Each team's prospect whose stock improved most in '24
Kristian Campbell entered 2024 as a supplemental fourth-round pick the previous July who had fashioned a nice pro debut. He ended it as the No. 10 prospect on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list, not to mention its Hitting Prospect of the Year and the MiLB Breakout Player of the Year.
While no prospect boosted his stock more than Campbell last season, seven others on the list below improved enough to join him on the season-ending Top 100 after missing the preseason list. We highlight the players who have raised their profiles the most in each system during the last 12 months:
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AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
Blue Jays: Jake Bloss, RHP (No. 3)
Ranked No. 11 in the Astros system to begin 2024, the 2023 third-rounder out of Georgetown climbed from High-A Asheville all the way to the Majors in his first full season by showcasing three above-average pitches out of the gate. Sure, his breakout came in the Houston organization, but the Blue Jays will get to reap the rewards after acquiring Bloss in a Deadline move for rental arm Yusei Kikuchi. The right-hander made eight starts for Triple-A Buffalo after the trade and will try to work his way into the Toronto rotation next spring.
Orioles: Stiven Martinez, OF (No. 9)
It's important not to put too much stock into Dominican Summer League stats, but Martinez's pro debut after signing for $950,000 last January definitely stood out. He didn't turn 17 until early August and finished the summer with an .883 OPS, going from an unranked prospect at the start of the year to his current standing in the O's Top 10.
Rays: Gary Gill Hill, RHP (No. 7)
Taken in the sixth round of the 2022 Draft as a long-term pitching project, Gill Hill jumped into prominence with a 3.15 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 108 2/3 innings for Single-A Charleston. The 6-foot-2 righty has three above-average pitches in his fastball, slider and changeup, and improved consistency in his arm slot has helped his control improve in full-season ball. He jumped from outside the Top 30 to into the Top 10 and could be a Top 100 candidate with a repeat campaign in 2025.
Red Sox: Kristian Campbell, 2B/OF/SS (No. 3/MLB No. 10)
Campbell became a different player after improving his swing path, bat speed and strength. He slashed a combined .330/.439/.558 with 20 homers and 24 steals in 115 games between three levels, leading the Minors in wRC+ (180) while ranking second in on-base percentage and OPS (.997), fourth in batting and fifth in runs (94).
Yankees: Edgleen Perez, C (No. 16)
Signed for $50,000 out of Venezuela in 2023, Perez features plus arm strength and the potential for similar receiving and blocking skills. He batted .283/.444/.380 in his U.S. debut in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League this summer, placing second in walks (45 in 51 games) and third in on-base percentage.
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
Guardians: C.J. Kayfus, 1B/OF (No. 6)
Since turning pro as a 2023 third-rounder out of Miami, Kayfus has shown improved bat speed and done a better job of driving the ball in the air than he did in college. He hit .291/.393/.511 with 17 homers and 92 RBI (seventh in the Minors) in 107 games between High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron.
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Royals: Noah Cameron, LHP (No. 12)
Facing a 40-man decision in 2024, Cameron was coming off a 2023 season in which he posted a 6.10 ERA in 17 starts for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The southpaw showed improvement in a Texas League return (3.63 ERA in 16 starts) this summer and was even better with Triple-A Omaha, where he finished with a 2.32 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. Cameron doesn't wow with fastball velocity (91-93 mph), but his changeup and curveball (both around 78-81) get high whiff rates. Kansas City added him to the 40-man in November.
Tigers: Jaden Hamm, RHP (No. 7)
Detroit officials were intrigued by the high induced vertical break on Hamm's 92-95 mph fastball coming out of Middle Tennessee State, and the heater proved to be a great weapon for the 2023 fifth-rounder. Hamm posted a 2.64 ERA with 122 strikeouts in 99 innings for High-A West Michigan, earning him Midwest League Pitcher of the Year honors and a healthy bump from outside the preseason Top 30 to inside the current Top 10.
Twins: Luke Keaschall, 2B/OF (No. 3/MLB No. 63)
It's not like Keaschall was an unknown as the Twins' second-round pick out of Arizona State in 2023. But he went from interesting college performer who was No. 9 on the Twins' Top 30 at the start of the season to firmly in the middle of the MLB's Top 100 thanks to slashing .303/.420/.483 over 102 games between High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita before the Futures Gamer was shut down in August to have Tommy John surgery. Look for him to hit his way to the big leagues in 2025.
White Sox: Mason Adams, RHP (No. 10)
The 401st player selected in the 2022 Draft, Adams continues to open eyes with his low-80s downer curveball and advanced feel for pitching. The Jacksonville University product paced the system in walk rate (2.1 per nine innings) and K/BB ratio (3.9) while posting a 2.92 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 120 1/3 innings between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
Angels: George Klassen, RHP (No. 3)
We're stretching the parameters a little bit here because most of Klassen's breakout came when he was with the Phillies, starting the year as their No. 29 prospect. Brought along slowly because he had pitched so infrequently in college, he was still so dominant with Single-A Clearwater that he earned a promotion to High-A Jersey Shore. After the trade, he finished the year with a taste of Double-A life, finishing with a combined 13.1 K/9 rate, 3.10 ERA and .195 BAA over 93 innings.
