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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/8/2022

MLB Breakthrough Breaks Into Bracket

Blake Dowson     
Photo: MLB Breakthrough Series (Perfect Game)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The MLB Breakthrough Series 2026 coaches got together on a call last week before the WWBA Freshman World Series got underway to go over the roster they were bringing with them to West Palm Beach.

The conclusion? They had a roster they thought could win the whole tournament.



“We have power, we have plenty of arms, we’ve got speed,” MLB Breakthrough coach Carlos Munoz said on Saturday. “We’re going for it tomorrow and Monday. We know we can do it.”

The MLB Breakthrough coaches aren’t alone in thinking that. The roster rivals any other in West Palm. It starts with Rookie Shepard, the No. 1 overall do-it-all prospect in the 2026 class. Right behind Shepard is Quentin Young, an infielder and the No. 2 prospect in the class. Deion Cole patrols the outfield and is the No. 4 overall prospect in the class, and two-way prospect Kevin Roberts Jr is just behind at No. 8 overall. Miles Young joins the squad at No. 63 overall, and Dylan Minnatee rounds out the ranked prospects at No. 128.

This group has been together for about two years in the MLB Breakthrough Series environment, which is a joint effort between USA Baseball and Major League Baseball that aims to develop players on and off the field through seminars, mentorship, games, scout evaluations, and other endeavors.

The group played a couple close pool play games in their first two days at the WWBA Freshman World Championship, a 6-3 win over Power Baseball 2026 White to open things up, and a 5-4 win over South Florida Giants to move to 2-0.

A 12-1 win over Dodgers Scout Team 2026 clinched the pool for MLB Breakthrough Series, and the big win was a pleasant sight for Munoz and the rest of the coaching staff.

“During our second game, I don’t know where the energy was with our guys,” Munoz said. “By the second or third inning, the energy was pretty off. This [win] will give us a little more comfort.”

The energy was certainly different for MLB Breakthrough today, jumping all over their opponent for seven runs in the first inning.

Minnatee singled to center field to start the inning, Shepard followed with a walk, and Quentin Young officially got the party started with a double that scored Minnatee to open the scoring.

Kaleb Traylor, who was 2-for-2 in the game, had a two-RBI single in the inning, as did Carson Ray.

Five more runs in the third inning put the game in run-rule territory. Miles Young doubled on the second pitch of the inning and scored one pitch later on a Luke Reagins RBI base knock. Shepard and Cole both earned RBI walks, while Traylor grabbed his second two-RBI single of the game.

Minnatee held things down on the mound for those first three innings while MLB Breakthrough pushed its lead to 12-0. Izayah Mercedes and Kingston Kost both threw one inning after Minnatee, working efficiently and making the coaching staff feel good about where they are at pitching depth-wise heading into bracket play.

“Today we used three arms,” Munoz said. “The last two guys we used, we can still use them Monday. We still have Kevin Roberts, that’s our top guy right now. We’ve been saving him. So we’ve still got plenty of pitching.”
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