MLB organizations have started becoming more aggressive with their prospects in recent seasons. We have seen prospects debuting with less and less minor league appearances. The general belief is if a player is good enough to play, why waste reps in the minor leagues?
From the 2023 class alone, we have seen three of the Top 5 and five of the Top 10 picks debut, with several others knocking down the door. Whether this is because of the recent rule changes incentivizing teams to debut top prospects, or because players are more advanced coming out of the draft, it is still an interesting trend that will seemingly continue in the 2024 class. The 2024 draft class was one of the more advanced classes at the top, and many of those names showed well in their debut season. Let’s get into a couple names who could make their MLB debut in 2025.
Christian Moore – 2B, Los Angeles Angeles
The Angels organization has a track record for aggressively promoting their top prospects. 2022 first-round pick, Zach Neto, played in 48 MiLB games before debuting during the 2023 season. Nolan Schanuel, Angels’ 2023 first round pick, played in even less games, with 22 MiLB appearances before debuting the same year he was drafted. Many believed the Angels pushed Neto and Schanuel due to the limited time with both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani still on the roster together, but their actions with Christian Moore paint a different story.
Moore had a heck of a 2024 year. He was the best player on the Tennessee Volunteers team that won a National Championship. Hitting in the middle of the order, he hit .375/.451/.797 with 34 home runs, while only striking out 49 times in 72 games. That combination of power production with impressive bat-to-ball skills led to him being selected by the Angels with the eighth overall pick.
Moore immediately made a major impact in the organization. In two games at A ball, he managed to have six hits in 11 at-bats with two doubles and one home run. The Angels being the Angels immediately promoted him to Double-A where in 23 games he hit .322/.378/.533 with five home runs. It was about as impressive of a 25 game debut for any prospect in recent memory, but the stats do not tell the whole story.
All five of Moore’s Double-A home runs came within six games following his Double-A debut. After eight MiLB games, it seemed like Moore might be ready to be called up again, but his struggles during the rest of his time in Double-A pumped the brakes on his ascent. That doesn’t change the fact that he is with the Angels, and they will be looking for every opportunity to push him to the MLB. There are some plate discipline and swing-and-miss questions, as evidenced by 29 strikeouts and only nine walks during his 25-game sample size. But if Moore shows up in Spring Training, and performs well, it would not surprise me one bit to see the Angels open the season with him starting at 2B every day.
Hagen Smith– LHP, Chicago White Sox
Tell me if you’ve heard this story before. A power left-handed pitcher was drafted in the first round by the Chicago White Sox and could make his debut quickly. It happened in 2010 with Chris Sale, with Carlos Rodón in 2015, then again in 2020 with Garrett Crochet. A similar path could be in store for Hagen Smith.
The White Sox were more patient with Smith than when they aggressively promoted Sale, Rodon, and Crochet. Smith started in the complex league then had three starts at High-A. The reality is that was a combination of the White Sox’s historically bad season and the fact that Smith was coming off a college season in which he threw 84 innings. The White Sox just wanted to ease him into professional baseball before unleashing his full potential in 2025.
The White Sox are most likely not going to be competitive enough in 2025 to justify promoting Smith early, but there is a chance Smith dominates the MiLB to the point that the White Sox have no choice.
Smith features two plus pitches. His fastball took a major step forward in 2024, averaging 95.5 mph and flashing 100 multiple times this season. It is a low launch release, with a -4.48 VAA, combined with above-average vertical and horizontal movement. This allows him to attack hitters at the upper, arm-side quadrant of the zone for swing and miss. The FB generated an elite 41.8% whiff rate, which is dominant for a FB.
The Slider is an even better offering for him. On the season, it generated a 56.4% whiff rate, and from his low arm slot, it puts hitters in extreme conflict due to the deception. The two pitches are MLB-ready, but the questions around Smith are about the command and the third pitch. He started throwing a Split Change this season, which was inconsistent, but when on looks like a potential average offering. If he can command it, it has the potential to keep hitters off balance and give him a pitch to keep right-handed hitters off balance.
The command is a different story. This Spring I wrote about Smith and the Asa Lacy Theory. The cliff notes version, is that Asa Lacy’s stuff was so good in college that he could throw it anywhere, and hitters would swing at it. Smith is comparable in the fact that his stuff is so dominant, that it generated a lot of swing-and-miss outside of the zone. But the only way to answer that question is how his stuff performs against professional hitters with MLB-level approaches. If his dominance in college is a sign of things to come, there will be nothing preventing Smith from the White Sox MLB rotation.
Nick Kurtz – 1B, Athletics
For my money’s worth, Kurtz was the most MLB-ready bat in the 2024 class. He combines plus power (94.4 mph avg exit velo), with above-average bat-to-ball skills (79.6% contact rate) and elite swing decisions (13.8% chase rate). During his college career, he broke the Wake Forest walks record with 189, while only striking out 130 times. Combine that with 61 career home runs, and you have the swing decisions and power to create the ideal modern-day power hitter.
Kurtz came into this spring with a lot of buzz. Many thought he would be in contention for the first overall pick, but he battled injuries, and inconsistencies in his performance. Many believed he was destined to fall outside the top 5-7, but the Athletics took a shot on him at fourth overall. Kurtz made them look extremely smart right away.
After healing up fully, he started in Stockton. In seven games at A ball, Kurtz looked like a man amongst boys. He slashed .400/.571/.960 with four home runs and 10 walks. That led to a call-up to Double-A, where he only played five solid games before getting hurt. It was an impressive start to his professional career, and much more like the player many evaluators thought he would be coming into the season. It was enough to create some buzz until he came back in the Arizona Fall League.
In the AFL, he continued to impress with a .353/.450/.608 slash line with seven extra-base hits, including two home runs, and nine walks in 13 games. The strikeouts were a little concerning with 16, but the combination of swing decisions and power have allowed Kurtz to perform immediately in professional baseball. Those are skills that directly translate at the next level, and Kurtz has the potential to be one of the game’s best power hitters if he continues to develop. As the A’s enter their competitive window, Kurtz is an MLB-ready bat waiting to be placed in the middle of that order. The A’s have already promoted 2023 first-round pick Jacob Wilson, and Kurtz will be right behind him.
Photos courtesy of respective owners | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky)