During the 2026 campaign, seven natives of Virginia made their Major League Baseball debuts. It appears the next round of prospects from the Old Dominion are not far beyond.
Six players born in the state were named to the original rosters of teams in the Arizona Fall League, the training ground for some of the top prospects in the game.
One of them is lefty pitcher Konnor Eaton, who went to Prince George High School and was drafted out of George Mason by the Colorado Rockies in the sixth round in 2024.
Eaton has had the chance to pitch in front of family and friends during the past two minor league seasons while with Double-A Hartford.
Eaton, in July of this season, made a start for Hartford at the new minor league stadium in Richmond that is home to the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
“I pitched in the old stadium last year and in the new stadium this year. I can take that off my bucket list,” Eaton, who had about 50 family and friends on hand for the game, said during a phone interview this season.
Eaton was 5-3 with an ERA of 4.46 in 107 innings of work this season in the minors. He entered 2026 as one of the Top 30 prospects in the Colorado system, per mlb.com.
“It has been great, it has been a great learning experience,” he said. “It is a long season; you know there are going to be ups and downs.”
The other five Virginia natives named to the Arizona Fall League rosters were:
- Brandon Eike, a first baseman from Powhatan High who was drafted in the 13th round out of VCU in 2024 by the Seattle Mariners. This past season he hit .295 with 24 homers while playing for Everett in the Northwest League.
- Brandon Clarke, a native of Leesburg who starred at Independence High in Loudoun County. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2024 out of the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasot The pitcher was part of the Sonny Gray trade after the 2025 season as he was traded by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched for four minor league clubs in 2026, compiling a mark of 0-1, 3.34 in 10 games over 29.2 innings. Clarke is one of the top 10 prospects in the St. Louis system. “Clarke, who was acquired from the Red Sox in the deal that sent first baseman Willson Contreras to Boston, missed the first half of the 2026 season because of a circulation issue in his left shoulder and arm. Making his first start on July 11, Clarke pitched at four levels as he worked his wayback to form, striking out 44 and walking 17 in 29 2/3 innings over 10 starts while pitching to a 3.34 ERA,” according to yahoosports.com.
- Dalton Wentz, a product of Amherst High from Madison Heights, was selected in the 16th round out of Wake Forest by the San Francisco Giants in the draft this year. He hit .265 in 49 at bats for Eugene in the minors as a corner infielder.
- Zyhir Hope, from Colonial Forge in Stafford, was a promising prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers before he was traded this summer to the Detroit Tigers in the big deal as Los Angeles acquired MLB ace Tarik Skubal. Hope was drafted in the 11th round by the Chicago Cubs in 2023. This year, while playing at the Double-A and Triple-A level, he had 29 homers and 111 RBI while batting .287. “Currently, MLB Pipeline has Hope as the Tigers top ranked prospect,” according to com. Hope, an outfielder, was an all-state player at Colonial Forge and the top player in the region.
- Kevin Warunek, a lefty pitcher selected out of Longwood by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 18th round in 2024. The Patriot High graduate from Manassas was 3-0 with an ERA of 3.43 in 21 innings this minor league season with four clubs, reaching Double-A Reading for the first time.
Share
David Driver
