Ranking The 20 Hottest MLB Prospects | Hot Sheet (4/28/25)

1. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox

• Team: Triple-A Worcester
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .450/.480/1.050 (9-for-20), 7 R, 3 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBIs, 3 BB, 4 SO, 0-for-0 SB

The Scoop: It’s been a battle for who’s hottest in Worcester early this season as both Mayer and Roman Anthony have been raking. Last week, Mayer reached base in all six games and had hits in five of six. He slugged home runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, pushing his season total to seven over the first month. Mayer has a smooth lefthanded swing capable of hitting for average and power. (GP) 

2. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, Brewers

• Team: Triple-A Nashville (International)
• Age: 23
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 0.00, 2 GS, 11 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 17 SO

The Scoop: No one expects Misiorowski to ever have exceptional control, but weeks like this one show what he can do if he’s even an average strike-thrower. In his start last week, Misiorowski had a 57% strike percentage, and he gave up five runs in five innings. This week, he threw 66% strikes in six shutout innings on Tuesday and 72% strikes in five shutout innings on Sunday. The righthander flirted with 100 mph last week (touching 99.8 and 99.9 in his two starts) while getting swings and misses with his fastball and curve. (JJ)

3. Jordan Lawlar, SS, Diamondbacks

• Team: Triple-A Reno (Pacific Coast)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .476/.560/.714 (10-for-21), 8 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 4 SO

The Scoop: There’s no question Lawlar, who topped the Hot Sheet last week, can ball out. In every season so far, he’s proved that and in most organizations, he would be playing in the majors. But with Eugenio Suarez smashing, Geraldo Perdomo producing and Ketel Marte on the verge of a return, the road to the show for Lawlar still has many hurdles ahead. The real benefit to the D-backs and Lawlar will be assessing how healthy he can remain. 

4. Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox

• Team: Triple-A Worcester (International)
• Age: 20
• Why He’s Here: .500/.600/.857 (7-for-14) 7 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 5 BB, 2 SO

The Scoop: Anthony’s week ended early, as he didn’t play in the final two games of Worcester’s series thanks to a bruised foot suffered fouling a ball off it on Friday night. But in those first five games, BA’s No. 2 overall prospect demolished Syracuse. Anthony’s first month has been excellent. He went hitless in five of the first eight games of the season, but he’s had just two hitless games since, and he’s working on a 16-game on-base streak. (JJ)

5. Leodalis De Vries, SS, Padres

• Team: High-A Fort Wayne (Midwest)
• Age: 18
• Why He’s Here: .350/.391/.900 (7-for-20), 4 R, 1 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1-for-1 SB 

The Scoop: De Vries opened the week with a single-game performance for the ages, hitting for the cycle, launching two home runs and racking up eight RBIs. The explosive outing catapulted his batting average from .217 to .294 in a single night. Although the 18-year-old cooled off in the days that followed, that one historic showing cements his place on this week’s list. (JC)

6. Tim Elko, 1B, White Sox

• Team: Triple-A Charlotte (International)
• Age: 26
• Why He’s Here: .333/.400/1.095 (7-for-21) 6 R, 1 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBIs, 3 BB, 6 SO

The Scoop: In the past 10 games, Elko has hit eight home runs, with three different two-home run games. No other MiLB hitter has eight home runs all season. Elko has always been a slugger, but he has shown increased power this year. He already has home runs of 114, 111 and 110 mph and has already collected more 110+ mph hits this year than he had in 48 games at Charlotte last year. (JJ)

7. George Klassen, RHP, Angels 

• Team: Double-A Rocket City (Southern) 
• Age: 23 
• Why He’s Here: 0-1, 2.61, 10.1 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 14 SO, 1 HR

The Scoop: Klassen broke out in the first half of 2024 while still with the Phillies, and the Angels acquired him in the Carlos Estevez trade at last year’s deadline. So far this season, Klassen is off to a hot start, and last week he logged a pair of strong performances. In particular, his start on Tuesday was outstanding, as Klassen went 5.1 innings and struck out nine while walking one, allowing three hits and not letting up a run. Klassen has always possessed elite stuff, but he’s now showing the ability to consistently throw strikes. (GP) 

