18 MLB Prospect Performances That Could Mean Something—Or Nothing—Early In 2025
Image credit: C.J. Kayfus (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
Part of the fun of the early season is also what makes it dangerous. We’re finally seeing meaningful games again. For a lot of prospects, that means the potential for new skills, new pitches and maybe even a new ceiling for performance. But deciphering real, tangible progress while dealing with small sample sizes is a tricky science.
I see it play out almost every morning while putting together the Baseball America Prospect Report newsletter, where we highlight the top performers from the night before and provide daily updates via our Prospect Wire. My colleague Ben Badler has already identified 10 Low-A players who could soon rise rankings as well. We’ll have more on the way soon, including a Top 100 update at the beginning of May.
Inevitably, though, it’s impossible to highlight every interesting performance. Some fall through the cracks. So below, I’ve compiled a batch of prospects—some flying under the radar, some trending upward and a few off to concerning starts—who have consistently popped up in our stat runs and are worth filing away.
Ready For A New Level?
C.J. Kayfus, 1B, Guardians
Kayfus hit an absurd .600 on balls in play through his first 11 games, and they weren’t exactly cheap. The 23-year-old, lefthanded-hitting first baseman already has four triples on his ledger. His lone homer came off lefty Cy Nielson, and he also notched hits against Pirates lefthanders Anthony Solometo and Hunter Barco, who aren’t easy at-bats. Kayfus has nearly as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (11). His over-the-fence power faced some questions entering the season, but Kayfus is a marvel to watch. He’s been on a heater for the better part of a year now and doesn’t have much left to prove at Double-A.
Ben Hess, RHP, Yankees
Hess hasn’t had any issues with High-A batters through his first 9.2 innings as a pro. The Yankees’ 2024 first-rounder out of Alabama has 18 strikeouts to three walks (and one HBP). He’s a big man at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds with a big mid-90s fastball and plenty of extension. That was mostly all he needed in his most recent appearance against Wilmington. Hess showed two distinct breaking balls in that outing—he had much better command of his curveball in cold conditions—along with a changeup. If the strike-throwing holds, he could soon be ready for the upper minors.
Khal Stephen, RHP, Blue Jays
Stephen is another college arm who hasn’t faced much resistance so far. The Blue Jays drafted him 59th overall last year after a strong season at Mississippi State, though he didn’t make his pro debut. He opened this season with Low-A Dunedin and owns a 0.56 ERA with 20 strikeouts to two walks through 16 innings. At 6-foot-4, Stephen has a mid-90s fastball that carries well through the zone and a deep array of average secondaries. We tabbed him as a potential breakout option in Toronto’s system, especially if he leans on his changeup more, and he threw it plenty in his last start out. His performance against older competition will be a truer test of whether he’s taken a step forward.
Chris Suero, C, Mets
Suero set a career high with nine home runs a year ago. He’s already hit another five this season with High-A Brooklyn, and his most recent three came against pitchers with some pedigree: two off Orioles righty Trey Gibson and a missile off Yankees RHP Bryce Cunningham. The 21-year-old has traded some plate discipline for power so far—his strikeout rate has spiked to 34.1%—but his above-average athleticism and unusual positional versatility for a catcher heightens the intrigue if he can find the right tradeoff of hit vs. power. With nearly 100 games of High-A experience, he’ll be ready for the upper minors soon.
Robby Snelling, LHP, Marlins
Snelling was once a Top 100 Prospect and Baseball America’s 2023 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, but he struggled to a 6.01 ERA at Double-A San Antonio last year. Things have stabilized since his trade to Miami, and he’s off to a strong start at Double-A Pensacola with a 2.20 ERA and 20 strikeouts over his first 16.1 innings. More importantly, Snelling has pitched more assertively within the strike zone, and his velocity is ticking up. With 143 Double-A innings under his belt, Triple-A Jacksonville is beckoning.
Prospects Worth Monitoring
Aroon Escobar, 2B, Phillies
Escobar has been flashing arrow-up indicators since last year’s pristine performance in the Florida Complex League. He was also a favorite of scouts patrolling the backfields this spring and made Geoff Pontes’ breakout team as a potential Top 100 candidate by midsummer. Escobar has done little to dissuade anyone so far, hitting .357/.426/.595 in a tiny 10-game sample with a pair of home runs for Low-A Clearwater. He catches tons of barrels and is undeterred by velocity. He will need to stay in shape and iron out a defensive home, likely at second base, but he’s quickly emerging as one of the more entertaining hitters in the lower minors.
Omar Alfonzo, C, Pirates
Alfonzo hit 13 homers last year, capped by a 24-game stint with High-A Greensboro. He’s back at the level and already has three homers through 12 games, including one to the opposite field. His walk and strikeout rates are both up, but he’s showing more of an all-fields approach so far. Alfonzo was Rule 5-eligible last year, but his age (21) and inexperience made him an unlikely pick. Already a Top 30 Prospect in Pittsburgh’s system, another power spike makes him even more intriguing if his defense can keep up.
Kyle Karros, 3B, Rockies
Karros strung together an impressive series against a Double-A Portland pitching staff featuring two rehabbing big leaguers in Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito, plus several other interesting arms. He worked walks against both Bello and Giolito despite falling behind in counts, singled off an 0-2 Bello slider and crushed a Connelly Early slider for a long double. Karros’ defensive chops and bat-to-ball skills were already well-regarded. If he can handle spin better than expected, which was a point of emphasis entering the season, his hot start is worth filing away.
