This story is the third in a series in which MLB Pipeline ranks the 10 best MLB farm systems by position: Infielders | Gardeners | Launchers | Receivers (coming Thursday) We went from dirt to grass… and now to the mound. While the leaders for infielders (Brewers) and outfielders (Dodgers) were fairly clear, this ranking based on pitching prospects was much more confusing and closer at the top. An argument could be made for any of the four or five major organizations listed below being in first place, or at least a few spots higher. With such a fickle release, this ranking could look very different in the near future. 1. Miami Marlins Right off the bat, we started with a bit of a speculative “what if” pick at the top. On paper, it makes a lot of sense: The Marlins are one of only two teams with three pitchers in the Top 100: Thomas White (No. 37), Robby Snelling (No. 53) and Karson Milbrandt (No. 78). White and Snelling are in the top half of LHP’s top 10 prospects list and all three are 22 or younger and at the highest levels of the system. But, and it’s a big but, White and Snelling have pitched a combined 58 2/3 innings in 2026. White’s shoulder sprain has kept him out since mid-May, and Snelling’s Tommy John surgery will keep him out until mid-2027. The other pitcher in Miami’s top 10 is Kevin Defrank, and he’s Top 100-type material, but he also didn’t pitch this year due to a right biceps injury. A return to health only thanks to that trio would make this a clear choice. 2. St. Louis Cardinals While the Cardinals have only one Top 100 arm in the system in Liam Doyle (No. 44) – and he’s posted a 1.75 ERA and .157 batting average since early July – it’s a very deep crop. St. Louis has 13 pitchers in its top 30, five in the top 10 alone. No organization has more top-30 pitchers with an overall rating of 45 or better than the Cardinals’ 12. The system’s top 10 pitchers, Tanner Franklin, Quinn Mathews and Brandon Clarke, were joined by 2026 pick Tegan Kuhns, who had first-round material and finished 32nd overall in Competitive Balance Round A. Jurrangelo Cijntje hasn’t had a good year, his first in the organization, but it speaks to the depth of this group, and the Top 30 overall, that his arm talent is sixth in this organization and No. 12 in the Top 30. 3. Washington Nationals The Nationals tie the Cardinals in having 13 pitchers in their Top 30 and come in second with 11 of them earning an overall grade of 45 or better. Their pair of Top 100 guys, Travis Sykora (No. 52) and Jarlin Susana (No. 68), offer a combined 13-footer of pure power. However, the two 6-foot-6 right-handers have dealt with elbow injuries and surgeries, keeping Sykora off the mound all this season and Susana sidelined until August of this year. Meanwhile, Jackson Kent has made his way to the big leagues from Double-A and has ranked among the team’s top 10, while flamethrower Miguel Sime Jr. has missed an absurd amount of bats (16.3 K/9) and has shown that he has a long way to go in terms of command (8.2 BB/9). 4. Baltimore Orioles Not long ago, the O’s were known for their hitting depth and seemed like they couldn’t draft, sign and develop pitchers at all. They now have three pitchers in the Top 100, landing a pair of Top 10 lefties in Joseph Dzierwa (No. 89) and Caden Hunter (No. 97) in the 2025 draft and acquiring right-hander Anthony Eyanson (No. 49) from the Red Sox in the Adley Rutschman deal. All three are in what has to be the deepest minor league rotation in baseball (Double-A Chesapeake), especially when you consider that big right-hander JT Quinn is also there now, and is No. 14 in Baltimore’s Top 30. Lefty Luis De León has pure Top 100 caliber material and is joined in the system’s top 10 by another trade deadline acquisition, Michael Forret, in the top 10 and Triple-A rotation. 5. Seattle Mariners The dynamic duo of Kade Anderson (No. 5) and Ryan Sloan (No. 8) alone could be enough to move the Mariners up this list. Anderson has led the minors in almost every statistical category imaginable, while Sloan had been his rotation partner, at age 20, in Double-A until Anderson was called up. The main reason Seattle isn’t higher in this ranking is that there is a drop-off in pitchers in the system after their top two. The M’s only have two other arms in their top 15: promising left-hander Mason Peters and right-hander Griffin Hugus, who had Tommy John surgery this spring. Both are in the 2025 draft class, and the crop was boosted by 2026 third-rounder Nathan Taylor, who is ranked No. 17. 6. San Francisco Giants They are already No. 2 on the infield list, and that could be the main reason for their big jump to No. 5 in our farm system rankings. But his growing pitching crop is nothing to sneeze at either. Adding Jackson Flora (No. 31) through the draft and Ramon Marquez at the trade deadline (No. 99) was huge in terms of high-level talent on the mound. But that’s not all they have, with their 16 pitchers in the top 30, the second-highest total in baseball. After obtaining Flora from the college pool, they spent lavishly to add high-end secondary arms in Carson Bolemon and Kaden Waechter in the Competitive Balance A Round and the second round, respectively, and added intriguing pitchers Henry Lalane and Miguel Mendez at the trade deadline, while 2024 deadline acquisition Jacob Bresnahan has pitched well this year. 7. Detroit Tigers The Tigers have only one Top 100 arm, and River Ryan (No. 66) recently joined the organization in the Tarik Skubal trade. But there’s some depth here, with 12 total pitchers in the top 30, five of whom cracked Detroit’s top 10. Ben Jacobs has been in the system all year, courtesy of the 2025 draft, and now he has company: 2026 first-round pick Cameron Flukey and trade acquisitions Kash Mayfield (Casey Mize deal) and Brady Smith (Skubal) are all in the top 10 with him. 8. Toronto Blue Jays There are some enigmas in this group, and injuries play a big role in that, but the Blue Jays have been able to find some interesting talent, and not necessarily at the top of a draft. Their only Top 100 pitcher, Nolan Perry (No. 95), was a 12th-round pick in 2022, while batless left-hander Johnny King was a third-round pick in 2024. Even Cole Carlon, who was Toronto’s first pick in 2026, was the No. 39 overall pick. That gives the Blue Jays three arms in their top five alone, while the trade acquisition of Dasan Hill gives them gives a high-ceiling, if inconsistent, lefty in their top 10. 9. Texas Rangers The last of six organizations with two or more Top 100 pitchers (the other five are up there), the Rangers’ pitching contingent is led by 2025 Caden Scarborough (No. 77) and 2026 first-round pick Gio Rojas (No. 96). They have 13 total arms in their top 30 with an average overall rating of 45, tying them with the Giants for eighth-best among the 30 systems. They were able to add a high-end arm in Brody Brumila in the third round of the draft, although he will have to recover from Tommy John surgery first. And if two-way players Seong-Jun Kim and Josh Owens end up focusing on the mound, it will make this group even deeper. 10. Pittsburgh Pirates Having a top prospect like Bubba Chandler graduate will take a team down a few notches, as will some inconsistent performances from guys like Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington; the Pirates were ranked No. 2 last year. Seth Hernandez (No. 7) helps keep them on the roster, while Levi Sterling has a chance to take a big leap forward in 2027.
