Rays’ RHP Mason Auer A Prospect To Watch In 2025 After Making Move To Pitching Full-Time
Image credit: Mason Auer (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Switching from a positional player to a pitcher—or vice versa—is arguably the most drastic positional change in sports. Despite the dynamically different skill sets, every year we see players make the move.
Just earlier this offseason, slugger and two-time all-star Joey Gallo made the switch to pitching. Players like Kenley Jensen, Sean Doolittle, Joe Nathan and Tim Wakefield were all former position players that made a successful jump to the mound.
Next in line? How about the Rays’ Mason Auer.
Entering 2025, the formerly highly-rated Rays positional prospect is making the jump to pitching. Auer was ranked among the Rays Top 10 Prospects as an outfielder entering 2023. What followed were two years in which he hit a combined .198/.282/.337 over 212 games. The righthander was moved to the mound at the end of last season and was active on the backfields this spring.
A two-way player who was up to 97 mph on the mound during his draft summer out of high school, Auer possesses loud stuff. On the backfields this spring, he was sitting 93-95 mph while mixing in a mid-80s slider. His fastball shape is excellent, boasting 19-20 inches of induced vertical break with cut. In one of Baseball America’s looks this offseason, Auer missed several bats in a High-A game against his fastball.
The former center fielder enters 2025 now as a full-time pitcher for the first time in his professional career. Auer has the stuff to move quickly as a reliever, as his fastball shape, potential velocity and harder slider give him the look of a one-inning reliever capable of racking up high numbers of strikeouts.
At just 24 years old, Auer still has time to settle into his new role and prove he has the ability to compete in the big leagues, even if his new duties on the mound are drastically different from what he envisioned two years ago. Armed with velocity, the ability to backspin his fastball and the Rays’ vaunted pitching development, Auer is once again a name to follow in 2025.