8. Jonah Tong, RHP, Mets 

• Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern)
• Age: 21 
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 1.08, 8.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 19 SO, 1 HR

The Scoop: One of the Mets’ top pitching prospects, Tong has continued to show swing-and-miss stuff in 2025. Coming into last week, Tong had struggled with command, walking seven batters in his first nine innings of the season. This week, he turned a corner, walking four across a pair of four-plus inning starts. Tong continued to miss bats at a high rate, striking out 19 over the two starts. Tong’s four-seam fastball has outlier ride, and his success is a product of that fastball quality. (GP)

9. Dalton Rushing, C/OF, Dodgers

• Team: Triple-A Oklahoma City (International)
• Age: 24
• Why He’s Here: .316/.435/.737 (6-for-19) 4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 4 BB, 5 SO

The Scoop: With a crowded outfield in Los Angeles, Rushing is back to being a full-time catcher, with only an occasional game at first base or DH to give him a breather. Rushing has had a bit of an up-and-down start to his season. He has a pair of four-hit games, including one this week, but he also has had four- and five-strikeout games. (JJ)

10. Dylan Dreiling, OF, Rangers

• Team: High-A Hub City (South Atlantic) 
• Age: 22 
• Why He’s Here: .474/.565/.737 (9-for-19), 3 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 BB, 5 SO, 3-for-3 SB

The Scoop: A 2024 second-round pick out of Tennessee, Dreiling has been hot to start 2025 with High-A Hub City. Over 17 games this season, he’s hitting .297/.410/.453 with six extra-base hits and 13 RBIs. Last week, he collected hits in all five games, while reaching base three-plus times on Thursday and Friday. Dreiling has shown the ability to hit for contact, get on-base and hit for power. Despite not having as high a profile as other 2024 college hitters, Dreiling is more than holding his own. (GP) 

11. Tommy White, 3B, Athletics

• Team: High-A Lansing (Midwest)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: .379/.400/.690 (11-for-29), 7 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SO

The Scoop: White bookended his week with home runs, living up to the “Tommy Tanks” nickname he earned at LSU and reminding everyone of his power. After a slow start to the season, he’s now riding a 12-game hitting streak and showing newfound patience at the plate. While the bat is heating up, the next step in his evolution will be proving he can handle the defensive demands of third base well enough to stick there every day at the pro level. (JC)

12. Kristian Robinson, OF, Diamondbacks

• Team: Double-A Amarillo (Texas)
• Age: 24
• Why He’s Here: .353/.542/.941 (6-for-17), 6 R, 1 2B, 3  HR, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 4 SO

The Scoop: With the adversity Robinson faced to begin his professional career, it’s encouraging to see that his level of play has lived up to what the D-backs envisioned when they signed him out of the Bahamas in 2017. He homered three times this week and showed improved plate discipline by drawing six walks. That’s a really good sign considering patience is his weak link, but there is still plenty of work to be done, as he has a 39.44% strikeout rate this season. If he can fix that, Robinson has the potential to become the next exciting, athletic hitter Arizona has produced in recent years. (JC)

13. Gino Groover, 3B, Diamondbacks

• Team: Double-A Amarillo (Texas)
• Age: 23
• Why He’s Here: .300/.360/.875 (8-for-24) 4 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBIs, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 CS

The Scoop: Groover began the week with two home runs and finishes it with five. While he continues to face questions about whether he can stick at third base long term (his fielding percentage right now is .862), if Groover can keep mashing like he is in Amarillo, that won’t be much of a problem. He’s hitting .338/.402/.622 this season after an excellent 13-game stint in Amarillo to end the 2024 season. (JJ)

14. Hunter Barco, LHP, Pirates

• Team: Double-A Altoona (Eastern)
• Age: 24
• Why He’s Here: 0-0, 0.00, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 16 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: With Paul Skenes and Jared Jones impressing in the big leagues the last two years and Bubba Chandler dominating in Triple-A, the Pirates already have a core of good young pitching. With the emergence of Hunter Barco early in 2025, the Pirates might have another future rotation stalwart. This week, Barco made a pair of starts, tossing 7.2 scoreless innings. He showed off swing-and-miss ability as well as impressive command, striking out 16 batters while walking just two. Barco has yet to allow a run across 20.2 innings to begin the season. (GP)

