One potential breakout prospect for each organization in 2025

Every year as the calendar flips, we at MLB Pipeline gaze into crystal balls and turn our collective attention to potential breakout prospects for the coming season. Last year in this space, we listed Josue De Paula (Dodgers), Bryce Eldridge (Giants), Kevin McGonigle (Tigers), Jacob Melton (Astros), Lazaro Montes (Mariners), Travis Sykora (Nationals), James Triantos (Cubs), Ralphy Velazquez (Guardians) and Thomas White (Marlins) as candidates, and each one ended the 2024 season on the Top 100 Prospects list.

To get ready for 2025, we’re prepared to give the prediction game another go. Here is one potential breakout prospect for each of the 30 farm systems:

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AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

Blue Jays: Sean Keys, 3B (No. 24)
A career .358 hitter in his three years at Bucknell, the 2024 fourth-rounder continued to perform in pro ball with a .293/.378/.451 line in 22 games for Single-A Dunedin. The left-handed-hitting corner infielder limited his case in the Florida State League and answered some of his power questions with above-average damage in his first taste of the pros. Keys’ steadily improving approach already has him on the radar, and any gains in the slugging department would further shoot him up the Toronto ranks, no matter where he lands defensively.

Orioles: Emilio Sanchez, SS (No. 23)
It’s no longer a shock when the Orioles make a big splash in Latin America and they did so last January when they signed Sanchez, who was ranked No. 30 on our Top 50 international prospects list at the time for $1.3 million. He’s an athletic left-handed hitting shortstop who has a chance to really hit and stick at the premium position. He could take a big step forward while introducing himself to the United States in 2025.

Rays: Theo Gillen, OF (No. 5)
First-rounders aren’t often breakout candidates because they already have a solid reputation, but this year’s 18th overall pick can get overshadowed in such a deep farm as Tampa Bay’s. The Rays have as good a chance as any organization to get the most out of Gillen’s sweet left-handed swing, allowing his plus hitting and above-average power tools to play as they should. There’s also the fact that Gillen will be another year removed from his junior-year knee injury, and his speed could give him another weapon. Put those multiple tools on display in a first full season, and Gillen could pop comfortably into the Top 100.

Red Sox: Conrad Cason, RHP/SS (No. 15)
The Red Sox have an interesting decision to make with Cason, their 2024 eighth-rounder who signed for supplemental second-round money ($1.25 million) and was one of the best two-way talents in the Draft. The Georgia high school product has a solid three-mix highlighted by a fastball that touches 98 mph, but he's also a strong-armed shortstop with 20-homer potential. He'll make his pro debut in 2025.

Yankees: George Lombard Jr., INF (No. 3)
The son of former big leaguer George Lombard and a 2023 first-rounder as a Florida high schooler, George Jr. is a quality defender at shortstop with the upside of at least solid tools across the board and a high baseball IQ. He batted .231/.338/.334 with five homers and 39 steals in 110 games between two Class A stops.

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

Guardians: Welbyn Francisca, SS/2B (No. 9)
Angel Genao jumped onto the Top 100 with a breakout season in 2024, and another Dominican middle infielder in the Guardians system could do the same this year. Signed for $1,375,000 in 2023, Francisca's feel for the barrel from both sides of the plate was evident while he was hitting .326/.411/.474 with seven homers and 19 steals in 74 games between Rookie ball and Single-A.

Royals: Asbel Gonzalez, OF (No. 20)
Scouts love their no-doubt center fielders, and Gonzalez has wowed plenty of Royals evaluators with his defense and speed in the middle of the grass over his first two Minor League seasons. That already gives the Venezuela native a solid floor, and he’s proven to be solid at getting on base with a .398 OBP and 11.0 percent walk rate over 41 games in the Arizona Complex League in 2024. Adding elevation and strength to his swing would go a long way toward making Gonzalez a more prominent prospect, and he’ll still only be 19 for the entire 2025 campaign.

Tigers: Franyerber Montilla, SS/3B/2B (No. 13)
Detroit is flush with shortstop options in the low levels right now with Kevin McGonigle and Bryce Rainer also getting reps there. For his bit, the 19-year-old Montilla already showed breakout potential in the Florida Complex League with a .273/.409/.448 line, thanks to a simple approach that prioritizes drivable pitches. Defensively, his above-average speed helps at shortstop, and he has the arm for third, if needed. Montilla’s Single-A introduction wasn’t terrific in a 20-game sample, but the pieces are there for him to take off with a return next spring.