Astros: Anderson Brito, RHP (No. 9)
A $10,000 steal from Venezuela in November 2023, Brito made a spectacular pro debut by recording a 1.51 ERA, .152 opponent average and 82/21 K/BB ratio in 53 2/3 innings between two Rookie leagues and Single-A Fayetteville. He has added about 5 mph on his fastball since turning pro, now operating in the mid-90s and touching 99 mph with impressive carry, and his low-80s slider gives him a second plus offering.
A's: Colby Thomas, OF (No. 7)
Thomas' intriguing power-speed combination showed up in his first full season in 2023, with 18 homers and 25 steals, but there was a little wait-and-see mentality since it was in A ball and it came with a 26-percent strikeout rate. He jumped from his No. 14 spot on the A's preseason Top 30 to No. 7 now because he proved it works at the higher levels, hitting 31 homers with 15 steals across Double-A and Triple-A to put him in Top 100 conversations.
Mariners: Felnin Celesten, SS (No. 5/MLB No. 66)
Celesten joined the Mariners with lofty expectations as a result of him being ranked No. 2 on our Top 50 international prospects list and getting $4.7 million to sign in January of 2023. He wasn't able to make his debut that summer because of a hamstring injury and he only played 32 games because of a left hamate issue. But what he did with those 32 games was very impressive, jumping over the DSL to the Arizona Complex League and posting a .999 OPS over 125 at-bats, making us confident enough to push him up the Top 100 and get us excited for a full, and hopefully healthy, full-season debut in 2025.
Rangers: Alejandro Rosario, RHP (No. 3/MLB No. 86)
Rosario got pounded for a 6.53 ERA in three college seasons at Miami but has looked like a different pitcher after the Rangers popped him in 2023's fifth round and altered his delivery and pitch usage. He now works with a lively mid-90s fastball that touches 100 mph, a tumbling 88-92 mph splitter and a tight 83-85 mph slider. He dominated in his pro debut, logging a 2.24 ERA, .207 opponent average and 129/13 K/BB ratio in 88 1/3 innings between two Class A stops.
NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
Braves: Drake Baldwin, C (No. 5)
Baldwin probably flew too much under the radar after a solid first full season of pro ball that saw him get promoted to Double-A Mississippi and touch Triple-A Gwinnett, but he started the 2024 season at No. 12 on the Braves' Top 30. Now he's top 5 and in position to be a Top 100 type of backstop after an .891 OPS in 72 Triple-A games then slashing .377/.452/.491 in the Arizona Fall League before going on to play for Team USA in the Premier12 Tournament.
Marlins: Joe Mack, C (No. 10)
The 31st overall pick in the 2021 Draft as a New York high schooler, Mack struggled in his first three pro seasons before making adjustments to attack fastballs and pull pitches more easily. He slashed .252/.338/.468 in 125 games, mostly in Double-A, while leading Marlins farmhands in homers (24), extra-base hits (54), total bases (221) and RBI (78).
Mets: Jonah Tong, RHP (No. 10)
The 2022 seventh-rounder only pitched 21 innings in 2023 and walked 22 batters in that span. Then he became one of the most dominant pitchers in the Minor Leagues, posting a 3.03 ERA while ranking ninth in the Minors with 160 strikeouts in 113 innings between Single-A St. Lucie, High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. Looking like Tim Lincecum at times with an extreme over-the-top delivery, Tong averaged 20-21 inches of IVB on his low-90s fastball and played off that with a mid-80s curveball that snapped at the bottom of the zone. Batters couldn't handle that north-south approach, and he jumped appropriately up the rankings and toward Queens.
Nationals: Travis Sykora, RHP (No. 2/MLB No. 79)
There was a lot to like about Sykora coming out of the Draft, starting with the third-rounder's size at 6-foot-6. But the Texas native proved to be more than just projection in his first full season as he led the Minors (min. 80 IP) with a 39.2 percent strikeout rate for Single-A Fredericksburg. Sykora's 95-98 mph fastball can be a plus-plus pitch while his splitter and slider add to the swing-and-miss. The combination of results and stuff pushed him comfortably into the Top 100.
Phillies: Jean Cabrera, RHP (No. 13)
Signed for just $10,000 back in 2019, Cabrera had a solid debut in the DSL in 2021, then spent two full seasons with Single-A Clearwater. Things started to click in 2024, at age 22, as he pitched his way from High-A Jersey Shore to Double-A Reading. That allowed him to not only go from unranked to No. 13 on the Phillies' Top 30, but to earn a spot on the 40-man roster as well.