15. Kade Morris, RHP, Athletics

• Team: Double-A Midland (Texas)
• Age: 22
• Why He’s Here: 0-1, 1.74 ERA, 2 GS, 10.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 13 SO

The Scoop: For all the spark prospects Nick Kurtz and Rodney Green have created with their hitting early this season, the A’s equally possess a strong pitching forte. Morris, acquired last year from the Mets at the trade deadline for Paul Blackburn, was brilliant this past week. He played at every single affiliated level last year and has a deep arsenal led by two fastballs that sit between 92-95 mph. The A’s have worked with Morris on improving his delivery in hopes of seeing better results. (JC) 

16. Moises Ballesteros, C, Cubs

• Team: Triple-A Iowa (International)
• Age: 21
• Why He’s Here: .500/.565/.600 (10-for-20) 4 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 2 SO

The Scoop: There are very few players in the minors who evoke more comfort in their ability to hit than Ballesteros, and right now, he’s on a true heater. Ballesteros has a 14-game hitting streak which has seen him have more multi-hit games (9) than one-hit games. Over this hitting streak, he has struck out only four times while walking nine times. (JJ)

17. Demetrio Crisantes, SS, Diamondbacks

• Team: High-A Hillsboro (Northwest)
• Age: 20
• Why He’s Here: .409/.480/.636 (9-for-22), 9 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO, 2-for-2 SB

The Scoop: All the reviews on Crisantes in the spring were simple: He can hit. And that’s all he’s done to begin the season, too. Crisantes had a dominant week in which he logged his first four-hit performance of the season, with one of them leaving the yard. The 20-year-old has put away any concerns about two injuries suffered during his amateur career, one of which was Tommy John surgery. Questions about Crisantes’ defensive placement remain, however, as he is a little light on athleticism compared to the average major league shortstop. (JC)

18. Michael McGreevy, RHP, Cardinals

• Team: Triple-A Memphis (International)
• Age: 24
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 3.72, 9.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO, 1 HR

The Scoop: After making four strong appearances for the Cardinals in 2024, McGreevy is biding his time in Triple-A while he awaits his next opportunity. He’s been solid to begin the season. He made two starts last week, including an outstanding turn on Tuesday in which he went six scoreless and struck out five, while walking none and allowing one run on six hits. McGreevy doesn’t dominate with elite stuff, but he generates lots of ground balls and continually attacks the strike zone. (GP) 

19. Gunnar Hoglund, RHP, Athletics

• Team: Triple-A Las Vegas (Pacific Coast League)
• Age: 20
• Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0, 2 GS, 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 SO

The Scoop: A’s manager Mark Kotsay said Hoglund left a strong impression on the team during spring training. So it’s no surprise that the righthander has started the season strong, catapulted by 10 strikeouts over two scoreless starts last week. Hoglund’s fastball has seen an uptick in velocity, sitting at 94-95 mph. He was a key piece in the Matt Chapman trade from the Blue Jays but was coming off Tommy John surgery from his junior year at Ole Miss. He’s now showing the results from his first normal offseason. (JC)

20. Mike Sirota, OF, Dodgers

• Team: Low-A Rancho Cucamonga (California)
• Age: 21
• Why He’s Here: .409/.500/.773 (9-for-22) 7 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBIs, 4 BB, 7 SO

The Scoop: Admittedly, a California League stint is a modest assignment for Sirota. But if you’re going to be given a “get acclimated” assignment from your new organization, you might as well dominate the league, and that’s what Sirota has done. Acquired in the offseason Gavin Lux trade, Sirota is second in the California League in batting, first in slugging percentage, first in OPS and first in extra-base hits. (JJ)

Helium

Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics

Jump enjoyed a highly-decorated career as a California prep in the most competitive division of the CIF. He then matriculated to UCLA before transferring to LSU. The Athletics drafted Jump in the supplemental second round in 2024, and he’s been strong to begin 2025. This week, Jump tossed 6.2 scoreless frames, striking out 13 of the 23 batters he faced. He sat at 96 mph during the start with 18-19 inches of induced vertical break from a 5-foot-6 release height. He mixed sliders and curveballs throughout and showed off his premium stuff. Jump’s combination of movement and premium release traits give him a chance to find more success as a professional than he did in college. (GP)