Jose Urbina

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Tampa Bay Rays #19 prospect in 2026
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Average
  
  Adjusted Grade: 40
  
  Track Record: Urbina had a good frame, but when the Rays signed him at 16 years old he topped out at 90 mph. He has steadily added velocity ever since and did so again in 2025, adding another tick to his fastball in a dominant season at Low-A Charleston.
  
  Scouting Report: Urbina’s fastball averaged 94 mph in 2023, 95 in 2024 and 96 in 2025 while touching 100 mph. His fastball carry isn’t exceptional, but it’s still an above-average pitch because of its combination of velocity and flat plane. Urbina largely went away from his big, slower curve, replacing it with a much harder mid-80s cut-slider that tunnels well with his fastball. The slider has plus potential and could get even more powerful as he develops it. He did drop in the below-average high-70s curve from time to time, but he struggled to locate it. His fringe-average changeup needs work. It’s a chase pitch for now, and the whiffs it got in Class A are unlikely to continue against better hitters unless he shows he can throw it for strikes. Urbina’s control improved from below-average to above-average in 2025 as he better controlled his delivery. He walked zero or one batter in 13 of his 20 starts.
  
  The Future: Much like a late-season stint in Charleston in 2024 prepped Urbina for 2025, the Rays gave him a one-game sneak peek at High-A Bowling Green to end the season. He’ll be at the front of that rotation in 2026 and should be one of the best starters in the South Atlantic League.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 55
• 
  Ranked Tampa Bay Rays #23 prospect in 2025
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme.
  
  Track Record: The arrow has been pointing up for Urbina from the moment he signed for $210,000 in 2023. Urbina has gone from sitting at 90-91 mph to sitting 94-95 and touching 99 in less than two years. The Rays aggressively sent him to the Florida Complex League in 2023, but then sent him back there with the earlier start date for the league in 2024. He finished the season with four starts at Low-A Charleston.
  
  Scouting Report: Urbina has one of the best fastballs in the Rays system, with top-end velocity from an athletic, lanky build. His delivery does have some length and he’ll have to work to repeat consistently. He showed the aptitude to refine and develop his breaking ball, which helped him get in the strike zone more consistently. Early in the season, he relied on a below-average high-70s bigger curveball, but he switched more and more in-season to a low-80s slider that he can throw for strikes more regularly, although he’s still working on commanding it to better spots in the zone—he leaves it up too often. He has a below-average hard changeup that so far he shows little feel for commanding.
  
  The Future: Of the Rays’ numerous young starters, Urbina carries one of the highest risks of ending up in the bullpen, but his combination of a dominating fastball and a developing breaking ball gives him a high upside and a pretty reasonable fallback option as well.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 40.
• 
  Ranked Tampa Bay Rays #15 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: In the 1990s and 2000s, teams often spent big to sign the best arms in Latin America. But after high-priced arm after high-priced arm failed to make it to the major leagues, the approach changed. Now, even the best international pitchers don’t come close to matching the bonuses handed out to the top hitters. But even considering that, Urbina is an unusual case. He signed with the Rays for $210,000 out of Venezuela in January 2023, but he’s already one of the team’s most promising pitching prospects.
  
  Scouting Report: When teams were scouting Urbina, he was an athletic, well-built righthander with a clean delivery and a fast arm, but he maxed out at 90 mph. There was a hope that he’d add more velocity, but it would have been hard to expect it would happen this quickly. The Rays skipped the polished Urbina over the Dominican Summer League, and he debuted as a 17-year-old in the Florida Complex League. While his statistics weren’t particularly impressive, he showed some of the best stuff and feel in the league. Urbina sits in the mid 90s and touches 97 mph with a potentially plus fastball with above-average life. He also spins a future plus curveball and will flash feel for his still-developing changeup.
  
  The Future: For years, the Rays seemed to produce front-line starters at will, but at present there are few pitchers in the system who the organization projects as even midrotation starters. Urbina has arguably the highest upside of any of them. His athleticism, clean delivery and feel for spinning a breaking ball to go with rapidly improving velocity makes him an arm to watch.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 60 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 45