. 4), Luis Peña (No. 18) and Cooper Pratt (No. 56).
Tigers (6th) at Pirates (9th), March 20
There’s a lot more to this matchup than just Griffin vs. McGonigle. The Tigers have a stockpile of Top 100 position prospects that also includes outfielder Max Clark (No. 8), first baseman Josue Briceño (No. 33) and shortstop Bryce Rainer (No. 37). The Pirates can counter with a trio of Top 100 arms: right-handers Bubba Chandler (No. 14, a Spring Breakout star in 2025) and Seth Hernandez (No. 27), plus left-hander Hunter Barco (No. 78).
Rays (10th) at Mets (7th), March 19
It’s possible that many of the best prospects from these teams — Rays shortstop Carson Williams (No. 50), Mets right-handers Nolan McLean (No. 11) and Jonah Tong (No. 46) — will be competing for big league jobs. But there still should be plenty of talent, including outfielder Theo Gillen (No. 65) and righty Brody Hopkins (TB No. 3) for Tampa Bay going against outfielder Carson Benge (No. 21) and shortstop Jett Williams (No. 30) for New York.
