Ten Major League Baseball Prospects to Watch in the 2025 Season
An IBWAA co-director reviews some of the top young players who will impact MLB beginning on Opening Day 2025
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . The opening series in Tokyo saw three players make their big league debut - Jack Dreyer, Roki Sasaki, and Matt Shaw. That gives a good start to the year after 255 players made their major league debuts last season. That is roughly in line with recent years, as MLB had 261 players debut in 2023, 303 debut in 2022, and 265 in 2021.
. . . By all accounts, 2024 was the year of the pitcher debut. Of the 22 players who accumulated at least 1 bWAR and debuted during the 2024 season, 15 of them were pitchers. The top debut of the season was Pirates' right-hander Paul Skenes, who posted a 5.9 bWAR, but he was joined by six other pitchers in the top 10 last season. Jackson Merrill had the top position player bWAR of a player who debuted in 2024 with a 4.4 bWAR.
Leading Off
Ten Prospects Who Will Impact MLB In 2025
By Benjamin Chase
Each spring, a number of players show that they’re ready to jump from prospect to impact big leaguer. We’ll look at ten of those players today to get you ready for Thursday’s Opening Day action!
Roki Sasaki, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers signed the best arm to come from Japan...since they signed the last best arm from Japan. Sasaki is a special talent, with a splitter that could immediately be among the best in the major leagues. His first start, however, shows exactly some of the concern that owners in fantasy leagues and the Dodgers should have as he'll need to get used to landing his pitches consistently in the strike zone. By the time the Dodgers head to the playoffs, Sasaki should have had a few trips through the league and be ready to put on a show in October.
Dylan Crews, OF, Washington Nationals
Crews arguably put together the best college resume we've seen in decades, hitting .380/.498/.689 with 58 home runs (and 109 total extra-base hits) along with 23 stolen bases over less than 1,000 collegiate plate appearances for Louisiana State, playing in the most talented college baseball conference in the country. Crews quickly ascended to the majors in his first full season in the minor leagues, stealing 12 bases in 31 games with the Nationals at the end of 2024. He'll get a full season of run in one of the youngest, most talented outfields in the game with the Nationals this year.
Jackson Jobe, RHP, Detroit Tigers
In the 2021 draft, Jobe was widely regarded as the type of pitcher who could be the first-ever top overall selection as a right-handed pitcher. Jobe has been nothing short of dominant in his minor league career, with a 2.97 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 261 strikeouts over 233 innings. He came up to spend some time in the Tigers' bullpen as Detroit advanced into the playoffs last season, eventually tossing 1 2/3 innings of relief in the playoffs. The Tigers recently announced that Jobe will have a starting rotation spot to open the 2025 season, and he could quickly move into the role of the ace in Detroit.
Kristian Campbell, 2B/OF, Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox made many fans happy recently announcing that Campbell would make the Opening Day roster. A year ago, many of those same fans would have had no idea who Campbell even was. After a swing change and hard work to improve other facets of his game, Campbell had an incredible 2024, moving up three levels and combining for a .330/.439/.558 slash line with 32 doubles, 20 home runs, and 24 stolen bases. The combination of power and speed with the athleticism to play second, shortstop, third base, and center field will allow Campbell to be on the field frequently for the Red Sox and give Boston manager Alex Cora the opportunity to mix and match lineups to utilize his versatility.
Matt Shaw, 3B, Chicago Cubs
Just a few weeks ago, many felt the expected ascension of Shaw into the starting role at the hot corner for the Cubs was slipping away with the signing of Josh Turner to go along with Rule 5 selection Gage Workman and multiple other multi-position free agents. Instead, the Cubs brought Shaw to Tokyo and he got both starts at third base. Shaw is a very steady hitter who should provide the Cubs a strong defender at third while also hitting offering power and speed. He could be a guy who takes a bit to adjust, but he could have a very impressive stat line by the end of the season.
Alan Roden, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays selected Roden in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Creighton, and you can be excused if you've missed his progress up the Toronto farm system. Roden doesn't bring a flashy stat line, but he has an elite eye at the plate with tremendous gap power. He's shown all of that this spring, hitting .407, walking more than he struck out, and hitting two home runs in 20 games. Roden recently was informed that he made the team. Those old enough to remember will understand that a comparison of Roden to Rusty Greer is a very positive thing for him, even if it's not a "sexy" comparison.
Jasson Dominguez, OF, New York Yankees
When Dominguez signed in July 2019, the hype around him was ridiculous. The switch-hitter was billed as a cross between Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout before he'd ever taken a professional plate appearance. Based on that hype, hitting .274/.373/.444 with 47 home runs and 102 stolen bases (in 121 attempts) over 353 minor league games would come off as a disappointment. Dominguez made it to the majors as a 20-year-old and finished the 2024 season in the outfield for the Yankees. His raw athleticism and immense upside should give Yankees fans something to watch all season long.
Jack Leiter/Kumar Rocker, RHPs, Texas Rangers
Paired together because they seemingly have since they both chose to attend Vanderbilt rather than sign as high school draftees, Leiter and Rocker are very likely to both open the season in the Ranger rotation after a couple of injuries that hit other Texas hurlers. Leiter took a step forward over the offseason that should allow his raw stuff to play up in the Ranger rotation, and Rocker may already have the best slider in baseball and he's worked to sequence around that pitch. Perhaps they can be pitching back-to-back in October this year.
Drake Baldwin, C, Atlanta Braves
An unfortunate injury to Atlanta Braves starting catcher Sean Murphy after the Braves had let longtime backup backstop Travis d'Arnaud go in free agency allowed the door to open for Baldwin to open the season as the Braves' backstop. While Baldwin has chops at the plate that could provide impact, his focus this year will be on his work behind the plate, so fans should not get frustrated if he has some struggles with the bat this year.
Bonus: Cam Smith, 3B/OF, Houston Astros
While nothing has been said officially quite yet, the big talk of spring in the prospecting community is the meteoric rise of Cam Smith. The Cubs drafted Smith out of Florida State last year in the first round and he established himself as one of the top players from the draft class before the Astros acquired him as part of the deal that sent Kyle Tucker to the Cubs. While many criticized Houston for the deal on the surface, if Smith continues his progress and can open the season in right field for the Astros, they may have the last laugh!
Benjamin Chase is the co-director of IBWAA. In his day job, he is the managing editor for a newspaper in rural South Dakota. Ben podcasts with the Pallazzo Podcasts podcast show each week and writes on his Medium site, Chasing Baseball Greatness, about baseball prospects each week during the season.
Extra Innings
This is the time of the year when you get to see great videos of players making the major league roster. J.C. Escarra was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 15th round in 2017. He worked his way up the minor league ladder until 2021. After being released by the Orioles, he spent multiple years playing in independent baseball before the Yankees signed him last year. After hitting .333 with three home runs over 17 spring games, Escarra made the Yankees roster. Then this happened: