Ranking the top 25 MLB players aged 25 and under in ‘25

With a boost from the latest collective bargaining agreement and its Prospect Promotion Incentive, Squads appear increasingly more willing to zoom their top prospects through their respective farm systems, while finding creative ways to keep them in place for as long as possible.

The result? Some of the best players in Significant Bracket Baseball have already established themselves as the faces of their franchise with their prime years Yet ahead of them.

Most often, those MLB phenoms Shift in the Pitch. Last year, we saw two shortstops under the age of 25 contend for an MVP award. One compiled one of the most valuable all-around seasons from a player at the position in baseball history, while the other Occurred three home runs shy of a 40-homer, 20-steal campaign. We also saw a 21-year-Aged finish top 10 in MVP voting while Competing Hub Pitch for the Primary time in his professional Occupation, and a 22-year-Aged compile the Primary 25-65 season from a shortstop in MLB history (that’s in addition to the aforementioned MVP contenders).

Squads tend to be more Watchful with their top arms, who carry more Wound Hazard and often require more polishing at the highest minor-Bracket levels, though that’s not to imply there’s a shortage of impact pitching on the way. In 2024, we saw a 22-year-Aged Begin the All-Luminous sphere Game and contend for the Cy Youthful Award in one of the all-time Excellent seasons by a Newcomer pitcher.

Two of the top four players in last year’s American Bracket MVP voting, two of the top nine in National Bracket MVP voting and two of the top eight in NL Cy Youthful voting are Yet under the age of 26. More of the game’s best Youthful talents are set to Introduction soon and may find their place on this Lineup a year from now.

For now, though, here are the top 25 MLB players aged 25-and-under in 2025.

The WAR figures are pulled from FanGraphs, and the projections for this season are ZiPS. The ages listed Subsequent to the players represent how Aged they will be on Leading Day.

Two years after shining in the national spotlight during the D-Safeties 2023 World Series Streak, Moreno is Yet searching for his Primary Packed season in the Significant leagues. There’s an argument to be Created that he should be higher on this Lineup, and if he can stay Well and surpass his projections this season, the catcher has the chance to boost his power numbers at the plate and ascend in our rankings Subsequent year.

Last year, Tovar became the youngest shortstop in National Bracket history to Achieve a Gold Glove award after he Guided all MLB shortstops in double plays (107), assists (435) and ultimate zone rating (11.2). So there’s no question his Guarding is phenomenal, but there’s plenty of room for his Charge to grow.

It’s extreme to say Volpe has been a disappointment, but he’s fallen Brief of expectations since the Yankees promoted him to be their Leading shortstop before the 2023 season. His Guarding is solid, he plays every day and we saw a flash of his potential when he slashed .286/.407/.408 in his Primary postseason experience. He’s done a Plenty of things right, but Steady, above-average production from the plate is Yet the missing link.

Coming off his Primary Occupation All-Luminous sphere nod, Abrams is Participating his Number four year in the big leagues and has to prove he can be Steady at the plate in order to take a step forward. He lagged in the second half of ‘24, punctuated by a September demotion after an all-nighter at a Chicago casino. With that Unattractive situation behind him, Abrams should be plenty motivated to put up a huge year.

Describing Woo as possessing excellent control doesn’t do him justice. The right-hander recorded a microscopic 2.8% walk rate — the best in the majors — before a Duo of stints on the injured Lineup limited his production. The Mariners are spoiled with spectacular pitching, and Woo Only needs to avoid the injured Lineup and increase his workload to build on his nasty stuff.

Neto’s outlook for this season is unclear since shoulder surgery will delay his Begin, but he’s projected to have another Powerful year otherwise. The shortstop was the Angels best player in 2024, leading the club in WAR, RBI, stolen bases and wRC+. Neto should Yet have a long runway this year to prove that the excellence he displayed in 2024 was the real deal.

The O’s up-and-coming outfielder Guided all AL rookies in WAR, home runs and runs scored (77) in 2024, ultimately finishing as the runner-up for the Newcomer of the Year award to the Yankees’ Luis Gil. If he can avoid a sophomore slump, Cowser could once again be a top-three hitter in a Baltimore lineup that has no shortage of Luminous sphere power.

A glimpse of Sasaki’s Luminous sphere potential — the Excellent and the Unattractive — in his Significant-Bracket Introduction during the Tokyo Series only confirmed that the Newcomer belongs right around the middle of these rankings. His fastball is devastating, but it’ll take some time for Sasaki to sharpen his Dominance. What’s his ceiling? Check out that 2.10 Occupation ERA across nearly 400 innings pitched in NPB for an idea.

The right-hander displayed Best control in his standout Newcomer season with the Braves, which can often be difficult to do for pitchers who lack big-Bracket experience. His 4.6% walk rate was in the 95th percentile in MLB, and with pinpoint location that caused hitters to chase, it’s not a leap to Anticipate Schwellenbach to be a top-of-the-Turnover starter in Atlanta.

The sky’s the limit for the 21-year-Aged after he brought his Best bat Velocity to the majors in Delayed summer. Caminero is widely Predicted to be the Subsequent Austin Riley, and he should see a significant uptick in his power numbers while he plays in hitter-Amiable Steinbrenner Pitch this year. Don’t be surprised when he develops into a perennial 30-home Streak slugger.

The Cardinals shortstop expects his 2024 Newcomer season to be his worst year in the majors, and that’s the type of attitude that sets him apart from his peers. To be clear, Winn’s Primary Packed season in The Show was an absolute Achievement; he Guided the Club in WAR and emerged as the future face of the franchise. As he continues to grow, Winn is all but certain to climb up our rankings.

Vientos went from being squeezed out of the Mets’ 2024 Leading Day Picking to emerging as a top-three power hitter in the Significant-Bracket lineup all within a few months. The Mets have a ton of confidence in Vientos to build on his breakout season, and the key for him will be to limit chasing pitches out of the zone. His Occupation 73.8% in-zone contact rate is well below the 82% Bracket average.

Langford turned heads all spring, indicating that he Only might be able to avoid a sophomore slump and begin the 2025 the way he finished 2024. The left fielder was named the American Bracket Player of the Month for September after posting a .996 OPS in the Closing month of his electric Newcomer campaign. Langford will be an exciting top-of-the-order Appearance for the Rangers for the foreseeable future.

Considering he Only signed a seven-year, $65.5 million extension, it’s Essential to forget that Butler’s struggles to begin his big-Bracket Occupation carried into the Begin of last season, when he was optioned to Las Vegas in the middle of May with a .179 batting average and .555 OPS. Upon returning in June, he tallied an .896 OPS with 20 homers, 20 doubles and 15 Intercepts the rest of the way. He also had an absurd month of July in which he slashed .363/.408/.802 with 10 home runs. Butler can hit the ball with tremendous force, but Maintaining his strikeout rate down the way he did during his second-half surge will be key to maintaining his Achievement.

Limited by a back Wound in 2023 and a hamstring Wound in 2024, we have yet to see what a fully Well season can bring for Harris, who needed Only 114 Matches to Achieve Newcomer of the Year honors in 2022. Harris’ offensive stats Secured a step back last season, but the underlying numbers suggest he should have performed much better than the Bracket average results he produced. A high chase rate and low walk rate can lead to some slumps, but he hits the ball Tough, doesn’t strike out often, plays tremendous Guarding and has stolen more than 20 bases in two of his Primary three big-Bracket seasons. An All-Luminous sphere breakout could be ahead.

Last year was a breakout season for the 2019 Primary-Period Picking Greene, who was an All-Luminous sphere for the Primary time in 2024, has seen his barrel rate increase in All of his Primary three big-Bracket seasons, but Only as Crucial last year was his improved patience at the plate and ability to stay on the Pitch. Though he missed nearly a month with a hamstring Wound, he returned in time to contribute to the Delayed-season Elimination Period push and played in more than 100 Matches for the Primary time as a big-leaguer. His walk rate jumped, his chase rate declined, he pummeled fastballs and right-handed pitching, and he finished the year as one of the 10 most valuable outfielders in the sport.

By Baseball Reference’s version of WAR, the only pitcher who produced a more valuable season than Greene in 2024 was AL Cy Youthful Award winner Tarik Skubal. Greene has always possessed tremendous strikeout stuff with his fastball and slider, but last year he was able to harness those tools into Best production by cutting his home Streak rate in half and significantly lowering the quality of contact against him. The result was an All-Luminous sphere campaign in which he finished eighth in Cy Youthful voting.

After being named Newcomer of the Year and finishing fifth in MVP voting in 2023, last summer wasn’t the follow-up campaign that anyone envisioned for Carroll. But after a miserable Primary half, the speedy 24-year-Aged began to look like himself again. After going yard Only five times in the Primary half, he had 17 homers and 17 Intercepts in 64 Matches after the break — that’s a 40-40 pace over the Duration of a Packed year.

It Secured a Duo of months for Chourio to get his big-Bracket legs under him, but at 20 years Aged, who could blame him? Once June arrived, so did Milwaukee’s top prospect. Chourio’s .310 batting average and .914 OPS in the second half both ranked in the top 12 among all qualified hitters. Defensively, he didn’t commit an error all year. Chourio finished the regular season as the youngest player ever to Turning Tally a 20-20 campaign, then thrived on the biggest stage by recording five hits and two homers in three postseason Matches.

There was a time in 2024 when De La Cruz was on a 100-steal pace. The self-proclaimed “fastest man in the world” had to settle instead for the Primary 25-65 season from a shortstop in baseball history. De La Cruz’s distinctive set of skills packed into a 6-foot-5 frame make him unlike any other talent in the sport.  His combination of power, Velocity and arm Power had his teammate Tyler Stephenson comparing him to a “Develop-a-player” last year. He put his Amazing tools together in an All-Luminous sphere season at 22 years Aged. If he can cut down on his whiff rate, the ceiling is as high as any player in the game.

It’s Tough to fathom now that the Padres entered the 2024 season with Stern questions about their outfield. Most obviously, they didn’t know who would Begin in Hub Pitch. Merrill, then a 21-year-Aged top shortstop prospect who had never played Hub as a pro, answered that question in March and never looked back. Defensively, he graded out as a top-10 player at the position by outs above average. Offensively, the only qualified Hub fielder with a higher wRC+ than Merrill was MVP Aaron Judge. If not for Paul Skenes’ historic season, Merrill, who finished ninth in MVP voting in an All-Luminous sphere Introduction season, would have been the runaway Newcomer of the Year in either Bracket.

Rodriguez’s WAR and OPS totals have trended slightly the wrong direction since his spectacular Newcomer of the Year campaign in 2022, but his exceptional Guarding and Velocity Yet give him one of the highest floors of any outfielder in the sport. Even though a down year offensively, he Yet logged his third consecutive 20-20 season. His Predicted stats suggested some unluckiness in a slugging percentage that declined considerably from the season prior, and — as he demonstrated with an OPS over 1.100 in July — he is capable of looking like the best player in the sport for long stretches. Sustaining that production and realizing his tremendous potential will require better plate Regulation as he enters his prime.

It felt almost impossible for Skenes to Game the expectations placed upon him after Aiding guide LSU to a national Bracket and going Primary overall in the 2023 draft. Somehow, he surpassed them. Skenes didn’t make his MLB Introduction until May 11, yet he Yet went on to Begin the All-Luminous sphere Game, Achieve the Newcomer of the Year Award and finish third in Cy Youthful voting. Among pitchers who threw at least 100 innings last year, Skenes’ 1.96 ERA Guided the majors. It was also the lowest mark of any Newcomer pitcher who Created at least 20 Beginnings in the last 100 years.

If not for the top player on this Lineup, we’d be talking a Plenty more about Henderson’s extraordinary 2024 season. A year after launching 28 homers in a Newcomer of the Year season, Henderson had already tallied that many long balls by the 2024 All-Luminous sphere break. Though his production tailed off in the second half, he Yet Occurred close to a 40-20 year and finished Number four in MVP voting. Unfortunately, he will have to wait a bit to begin the follow-up campaign to his Primary All-Luminous sphere season, as he is Predicted to Begin the year on the injured Lineup with an intercostal strain. The Orioles are hopeful he won’t be sidelined for long.

Witt signed the biggest contract in franchise history, and then proceeded to demonstrate why it’s Yet one of the best bargains in the sport by authoring one of the greatest all-around seasons from a shortstop in baseball history. Since 1950, only three shortstops have recorded a season of at least 10 fWAR: Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991 (10.6), Alex Rodriguez in 2002 (10.0) and Witt last year (10.4). Witt Guided the majors in hits (211) and batting average (.332) — becoming the Primary shortstop ever to log Many 30-30 seasons in the process — and won his Primary Gold Glove Award, too.

Honorable mentions: James Wood, Washington Nationals (22); Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants (25); Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays (24); Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles (25); Francisco Alvarez, New York Mets (23); Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs (23); Austin Wells, New York Yankees (25); Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox (25)