The path from top prospect to legitimate big leaguer isn¡¯t always linear.
Sure, there are plenty of examples of top prospects who immediately became MLB stars. We¡¯re talking about the likes of Juan Soto, Paul Skenes and Bryce Harper. More often than not, though, it can take players years before they hit their groove by gaining experience at the highest level and going through their lumps.
So far in 2025, we've seen several players make that leap and transform themselves into legitimate MLB-caliber players or ascend to a higher level.
Here are 10 former Top 100 MLB Pipeline prospects that have taken flight this season. For the purposes of this exercise, we only looked at players who lost their prospect eligibility prior to the 2024 season, so you won¡¯t see recent names like James Wood or Kristian Campbell on this list. (Each player is listed with his highest preseason ranking on Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 list.)
All stats are through Friday's games unless otherwise noted.
Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Tigers
No. 3 prospect before 2021
After struggling through most of his first three big league seasons (.693 OPS and 0.8 FanGraphs¡¯ Wins Above Replacement), Torkelson has seemingly arrived as the hitter baseball folks envisioned when the Tigers selected him No. 1 in the 2020 Draft. Torkelson is hitting a cool .288/.386/.630 with six home runs through his first 20 games. The underlying indicators also suggest it¡¯s no joke, as Torkelson ranks in the 92nd percentile in expected wOBA and 87th percentile in barrel rate. Torkelson¡¯s time as a middle-of-the-order threat in Detroit might have arrived.
MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Nationals
No. 5 prospect before 2020
Gore appeared in the 2023 version of this exercise, but we¡¯re making an exception considering the strides he has made since then. The left-hander has shown consistent year-to-year improvements, and it looks like he is fully breaking out in his age-26 season. In five starts, including a 13-K gem at Coors Field on Saturday, Gore is running a 3.41 ERA with 45 strikeouts and eight walks, with sparkling ERA indicators that suggest even more could come (including a 2.20 FIP). Along with Wood, Dylan Crews and CJ Abrams, Gore is helping form the core of what could be the next great Nationals team.
Casey Mize, RHP, Tigers
No. 7 prospect before 2020
Mize was part of one of the more notable pitching prospect trios in recent memory, along with Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning. Skubal has already established himself as one of baseball¡¯s top starters and Mize is looking to turn into that kind of top-level starter this season. The 2018 No. 1 pick dealt with injuries and inconsistencies from 2020-24, but Mize had a 2.60 ERA and 2.10 expected ERA through his first three starts this year -- and that was before holding the Royals to one run over seven innings in Saturday's win. Mize hasn't been racking up tons of strikeouts, but he's been much more effective at limiting hard contact than in the past.
Shane Baz, RHP, Rays
No. 12 prospect before 2022
If it feels like we¡¯ve been waiting for the Baz breakout for years, it¡¯s because we have. The right-hander ranked as a Top 100 MLB Pipeline prospect on four occasions, beginning in 2018, and was included in the massive trade that sent Chris Archer to the Pirates and Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Baz to the Rays. After returning from Tommy John surgery last season, Baz looks fully healthy and like a burgeoning frontline starter. The 25-year-old was running a 1.42 ERA with 27 strikeouts and just four walks in 19 innings across his first three starts before allowing five runs against the Yankees on Saturday. In those first three outings, Baz was downright unhittable with his curveball and changeup, punching out 20 of 38 hitters in plate appearances ending on those pitches.
Max Meyer, RHP, Marlins
No. 28 prospect before 2021
The No. 3 pick from the 2020 Draft threw only six big league innings before he succumbed to Tommy John surgery in August 2022, causing him to miss the rest of the year and all of 2023. Meyer returned with mixed results in an 11-start stint last year (5.68 ERA and 4.74 xERA), but he has seemingly shaken that rust off and begun tapping into his potential. Meyer has a 2.63 ERA and 27 strikeouts through four starts (24 innings) and has dominated with a 90 mph slider that's generated 22 strikeouts, the most K's on any individual pitch in the Majors.
Sal Frelick, RF, Brewers
No. 30 prospect before 2023
Frelick profiled as a perfectly capable role player his first few years in the Majors, but he's looking more like a legitimate starter now. The 24-year-old outfielder is hitting .319/.413/.464 with 0.7 fWAR in his first 20 games and has made real strides in important ways. Frelick has dropped his chase rate to 20.4 percent, placing him in the 89th percentile, and is whiffing on just 12.9 percent of pitches (96th percentile). Frelick probably won't slug over .450 for the rest of the year, but his approach and ability to make contact have led to a .293 xBA.
Matthew Liberatore, LHP, Cardinals
No. 37 prospect before 2021
For years, Liberatore might have been best known as the main piece the Cardinals got from the Rays in the Randy Arozarena trade. During that time, he bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen, and between St. Louis and Triple-A Memphis. But now, the 25-year-old Liberatore seems to be coming into his own. Through four starts, including Saturday's at Citi Field, Liberatore has a 3.60 ERA and a remarkable 24-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 25 innings. The Cardinals lefty won't wow you with his raw stuff, but he's pouring in strikes 67.5 percent of the time, is running a 39 percent whiff rate on his slider and has an excellent chase rate.
Tyler Soderstrom, 1B, Athletics
No. 39 prospect before 2023
If you had Soderstrom leading the Majors in home runs (nine) on April 19, congratulations! This is a player who, in his first taste of the Majors in 2023, hit .160/.232/.240 over 45 games. But now, a year after Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler experienced their own breakout seasons for the A¡¯s, it¡¯s Soderstrom¡¯s turn for a coming-out party in 2025. Soderstrom cranked eight home runs in the Athletics¡¯ first 17 games of the season and became just the fifth player with three multihomer games in his team¡¯s first 17 games of a season. Take a peek at Soderstrom¡¯s Baseball Savant page and you¡¯ll see plenty of red, signaling that this breakout for the 2020 first-round pick looks legitimate.
Carson Kelly, C, Cubs
No. 39 prospect before 2017
At 30 years old and eight years after he first appeared on Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 list, Kelly is producing at a level we¡¯ve never seen him reach before. Kelly was essentially a journeyman catcher for his first nine seasons, posting a .681 OPS and 5.9 WAR in 558 games for four teams. This year? Kelly is hitting an absurd .419/.578/1.097 with six home runs and 1.4 WAR and was the first player in 2025 to hit for the cycle. It¡¯s only 11 games, and he continues to share time with Miguel Amaya, but Kelly¡¯s .527 xwOBA leads all hitters with at least 25 plate appearances (just ahead of Aaron Judge), and he has walked 12 times compared to just four strikeouts.
Pavin Smith, DH, D-backs
No. 91 prospect before 2018
We saw the potential for Smith in a 60-game stint last year when he hit .270/.348/.547 with nine home runs, including a three-homer game against the Astros in September. Entrusted with more of a full-time role this year after the free-agent departures of Christian Walker and Joc Pederson, Smith has carried over his success, posting a .408/.500/.735 line in 19 games. Smith¡¯s 31 percent strikeout rate and .607 BABIP suggest there¡¯s a fair amount of luck involved, but the 29-year-old still boasts a 91st-percentile xwOBA (.408) thanks to a 98th-percentile barrel rate (22.6 percent) and 100th-percentile sweet-spot rate (51.6 percent).