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Blue Jays Nation’s Top 25 Canadian Baseball Prospects for 2026: #10 Nathan Flewelling

Photo credit: © Allan Henry-Imagn Images

By Ryley Delaney

Feb 12, 2026, 07:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 12, 2026, 03:32 EST

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In the 2024 draft, the Tampa Bay Rays selected two Canadians with two of their first four picks. Émilien Pitre ranked as Blue Jays Nation’s 13th-best Canadian prospect in baseball heading into the 2026 season, and Nathan Flewelling ranks as our 10th-best Canadian prospect heading into next season.

# 10 – Nathan Flewelling

Hometown: Red Deer, Alberta

Organization: Tampa Bay Rays

Draft: 3rd round, 2024 (TBR)

Position: Catcher

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Flewelling was born in Red Deer, Alberta, a city that lies between the provinces’ two big cities: Calgary and Edmonton. Alberta has produced some notable prospects over the past few seasons, including Blue Jay prospects Damiano Palmegiani, Adam Macko, and Tim Piasentin.

Ahead of the 2024 draft, Flewelling ranked as MLB Pipeline’s 236-best draft prospect. The Rays came calling in the third round, drafted the then 17-year-old. Up to this point, no prep-drafted position player from Alberta has gone on to make the big leagues.

2025 season

It’s not uncommon for recently drafted high school players to make their professional debut the following season, and that’s the case for Flewelling as well.

The catcher began his season with the Rays’ Single-A team, slashing .229/.393/.336 with six home runs in 439 plate appearances. Flewelling had a fantastic 20.3 BB%, but there was some swing and miss in his game, finishing his Single-A stint with a 27.6 K%.

Toward the end of the season, Flewelling was promoted to Single-A, where he played five games. Over those five games, he slashed .250/.409/.438 with no home runs in 22 plate appearances. Again, he showcased his strong eye at the plate, walking five times in those five games, but also finishing his brief tenure with a 27.3 K%.

In MLB Pipeline’s 2025 mid-season update, Flewelling ranked as the Rays’ 29th-best prospect. His report notes he’s a hit-over-power type catcher, but has projection remaining in his frame. He’s also further along offensively than he is defensively.

Looking ahead to 2026

Finishing the year in High-A, it’s expected that Flewelling will start the 2026 season at the level. It’s likely that he’ll spend the entire season with the Bowling Green Hot Rods, as it’s rare that a 19-year-old position player sees action in the upper minors.

Ideally, Flewelling will show improvements in some areas, such as cutting down his strikeout rate, hitting for more power, and improving defensively. If he can do all that, while keeping up what he does well, Flewelling will position himself well to see Double-A as a 20-year-old and move up the Rays top prospect lists.

Previous rankings

#11 – Eric Cerantola

#12 – Tyler Black

#13 – Emilien Pitre

#14 – Sam Shaw

#15 – Will Hynes

#16 – Myles Naylor
#17 – Dasan Brown

#18 – Brady Cerkownyk

#19 – Micah Bucknam

#20 – Matt Wilkinson

#21 – Jacob Zibin

#22 – Eric Hartman