Image credit: Drake Baldwin (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

April 18 update: The PPI status of some players has changed based on in-season promotions and demotions. The affected players are Caden Dana, Chase Dollander, Thomas Harrington and Matt Shaw. Details are spelled out below.

Eight rookies on MLB Opening Day rosters had the potential to gain Prospect Promotion Incentive eligibility this season. That number is down sharply from 16 last year and 14 in 2023.

The number of PPI hopefuls shrank by one when the Cubs optioned third baseman Matt Shaw to Triple-A on April 15.

Any PPI-eligible player who wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three for MVP or Cy Young Award as a second- or third-year player will earn his club a draft pick after the first round in the following draft.

Corbin Carroll, Gunnar Henderson and Julio Rodriguez have earned PPI draft picks for their clubs via ROY wins. Bobby Witt Jr. finished runner-up for American League MVP last year to become the first player to bestow a PPI pick for an award finish other than ROY.

Not every rookie on an Opening Day roster is eligible for PPI. Players must appear on at least two of three qualifying Top 100 Prospects lists—Baseball America, ESPN and MLB—and have no more than 60 days of prior MLB service.

For everything you ever wanted to know about PPI, be sure to check out our primer: Explaining PPI Rules, Quirks & More

Now, let’s meet this year’s rookies who made Opening Day rosters and could qualify for PPI if they remain in the major leagues all season. A ninth player could pick up PPI eligibility if certain conditions are met. Keep reading for that player’s special case.

PPI-Eligible Players

Drake Baldwin, C, Braves

The Braves’ No. 1 prospect was a good bet to spend a lot of time in Atlanta this season after a strong 2024 in the upper minors. The 24-year-old Baldwin held up his end of the bargain by hitting .286/.400/.333 with eight walks and four strikeouts in 17 spring games. A cracked rib suffered by Braves regular catcher Sean Murphy then sealed the deal. The lefthanded-hitting Baldwin will share the backstop job with Chadwick Tromp to open the season.

Kristian Campbell, 2B, Red Sox

From 2023 fourth-round pick to Minor League Player of the Year in 2024, Campbell has as much helium as any prospect. The Red Sox will carry him on the Opening Day roster despite a meager spring showing. The 23-year-old Campbell batted .167/.305/.271 with 10 walks and 18 strikeouts in 20 games, hitting his lone home run in his penultimate Grapefruit League game. He played mostly second base with some left field in the spring and is likely to factor more on the infield.

Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals

Drafted No. 2 overall out of LSU in 2023, Crews hit his way to Double-A in his first pro summer and then to Washington in late August 2024. The 23-year-old is lined up as the Nationals’ Opening Day right fielder this season, where he will play alongside fellow young outfielders James Wood in left and Jacob Young in center. Crews had a lukewarm spring training—he hit .273/.385/.345 with nine walks, 19 strikeouts and zero home runs in 19 games—but has above-average ability across the board.

Jackson Jobe, RHP, Tigers

Jobe made his MLB debut toward the end of last season and appeared in two postseason games for the Tigers. He entered camp as a favorite to win a rotation spot and did just that by pitching 12.1 innings, allowing seven hits, striking out eight and walking four. Jobe also surrendered four home runs, so that bears watching. One was hit against his sinker, a new pitch to his arsenal. Jobe also added a curveball to go with a pitch mix of four-seam fastball, slider, cutter and changeup that already graded as elite.

Kumar Rocker, RHP, Rangers

Rocker threw one of the filthiest sliders in the minor leagues last season and rode the pitch to a September callup to Texas. The 25-year-old earned a roster spot this spring, though it wasn’t pretty. Rocker allowed 13 runs in nine innings but struck out 12 and walked six in four starts. He racked up eight strikeouts over 4.2 innings in his final spring start to get on track. Cactus League conditions can wreak havoc on breaking ball pitchers like Rocker. The dry air makes it difficult to grip the ball and break off the best sliders or curveballs, so Rocker may be more prepared for Opening Day than the raw numbers suggest.

Roki Sasaki, RHP, Dodgers

Sasaki started the Dodgers’ second game of the season at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. He walked five in three innings while allowing one hit and one run to the Cubs. That is a reminder of the 23-year-old’s talent but also the refinement he still has to make to be a dependable MLB starter. Sasaki pitched for four seasons in Japan but counts as PPI eligible because he entered MLB through the international bonus pool system rather than as a “foreign professional.”

Cam Smith, OF, Astros

Smith is part of a growing cohort of players who go from the draft to the major leagues in less than a year. Last year, Wyatt Langford and Nolan Schanuel made Opening Day rosters as 2023 draft picks. Smith is this year’s corollary. He made Houston’s Opening Day roster after being drafted 14th overall out of Florida State last year by the Cubs. Chicago traded him to the Astros in the offseason as the key piece to acquire Kyle Tucker. Smith looked the part of big leaguer in Grapefruit League action, hitting .342/.419/.711 with four home runs in 15 games. He split his time between third base and right field and looks like a fit at the latter after making his last handful of starts in the outfield.

