Let¡¯s keep drilling down, shall we?

In the first two parts of our MLB Pipeline Executive Poll, we asked front offices about who they thought will be the 2025 Rookies of the Year, who the top prospects are and, of course, some Roki Sasaki questions.

In Part III, we asked them to look under the prospect hood even further, at individual tools. For hitters, we asked about the hit tool, usable power and speed. On the mound, we looked at fastball, secondary pitch and overall pitchability.

Which prospect has the best hit tool?

Also received votes: Leodalis De Vries, SS, Padres; Jasson Dom¨ªnguez, OF, Yankees; Bryce Eldridge, 1B, Giants; Chase Meidroth, SS/3B, White Sox; Christian Moore, 2B, Angels; JJ Wetherholt, 2B, Cardinals

It¡¯s no surprise that Jacob Wilson is at the top of the list. The A¡¯s first-rounder in 2023 had a 4.4% strikeout rate in college and showed that would play at the pro level, striking out just 7.7% of the time in the Minors and just 9.7% in his brief big league debut. The only thing that held him back was injury. That also slowed down Walker Jenkins, who tied with Wilson in this survey question. But in his 82 games in 2024, he had just a 12.7% strikeout rate and walked more than he K¡¯d. Kevin McGonigle hit .309 combined while making it to High-A in his first full season and posted a combined 46/28 BB/K ratio.

Which prospect has the best usable power?

Also received votes: Charlie Condon, OF, Rockies; Jasson Dom¨ªnguez, OF, Yankees; Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox; Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Twins; Matt Shaw, 3B, Cubs

Don¡¯t know about you, but a home run derby between Bryce Eldridge and Coby Mayo sure would be a whole lot of fun, don'tcha think? Eldridge, the 6-foot-7 first baseman, made it to Triple-A as a high school draftee in his first full season, hitting 23 homers and slugging .516. Mayo touched the big leagues for the first time and has 54 homers over his last two seasons in the Minors, with a career .541 SLG (.592 in 2024). Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone hail from the 2024 Draft class and no one should be surprised if they top this list a year from now.

Which prospect has the most speed?

Also received votes: Denzel Clarke, OF, A¡¯s; Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins; Dakota Jordan, OF, Giants; Jordan Lawlar, SS, D-backs

To quote an esteemed colleague, this one was a, ahem, runaway. Simpson was the obvious choice after swiping 104 bases in 2024, a year after stealing 94. He¡¯s the first player to reach the century mark in steals since 2012. The wheels Enrique Bradfield Jr. (74 steals in his first full season) and Justin Crawford (89 steals the past two seasons combined) have are nothing to sneeze at.

Which prospect has the best fastball?

Also received votes: Hunter Bigge, RHP, Rays; Edgardo Henriquez, RHP, Dodgers; Cade Horton, RHP, Cubs; Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox; Andrew Walters, RHP, Guardians; Thomas White, LHP, Marlins; Reynaldo Yean, RHP, Dodgers

This isn¡¯t only about who lights up the radar gun the most. These days, metrics come into play, with life, command and the ability to miss bats with it all figuring into the equation. Andrew Painter may have missed two years following Tommy John surgery, but anyone who saw him in the Arizona Fall League should have no problem with him topping this list. It was up to triple digits, it was explosive and outside of one or two outings in which he didn¡¯t have pinpoint control of it, he threw it where he wanted to.

It will be interesting to see how Chase Burns¡¯ fastball plays at this level. The No. 2 pick in last year¡¯s Draft has plenty of arm strength, but his heater got hit last year at Wake Forest. Jacob Misiorowski might be a favorite to be a future closer, and that high-octane heater could be even harder to square up in shorter stints. It¡¯s interesting to see Chase Dollander get multiple votes; he won¡¯t match others in terms of pure velocity (though he was up to 98 mph in Double-A last year), but his command of the pitch, with terrific life up in the zone, makes it play up.

Which prospect has the best secondary pitch?

Also received votes: Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates; Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies; Cade Horton, RHP, Cubs; Quinn Mathews, LHP, Cardinals; Luis Perales, RHP, Red Sox; River Ryan, RHP, Dodgers; Roki Sasaki, RHP; Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox; Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, Blue Jays

Four of the five pitchers who received multiple votes did so for their breaking stuff, paced by Jackson Jobe¡¯s slider, which missed bats at a 31% rate across all levels in 2024. Chase Burns, Noah Schultz and Kumar Rocker also get high marks for their sliders, while Carson Whisenhunt¡¯s impressive changeup (47% miss rate in 2024) breaks the breaking ball streak.

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Which prospect has the best pitchability?

Also received votes: A.J. Blubaugh, RHP, Astros; Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates; Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies; Thomas Harrington, RHP, Pirates; Tink Hence, RHP, Cardinals; Cade Horton, RHP, Cubs; Michael McGreevy, RHP, Cardinals; Roki Sasaki, RHP; Sean Sullivan, LHP, Rockies

We¡¯re talking not only command and control here, but overall feel for how to mix pitches and set up hitters. This is the second year in a row Rhett Lowder has led this group, but he more than doubled his vote percentage, from 17% in 2024 to 34.1% now. Last year it was based on his college record; now evaluators have a year of professional track record at their disposal, and even though Lowder was a little up and down, he made it to the big leagues and showed his feel for pitching will work at the highest level. Quinn Mathews used his pitchability to win MLB Pipeline Pitching Prospect of the Year honors last year and one of the reasons why Andrew Painter is considered one of the top pitching prospects in the game is his explosive stuff combined with his feel for his craft.