Here are the Top 10 first base prospects for 2025
Jim Callis
@JimCallisMLBMLB Pipeline will reveal its 2025 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 24, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we'll examine baseball's top 10 prospects at each position.
Buoyed by an influx of premium Draft talent and position changes, the pool of prospect talent at first base is stronger than it has been in years. Six first basemen will make our 2025 Top 100 Prospects list, the most in a single preseason ranking since 2009.
Xavier Isaac (Rays) ranked as baseball's best first-base prospect a year ago and still offers tantalizing power potential. But he has been surpassed by Jac Caglianone (Royals) and Nick Kurtz (Athletics), two of the top six picks in the 2024 Draft, and Bryce Eldridge (Giants), a 2023 first-rounder who became a full-time first baseman after spending his pro debut in right field.
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Tre' Morgan (Rays) and C.J. Kayfus (Guardians), both 2023 third-rounders, exceeded expectations in their first full pro seasons, which further helped the first-base cause. So did Josue Brice?o (Tigers), Ryan Clifford (Mets) and Ralphy Velazquez (Guardians) becoming primary first basemen after seeing more time elsewhere in the past.
The Top 10 (ETA)
1. Jac Caglianone, Royals (2026)
2. Bryce Eldridge, Giants (2026)
3. Nick Kurtz, Athletics (2026)
4. Xavier Isaac, Rays (2026)
5. Tre' Morgan, Rays (2026)
6. Josue Brice?o, Tigers (2027)
7. Ryan Clifford, Mets (2026)
8. Ralphy Velazquez, Guardians (2027)
9. C.J. Kayfus, Guardians (2025)
10. Tyler Locklear, Mariners (2025)
Complete list ?
Top tools
Hit: Kurtz, Morgan (60)
While Kurtz's signature tool is his well above-average power to all fields, he's also a complete hitter with exemplary plate discipline and led NCAA Division I with 78 walks at Wake Forest last spring. Morgan topped all full-season Minor League first basemen in wRC+ (158) while ranking second in batting (.324), and scouts thought he showed the best approach of any hitter in the Arizona Fall League.
Power: Caglianone, Eldridge, Isaac (70)
All three of these guys are potential big league home run champions. Caglianone may have the most usable power in the Minors and ranked second in D-I with a Florida-record 35 homers last spring after leading the nation with 33 as a sophomore. Eldridge reached Triple-A at age 19 in his first full pro season, topping all Minor League teenagers in homers (23) and slugging (.516). Isaac also generates impressive raw power and exit velocities, and he slammed 18 homers while advancing to Double-A at age 20.
Run: Morgan (50)
Morgan is more athletic than most first basemen and is the only player on this list with average speed. He stole 20 bags in 27 attempts and also displayed good baserunning instincts.
Arm: Caglianone, Clifford, Eldridge (60)
Caglianone and Eldridge were both legitimate pitching prospects as amateurs, with Caglianone pushing his fastball to 99 mph in college and Eldridge hitting 96 in high school. Clifford also features plus arm strength and has recorded 11 assists in 129 pro outfield starts.
Field: Morgan (70)
The best defensive first baseman in the Minors, Morgan famously made a spectacular game-saving play on a safety squeeze in the 2023 College World Series semifinals, without which Louisiana State wouldn't have won the championship. He has tremendous range, soft hands and an aggressive nature.
Superlatives
Highest ceiling: Caglianone
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Caglianone hits balls harder and farther than most mortals, and he makes a stunning amount of hard contact considering his tendency to chase pitches out of the strike zone. He has legitimate 40-homer power with 50-homer seasons not out of the question.
Highest floor: Kurtz
Kurtz has the best all-around tools of any of these first basemen. Some evaluators thought he offered the best combination of swing decisions, contact and exit velocities in the 2024 Draft, and he's also a quality defender.
Rookie of the Year candidate: Locklear
None of these guys has a clear path to a full-time big league job in 2025, and Locklear may be the only member of this list to graduate this year. The slugger went 7-for-45 with two homers (one off Garrett Crochet) in his first taste of the Majors last summer.
Highest riser: Kayfus
Kayfus didn't make our preseason Guardians Top 30 a year ago, then slashed .291/.393/.511 with 17 homers in 107 games while moving to Double-A in his first full pro season. He did a better job of hunting pitches he could do damage against early in counts and of driving them in the air to his pull side in 2024.
Humblest beginning: Kayfus
Kayfus received the lowest bonus of this group, signing for $700,000 as the 93rd overall choice in the 2023 Draft. He performed well in two seasons as a starter at Miami and in the Cape Cod League, but he still had a hit-over-power tag that isn't the most desirable at first base.
Most to prove: Clifford
Part of the Justin Verlander trade with the Astros in 2023, Clifford struggled in High-A to begin last season before batting .231/.359/.456 with 18 homers in 98 Double-A games. But he also struck out at 30 percent clip overall (29 percent in Double-A) and he'll need to demonstrate that he can make consistent contact against upper-level pitching.
Keep an eye on: Tyler Black, Brewers
Though Black has yet to find a role in the big leagues, he offers hitting ability, on-base skills and plus speed. A 2021 supplemental first-rounder from Wright State, he has batted .272/.402/.453 with 114 extra-base hits and 93 steals in 315 games over four pro seasons.