Pitching Prospects Poised to Breakout in 2025: Rising Stars to Watch

One of my favorite articles to write each offseason is my breakout prospect list. Getting in on prospects early in the dynasty before their stock takes off is huge, and this is what I hope to accomplish in this article, helping you add this list of high-octane prospects to your dynasty farm system.

No matter how deep of a league you are in, we have you covered with a ton of pitching prospects that could break out in 2024. This article will be broken up into two parts. The first edition of the pitching prospect breakout article will focus on players in my top 300.

Let’s dive in on the 15 pitching prospects I like to break out in 2025.

2025 Pitching Prospect Breakouts

Brody Hopkins, RHP, 23, Tampa Bay Rays, 6’4”/200, A+

Hopkins is as unique of a starter as you will find in the minors. A 2023 sixth-round selection by the Mariners out of Winthrop, Hopkins was traded to the Rays in the Randy Arozarena deal.

He put together an impressive 2024 season between Single-A and High-A, posting a 3.05 ERA across 115 innings with 133 strikeouts and 53 walks. Strike throwing was sometimes an issue, and Hopkins ended up posting a strike-rate below 60 percent, which is well below average.

The fastball sits in the 95-97 range and has touched triple digits. Hopkins throws two variations of the fastball, a four-seam and sinker, with the four-seam showing respectable ride and run, but his sinker gets a ton of running life, touching over 20 inches of arm-side movement often. It comes from a low, funky arm slot at 5’, which you can see in the video below, making the riding four-seam even more impressive.

Hopkins’ sweeper is his best pitch, generating impressive whiff rates, sitting 87-89 mph with some depth and 13-15 inches of sweeping action. He mixes in a curveball in the 85-87 range with more depth than the slider and throws a cutter with a shorter horizontal break and more ride.

His changeup, around 89 mph, has nice depth and arm-side movement. It plays well off the sinker and is his go-to pitch against left-handed bats.

On top of the impressive arsenal, Hopkins is an athlete. He moves exceptionally well on the mound and is strong on grounders and bunts in the field, making plays look smooth. It is important to remember that Hopkins is newer to the pitcher and was an outfielder in college. He pitched a total of 31 innings before his draft year at Winthrop.

The stuff is arguably some of the most unique in the minors. Hopkins is far from a finished product as an arm and has a wide range of outcomes, but the stuff is legit. Hopkins could get pushed aggressively in 2025, but he must show improved strike-throwing ability.

Santiago Suarez, RHP, 20, Tampa Bay Rays, 6’2”/175, A

After signing with the Marlina in 2022 and putting together an impressive DSL season at 17, the Marlins traded Suarez to the Rays, where he thrived. After reaching Single-A at the end of 2023, Suarez returned to Charleston, where he spent the entire 2024 season as a 19-year-old. Pitching 111.2 innings, Suarez posted a 4.11 ERA with a 26 percent strikeout rate to just a 4.7 percent walk rate.

For his age, Suarez has advanced stuff and command. His fastball sits in the 94-96 range before tapering to 93 on the bottom end by the end of starts. Suarez’s fastball averages 18 inches of IVB from a low release height and a flat VAA, making it an extremely tough pitch for hitters. It even plays up beyond the velocity, thanks to good extension.

Suarez’s curveball flashes being a plus pitch, sitting between 78 and 82 on the high end with nice depth and horizontal movement. The two-plane breaker gets ugly swings and chases out of the zone. At times, it plays more like a slider, others more like a curve.

The split-changeup sits in the upper 80s, and Suarez also flashes a cutter that reaches 91. He has a highly athletic delivery that he repeats well. All the makings are there for Suarez to be a solid starting pitcher long-term. Incorporating his secondaries more in 2025 could lead to a major breakout, as he used his fastball and cutter 75 percent of the time in 2024. Suarez has some of the best command of any teenager in baseball, which allows his stuff to play up.

Jackson Baumeister, RHP, 22, Tampa Bay Rays, 6’4”/224, A+

A 2023 second-round draft selection by the Baltimore Orioles, Baumeister was traded to the Rays for Zach Eflin and thrived. When I saw Baumeister pitch with Aberdeen in July, he was really solid, but the Rays made a few tweaks post-trade, and he suddenly looked like one of the best pitching prospects in the game.

Tossing 99.2 innings between both affiliates, Baumeister posted a 2.53 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 48 walks. Baumeister finished the year allowing just one run in his final 18 innings and had 28 strikeouts to just two walks. In 29 innings with the Rays org, he posted a 1.24 ERA.

Strike throwing and walks have been the major red flag all year, and before joining the Rays, Baumeister had a 59 percent strike rate. Since the move to Tampa, that mark sits at 69 percent, an unprecedented jump. I was curious as to how this happened. I went to the release point data, which is pretty much identical. Everything looks the same, so we have to see if this sticks.

It’s a big fastball that has ticked up and is sitting 94-97 mph now with 20 inches of induced vertical break and even some solid horizontal movement. Baumeister added a new cutter with good carry, sitting in the upper 80s. The curveball is a 12-6 hammer that gets a ton of whiffs. The changeup has strong traits when he throws it, sitting 86 mph with a lot of ride and nearly 14 inches of fade on average.

This ranking might be extremely low if Baumeister comes into 2025 and pitches how he did with the Rays org down the stretch. He certainly has the stuff and could thrive if the control gains stick. Buy in now before it is too late.

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