Twins: Brandon Winokur, SS/OF/3B (No. 17)
Winokur’s loud raw tools stood out in the 2023 Draft, coming from a 6-foot-6 frame, and that’s why the Twins went over slot to sign him for $1.5 million in the third round that summer. There’s a lot of work to be done on his approach (28-percent strikeout rate and a 115/34 K/BB ratio during his full-season debut with Fort Myers in 2024), but he also showed that the tools might play, with 14 homers and 23 steals in 94 Florida State League games. If he can tighten things up a little bit, he could put up some huge numbers as he moves up.

White Sox: George Wolkow, OF (No. 9)
Wolkow reclassified into the 2023 Draft as a Chicago-area prepster and signed for $1 million in the seventh round, impressing scouts with his size (6-foot-7, 239 pounds), huge raw power and maturity for a teenager. He got better throughout his age-18 season, slashing .257/.357/.451 with 13 homers in 93 games, mostly in Single-A.

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

Angels: Joswa Lugo, SS (No. 6)
Dawel Lugo’s younger brother signed with the Angels last January for $2.3 million and while you don’t want to put too much stock in a Dominican Summer League debut, the No. 37 prospect on our Top 50 international prospects list did post a robust .301/.370/.466 line with 19 extra-base hits and 18 steals. He’s a physical infielder who might not stick at short, but he has the power potential to profile well at third. The Angels don’t hesitate to push guys so it might be interesting to see if Lugo goes straight to full-season ball in 2025.

Astros: Walker Janek, C (No. 3)
The Astros nabbed the best catching prospect in the 2024 Draft with the 28th overall selection. Janek, a Sam Houston product who won the Buster Posey Award as college baseball's top backstop, offers plus arm strength and 20-homer pop. He batted .175/.214/.289 with one homer during his 25-game pro debut in High-A.

A’s: Luis Morales, RHP (No. 3)
We’ve been waiting for Morales, who signed for $3 million out of Cuba in January of 2023, to put it all together and while that hasn’t quite happened in his two years of pro ball, there have been glimpses of how good his stuff can be. He needs to find the strike zone more, but he’s struck out close to 10 per nine over his two seasons with a four-pitch mix that could dominate if he does refine his command.

Mariners: Johnny Farmelo, OF (No. 9)
The Mariners got Farmelo with the 2023 PPI Draft pick awarded for Julio Rodriguez’s Rookie of the Year win in 2022 and he might have been the breakout player of 2024, with an .816 OPS over 46 games in his debut, but a torn ACL ended his season in June. A return to health should allow the speedy outfielder to get back to what he was doing, showing off an advanced approach with some thump and outstanding defense to go along with base-stealing acumen.

Rangers: Yolfran Castillo, SS (No. 11)
Signed for $647,500 out of Venezuela last January, Castillo enjoyed one of the best pro debuts in the 2024 international class, hitting .377/.481/.415 with nearly twice as many walks (27) as strikeouts (15) in 35 games between two Rookie leagues. He could have three plus tools in his hitting ability, speed and shortstop defense.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

Braves: JR Ritchie, RHP (No. 7)
The 2022 draftee came back from 2023 Tommy John surgery and showed why he was a first-round caliber talent, reaching High-A and finishing with a 2.90 ERA, .214 BAA and 10.1 K/9 rate over 49 2/3 combined innings. With the elbow injury further in his rearview, let’s see what the right-hander can do when the gloves come off a bit and he puts in a full season of innings.

Marlins: Kemp Alderman, OF (No. 13)
A broken hamate in his left hand kept Alderman's numbers down during his first full pro season (.242/.306/.391, eight homers in 77 games as he advanced from Rookie ball to Double-A) but he showed off his massive raw power in the Arizona Fall League. The 2023 second-rounder from Mississippi slammed six homers in nine games and recorded the highest exit velocity (119.5 mph) in the developmental circuit before leaving to get married.

Mets: Edward Lantigua, OF (No. 26)
Signed for $950,000 last January, Lantigua enjoyed a solid first season in the Dominican Summer League, earning All-Star honors alongside his .263/.397/.395 line and 122 wRC+ in 45 games. There is undoubtedly more power coming as he fills out his 6-foot-1 frame, though he showed that pop in flashes this summer. If and when it does, the 18-year-old could land anywhere in the outfield and be valuable, no matter if he needs to move off center full-time as some expect.

Nationals: Angel Feliz, SS/3B (No. 16)
Having only turned 18 in November, Feliz is on the bigger side for shortstops at 6-foot-3 already, but that’s to his advantage as he’s already using his size to generate good power to his pullside. The $1.7 million signee hit .310/.381/.468 with four homers and 27 steals in 49 DSL games this season. He’s certainly ready to take on the Florida Complex League in his second MiLB campaign, and anything close to a repeat would likely get him to Single-A Fredericksburg before his 19th birthday.

