CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Eighteen Appalachian League alumni appear on MLB Pipeline’s updated Top 30 Prospects lists.
Kaelen Culpepper (Bluefield ‘22) is the Appy League’s highest ranked prospect at No. 77 on MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 Prospects list. Culpepper is hitting .304 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI in 95 games between High-A and Double-A. Kyle Karros (Greeneville ‘21) is the No. 5 ranked third base prospect on MLB Pipeline’s updated Top 10 positions list. Karros recently made his Major League debut on Aug. 8, and he hitting .281 (9-for-32) with three RBI in 10 games for the Colorado Rockies.
Six different Appy League teams have a player on a Top 30 Prospect list. The Elizabethton River Riders and Greeneville Flyboys lead the way with five each, while the Kingsport Axmen are close behind with four players. The Bristol State Liners have two players and the Bluefield Ridge Runners and Burlington Sock Puppets both have one player represented. Sixteen different MLB teams have an Appy League alum on their Top 30 list, the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays both have two.
Arizona Diamondbacks
No. 15 - Daniel Eagen, RHP, Greeneville 2023
Athletics
No. 6 - Braden Nett, RHP, Greeneville 2021
Boston Red Sox
No. 12 - Marcus Phillips, RHP, Elizabethton 2024
Cincinnati Reds
No. 30 - Ty Floyd, RHP, Bristol 2021
Colorado Rockies
No. 10 - Kyle Karros, 3B, Greeneville 2021
Houston Astros
No. 11 - Bryce Mayer, RHP, Greeneville 2021
Minnesota Twins
No. 5 - Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Bluefield 2022
New York Mets
No. 23 - Zach Thornton, LHP, Elizabethton 2022
New York Yankees
No. 16 - Brendan Jones, OF, Elizabethton 2022-23
Philadelphia Phillies
No. 29 - Cody Bowker, RHP, Elizabethton 2022
San Diego Padres
No. 17 - Kavares Tears, OF, Kingsport 2023
San Francisco Giants
No. 13 - Maui Ahuna, SS, Burlington 2021
St. Louis Cardinals
No. 19 - Tanner Franklin, RHP, Kingsport 2023
No. 24 - Deniel Ortiz, 3B/1B, Kingsport 2023
Tampa Bay Rays
No. 16 - Cooper Flemming, SS, Bristol 2025
No. 23 - Homer Bush Jr., OF, Greeneville 2021
Texas Rangers
No. 9 - Josh Owens, SS, Elizabethton 2025
Washington Nationals
No. 26 - Sam Petersen, OF, Kingsport 2022
About the Appalachian League
Founded in 1911, the Appalachian League is one of the longest-running baseball leagues in history. The Appy League is the only collegiate summer league under MLB and USA Baseball’s Prospect Development Pipeline (“PDP”) and is an integral part of the identification and development process for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Teams and other future National teams.
For more information about the Appalachian League, visit appyleague.com or follow @appyleague and @appyleaguedata on X, and @appyleague on Instagram.