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
Brewers: Jesus Made, SS/3B (No. 4)
Milwaukee signed the middle infielder for $950,000 in January, and Made got off to a strong statistical start with a .331/.458/.554 line, six homers, 28 steals and a 28/39 K/BB ratio over 63 games in the Dominican Summer League. His underlying data was even better as he ranked highly in contact rate, chase rate, hard-hit rate and 90th-percentile exit velocities. His hype meter as he heads stateside will be higher than Jackson Chourio's was at the same stage of their careers.
Cardinals: Quinn Mathews, LHP (No. 3/MLB No. 77)
The Stanford star was known by many for his 156-pitch Super Regional outing in 2023. Now, he's known as the 2024 Minor League strikeout leader with 202 across 143 1/3 innings in his first full season. Mathews saw his fastball velo bump to 93-96 mph in pro ball, while his slider and changeup remain weapons that helped drive his climb from Single-A Palm Beach to Triple-A Memphis. The '23 fourth-rounder is now one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in baseball.
Cubs: Jaxon Wiggins, RHP (No. 9)
Wiggins went in 2023's supplemental second round despite Tommy John surgery wiping out his junior season at Arkansas, where he had only sporadic success. He ended 2024 as the best healthy pitching prospect in the Cubs system, showing a mid-90s fastball that reaches 99 mph and flashing a mid-80s slider with two-plane depth. He posted a 4.37 ERA, .194 opponent average and 71 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings while climbing from Rookie ball to High-A South Bend.
Pirates: Bubba Chandler, RHP (No. 1/MLB No. 15)
Chandler wasn't exactly a secret to start the 2024 season as the Pirates' No. 5 prospect (No. 93 on the Top 100). But he got stronger and stronger as the 2024 season went on and looked ready to pound down the big league door with his finish in Triple-A this year. He finished with an impressive 11.1 K/9 rate, 22.3 K-BB percentage and 3.37 xFIP, vaulting him into the discussion of top pitching prospects in the game and perhaps giving the Pirates confidence to trade Luis Ortiz to Cleveland this offseason.
Reds: Cam Collier, 3B (No. 5/MLB No. 93)
It's been an up-and-down career so far for the Reds' 2022 first-round pick. He'd been on the Top 100 before, No. 69 before the 2023 season, but he dropped off and had a .706 OPS in his first full season. He has an up arrow next to his name again after belting 20 homers as a teenager in the High-A Midwest League and winning Futures Game MVP honors after homering in the Midsummer exhibition.
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
D-backs: Demetrio Crisantes, 2B/3B (No. 13)
Adrian Del Castillo would be another good pick for this category, but Crisantes -- a 2022 seventh-rounder from three hours south of Chase Field -- was even more off the radar entering 2024. He repeated the Arizona Complex League for 29 games and then continued his run of dominance with Single-A Visalia, finishing with a .341/.429/.492 line, seven homers and 30 steals over 92 games between both spots. His .341 average was second-best in the Minors among 628 batters with at least 400 plate appearances.
Dodgers: Alex Freeland, SS (No. 3/MLB No. 70)
The second-highest drafted position player (second round, 2022) ever from the University of Central Florida, Freeland blossomed into one of the best all-around shortstop prospects in the Minors during his second full pro season. A switch-hitter who offers 20-homer upside and quality defense, he batted .260/.387/.442 with 18 homers and 31 steals in 136 games while moving from High-A Great Lakes to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Giants: Trent Harris, RHP (No. 16)
Signed for $10,000 as a 24-year-old nondrafted free agent out of UNC Pembroke in 2023, Harris became one of the best pitching prospects in the Giants system this summer. The son of former big leaguer Greg Harris, he recorded a 1.81 ERA, .173 opponent average and 105/25 K/BB ratio in 79 2/3 innings while advancing from Single-A San Jose to Double-A Richmond. He gets tremendous carry on a mid-90s fastball that hits 97 mph and also owns a pair of potential plus breaking pitches.
Padres: Bradgley Rodriguez, RHP (No. 12)
Signed out of Venezuela in 2021, Rodriguez hadn't even pitched for a stateside affiliate yet entering this season but ended up climbing from Single-A Lake Elsinore to Double-A San Antonio as a reliever in his age-20 campaign. The righty finished with a 2.64 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings, thanks to a 97-99 mph fastball and exceptional upper-80s changeup. Control issues will likely keep him in the bullpen, but it's possible that Rodriguez could shoot to San Diego at some point in '25.
Rockies: Kyle Karros, 3B (No. 18)
Karros barely made the Rockies' Top 30 to start the season, coming in at No. 29. He had been a little hard to evaluate during his Draft year at UCLA because of an ankle issue, so the Rockies were able to nab him in the fifth round of the 2023 Draft. He spent his first full season with High-A Spokane and got a nice nudge up the Rockies' Top 30 thanks to slashing .311/.390/.485 with 15 homers, winning the Northwest League batting title.