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Kaiden McCarthy, Vermont’s Gatorade high school baseball player of the year and among the country’s top prospects for the 2026 MLB Draft, is one of three players featured in Season 2 of “The Prospect,” a three-episode original docuseries from GameChanger and MLB Network.
McCarthy, who hails from Chester and attended Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, is ranked No. 78 overall by MLB Pipeline. The hard-throwing, 6-foot, 185-pound McCarthy is committed to continue is baseball career at the University of Tennessee. But the 17-year-old McCarthy, who reclassified from the 2027 class to become draft eligible this year, has a chance to make Vermont history.
Only three Vermonters have been selected in the top five rounds of the MLB Draft; U-32’s Owen Kellington, picked in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021, holds the current record.
“McCarthy is one of the best high school prospects scouts have ever seen from the state of Vermont,” Baseball America draft expert Carlos Collazo said the Gatorade news release announcing McCarthy as Vermont’s player of the year. “He will make draft history for the state if he’s selected inside the first three rounds and has a chance to go in that range thanks to an elite combination of pure stuff and athleticism. He missed some time with an injury this spring, but he’s dynamic and fluid on the mound and can throw his fastball up to 99 mph with a pair of high-speed breaking balls that look like wipeout offerings.”
The first episode of Season 2 is now available to watch on GameChanger’s YouTube page. The second episode will drop Friday, July 10, and can be watched on GameChanger’s YouTube page and MLB Network.
McCarthy’s parents, Matt and Shanna, and Vermont Academy baseball coach Russ Williams were also interviewed for the series.
The docuseries aims to take a “intimate look at the pressure, uncertainty and emotion behind one of the biggest moments in a young athlete’s life, while highlighting the families, coaches and communities that helped shape each player’s path,” according to a news release.
The MLB Draft begins Saturday, July 11, during MLB All-Star Week in Philadelphia.
At Vermont Academy this spring, McCarthy went 3-0 with a 0.72 ERA and 42 strikeouts, helping the Wildcats reach the Lakes Region championship. McCarthy was twice named the Lakes Region pitcher of the year and he was selected to the Perfect Game NorthEast All-Region First Team.
McCarthy also made his Vermont Lake Monsters debut in The Futures League on June 4, picking up the win after allowing one hit and three runs with two strikeouts over two-plus innings.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