Yordanny Monegro, RHP, Red Sox
The Red Sox are loaded with interesting arms. Brandon Clarke popped up this week. So has Monegro’s teammate Connelly Early. But what about Monegro himself? The 22-year-old has matched Early’s production so far with Double-A Portland, striking out 15 batters through his first 7.1 innings. Monegro often pitches backward off his upper-80s slider, and his low-80s curveball is a devilish swing-and-miss option. Monegro’s mid-90s fastball doesn’t have great shape nor miss many bats, blunting his overall ceiling relative to other pop-up arms in the system, but his deep arsenal and feel to pitch give him a shot as a back-end starter if he can hold his stuff across longer outings.
Herick Hernandez, LHP, Braves
Hernandez caught my attention by striking out nine over 4.2 scoreless innings against High-A Asheville. So did this line from his preseason scouting report: The Braves drafted him a year later in the fourth round for $472,500 despite a 6.14 ERA over 14 starts because they bought into his pure arm talent. There seems to be a recent trend of Miami pitchers finding more success in pro ball, and Hernandez has some interesting qualities as a 5-foot-10 lefty who throws a fastball up to 94 mph from a high slot and plenty of carry. He also appears to have reinserted his curveball back into his repertoire this year to round out his four-pitch mix.
Otto Kemp, 3B/2B, Phillies
Kemp, a 2022 undrafted free agent, is tied for fourth in the minors with five homers. After a strong 2024 and a Fall League cameo, he’s back at Triple-A and his strikeout rate has fallen back in line with his career norms. Still, Kemp had yet to notch a hit against a fastball 94 mph or harder through his first 17 games logged in Synergy Sports, and he faces some questions about both the adjustability of his swing and long-term defensive upside. He’s a great story with a legitimate path to a big league role, although it may need to come via a trade given Philadelphia’s crowded depth chart.
Henry Bolte, OF, Athletics
Bolte is hitting .326/.396.488 in his return to Double-A Midland and is coming off a 2-for-4 game on Thursday where he went yard and also stole his first base of the year. But Bolte’s 16.7% strikeout rate and 72.2% contact percentage are what have my attention. Both would represent significant steps forward for a player who isn’t short on power or speed but has long faced a healthy amount of skepticism about how his swing would work against better pitching. Let’s see if he can sustain it.
Wei-En Lin, LHP, Athletics
Lin may very well be a fit for the category above, because he has dominated so far for Low-A Stockton. The 19-year-old signed out of Taiwan later in the 2024 signing process and has 24 strikeouts through 12 innings in his pro debut this year and has yet to walk a batter. At 6-foot-2, 179 pounds, Lin doesn’t throw particularly hard yet. He’s sitting in the low 90s, but his fastball has played well in the zone so far, and he repeats his delivery quite well. He also throws a slider and a changeup, and he’s an interesting lower-level A’s arm to watch if he can add a bit more velocity as he gets stronger.
Don’t Panic Yet, But…
Seaver King, SS, Nationals
King has hit just .128 with a ghastly 44.2% strikeout rate through his first 10 games with High-A Wilmington, and the 10th overall pick from the 2024 draft has yet to hit a home run as a professional. In fact, through his first 10 games logged on Synergy Sports, he only pulled one ball that left the infield. King’s bat speed and electric hands were lauded as an amateur, but his free-swinging ways also got him into trouble. Right now, he seems stuck between approaches.
Christian Moore, 3B, Angels
The eighth overall pick from the 2024 draft ran a 37.1% strikeout rate through his first 10 games with Double-A Rocket City. Moore’s seen a steady stream of sliders away so far this season. He faced some contact questions as an underclassmen at Tennessee before his massive junior season. While Moore deserves some patience given his relative lack of track record in the upper minors, his performance so far catches your attention given his strong pro debut and speculation about whether the Angels would fast-track him to the majors.
Colson Montgomery, SS, White Sox
Montgomery’s return trip to Triple-A Charlotte is off to an even rougher start. After dealing with a back injury that cut into his spring training, Chicago’s 2021 first-rounder has struck out 44.9% of the time through his first 64 plate appearances. Montgomery now owns a .208/.318/.367 line through 146 career Triple-A games. Chicago has recently called up both Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero, but it looks like it’ll take some time before its once-presumed shortstop of the future is ready to join them.
Deeper Cuts
Antwone Kelly, RHP, Pirates
Stop us if you’ve read this before, but the Pirates have another interesting arm percolating in the lower levels. Kelly hasn’t thrown more than four innings in a start yet, but the early returns are quite loud. After averaging 94 mph on his fastball last year, he was into the upper 90s and touched 100 mph in his most recent start on April 16. The heater has done most of the damage so far this season, but he rounds out his mix with a firm slider and changeup.
Owen Carey, OF, Braves
It’s early, but Carey could prove a sneaky scouting find. The Braves plucked the Rutgers commit out of the New Hampshire prep ranks in the 15th round for just $150,000. They saw enough to add him to their Spring Breakout roster and send him right to Low-A Augusta, where the 18-year-old owns an .807 OPS through his first 11 games while playing all three outfield positions. Carey’s a fiery, aggressive player with an offensive game built around his bat-to-ball skills and speed. He’ll need to refine his approach, but he’s a lower-level bat worth watching in a system light on impact hitters.