What’s Next?

The players above have cleared two hurdles to PPI eligibility. They appeared on at least two qualifying Top 100 Prospects lists and they made Opening Day rosters.

Now comes the third hurdle: Staying in the big leagues all season.

In order for PPI eligibility to attach, a player must accrue at least 172 days of MLB service as a rookie. That requires either staying on the active roster all season or spending fewer than 20 days on optional assignment.

That’s because any player who is optioned to the minor leagues for fewer than 20 days before being recalled has that time converted to MLB service.

Players With Paths To PPI

Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies

Dollander was one of the Rockies’ final cuts from spring training. He made six Cactus League starts and pitched to a 7.13 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 10 walks in 17.2 innings before being reassigned to the minor leagues. His apprenticeship didn’t last long. Dollander made only one start for Triple-A Albuquerque before the Rockies called him up on April 6. That gives him time to clear the 172 service days requirement if he stays on the Rockies’ big league roster (or injured list) all season.

Rhett Lowder, RHP, Reds

Lowder did not pitch in spring training because of elbow soreness. Because he finished last season on the Reds’ MLB roster, he will begin this season on the major league injured list. He could still become PPI eligible in two scenarios:

1. He recovers from his elbow trouble, goes on a minor league rehab assignment and then returns to the Reds without making an optional assignment of more than 20 days. This would give Lowder roughly 50 days of recovery time, counting 30 days for rehab assignment and 20 for optional assignment.

2. He misses the entire 2025 season on the injured list. In this scenario, Lowder accrues a full year of major league service. This is how Cade Cavalli and Ronny Mauricio added PPI eligibility in 2023 and 2024.

Matt Shaw, 3B, Cubs

Shaw didn’t get a full spring ramp-up period because the Cubs had to get ready to open the season in Japan in mid March. Case in point: Shaw hit .227/.320/.273 with three walks and two strikeouts in eight Cactus League games. The 23-year-old made the Cubs’ Opening Day roster and collected his first MLB hit while in Japan, but he managed just nine more before the Cubs optioned him to Triple-A Iowa on April 15.

Shaw batted .172/.294/.241 (10-for-58) with 18 strikeouts in 18 games prior to his demotion. If the Cubs call him back up within 20 days of his option date, his minor league time would be converted to MLB service. That would put him on a track to PPI eligibility, but that scenario appears to be unlikely.

Caden Dana, RHP, Angels; and Thomas Harrington, RHP, Pirates

Dana and Harrington received early-season callups followed by quick demotions to Triple-A. If recalled within 20 days of optional assignment, their minor league time would be converted to MLB service. That would create the opportunity for them to reach 172 days this season. However, the window for that to happen closes in late April.

Notable PPI Exclusions

Yankees left fielder Jasson Dominguez and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson meet the Top 100 Prospects requirement but have too much MLB service to qualify for PPI. Players may not exceed 60 days of MLB service to retain the possibility of PPI.

Dominguez has 130 service days and Wilson has 73. Most of that time was spent on the injured list, which maintains the players’ rookie eligibility but nullifies PPI eligibility.

Braves righthander AJ Smith-Shawver won a rotation spot. He has 99 days of MLB service, most of it on the IL, which would have stymied his PPI potential. But Smith-Shawver fell short on another front. He ranked No. 83 on the BA Top 100 but did not appear on the ESPN or MLB versions.

Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad appears on the BA Top 100 but does not have rookie eligibility because he has too much active MLB service among his 137 total days. Only rookies may add PPI eligibility.

In summary: Dominguez, Smith-Shawver and Wilson are all eligible to win the Rookie of the Year award. None is eligible for PPI. Kjerstad is ineligible for both.

Players Who Could Have Added PPI Eligibility With Early Callups

The following five players are Top 100 Prospects who stuck around deep into spring training camp. They are not currently 40-man roster members, but if they are called up within the first two weeks of the MLB season, they could still reach the requisite 172 days of service for PPI eligibility to attach.

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox
Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies (see above)
Thomas Harrington, RHP, Pirates (see above)
Marcelo Mayer, SS/3B, Red Sox
Christian Moore, 2B, Angels

The following nine players are Top 100 Prospects who are 40-man roster members, meaning that when they were sent to minor league camp, they were technically optioned to the minor leagues.

Therefore, any optional assignment of fewer than 20 days for a player called up from this list would result in that minor league time being converted to MLB service. That in turn would put the player on a path to reaching 172 days if they stick around all season.