Phillies: Eduardo Tait, C (No. 5)
After hitting .333/.400/.517 in the Dominican Summer League after signing with the Phillies for just $90,000 in 2023, Tait continued to make a name for himself as an up-and-coming catching backstop by reaching full-season ball and finishing the year with an OPS of .842. He has a laser for an arm and plenty of pop at the plate and will play nearly all of the 2025 season at age 18.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

Brewers: Bryce Meccage, RHP (No. 16)
Cold-weather arms always seem capable of breaking out in the pros, and this year’s second-rounder (a New Jersey native) ticks a few other boxes as well with his mid-90s fastball, above-average hard slider and solid curveball and changeup. Meccage can experience command troubles stemming from the effort in his delivery, so that’s something Milwaukee will likely focus on in his first taste of the Minors.

Cardinals: Yairo Padilla, SS (No. 29)
Padilla was a DSL All-Star this past summer with a .287/.391/.404 line and 22 steals in 35 games – numbers that all but ensure he’ll be stateside for his age-18 season in 2025. The $760,000 signing can switch hit and showed a solid approach from both sides, though he’s gotten much more experience from the left to this point. His above-average speed and plus arm strength are two more assets, but much will come down to how his power develops as a 6-foot infielder.

Cubs: Ronny Cruz, SS (No. 15)
The Cubs have high hopes for Cruz, who was difficult to scout as a Florida high school senior last spring after having knee surgery in November 2023. He wasn't completely healthy until late in his senior year, but the Cubs still took him in the third round because they believe he has solid raw power and speed and good actions at shortstop. He'll make his pro debut this year.

Pirates: Levi Sterling, RHP (No. 11)
The Pirates seem to have a pretty good feel for scouting, drafting, signing and developing pitching and Sterling could be next in that pipeline to pop. He’s 6-foot-5 and super-athletic and will be focusing on pitching only for the first time (he was a solid infield prospect in high school). He has the chance to have four at least above-average pitches in the future and he’ll put them to the test for the first time in 2025.

Reds: Alfredo Duno, C (No. 7)
Duno joined phenom Ethan Salas as catching prospects in the top five of the 2023 Top 50 international list and the Reds gave him $3.1 million to join the organization. After posting a .944 OPS hitting only in the DSL that summer (He had an elbow issue that kept him from catching.), he came to the U.S. in 2024 and skipped over the Arizona Complex League, holding his own in full-season ball. He has skills on both sides of the ball that point to a future as a big league regular and could jump into conversations of the best backstop prospects in the game.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

D-backs: Ryan Waldschmidt , OF (No. 4)
After suffering a serious left knee injury in the Cape Cod League in 2023, Waldschmidt was building back up to dominance throughout the spring at Kentucky just in time for the Draft. Arizona picked him up with the 31st overall pick (acquired thanks to Corbin Carroll’s Rookie of the Year season) and have hope that Waldschmidt can take another jump with the knee even more fully behind him. As it stands, the former Wildcat can be patient at the approach in search of tapping into his above-average power with excellent bat speed, and in the eyes of D-backs officials, his wheels could help him play any of the three outfield spots.

Dodgers: Zyhir Hope, OF (No. 11)
Acquired from the Cubs in the Michael Busch/Yency Almonte Trade in January 2024, Hope slashed .287/.415/.490 with nine homers and eight steals in 54 games at Single-A despite missing three months with a rib stress fracture. He was the most dynamic player in the Arizona Fall League, earning well above-average grades for raw power, speed and arm strength from some scouts.

Giants: Rayner Arias, OF (No. 5)
Signed for the second-largest international bonus in franchise history ($2,697,500 in 2023), Arias has been hampered by injuries to his left wrist in each of his two pro seasons. His .250/.371/.364 line in 25 games last summer in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League belies his advanced hitting ability, huge power potential and impressive exit velocities.

Padres: Humberto Cruz, RHP (No. 5)
Signed for $750,000 out of Mexico at the start of last year, Cruz only pitched in two Arizona Complex League games as he got his feet wet in pro ball, but behind the scenes, he showed the makings of an advanced arm ready to leap up the San Diego ranks. His fastball averaged around 94 mph already, while his changeup and slider could be two other weapons with further refinement. Cruz’s athleticism helps him pump strikes, and that whole package will draw plenty of eyes in ‘25.

Rockies: Robert Calaz, OF (No. 9)
Signed for $1.7 million at the start of the 2023 international signing period, Calaz had a .984 OPS in the DSL that summer to whet the Rockies’ appetites. He kept on raking, from the ACL to the full-season California League, finishing 2024 with a combined .344/.446/.633 line over 62 games. He has a chance to stick in center, but also would profile well as a run-producing athletic corner outfielder with a solid approach at the dish.