8 Hitting Prospects Whose Stock is Rising

While it’s early in the season, a month’s worth of games has given us fresh looks and data with many players reaching more challenging levels than we last saw them at.

When dealing with smaller samples that could imply a leap offensively, I typically want to see a mechanical adjustment in the video or a dramatic shift in the batted ball quality and angles.

All of the following hitters check at least one of those boxes, if not both.

Rising Top Prospects Who’s Stock is Up to Start 2025

Luis Peña – SS – Brewers

Affiliate: Carolina Mudcats – Low-A

After a strong showing in the Dominican Summer League in 2024, Peña and his teammate Jesus Made skipped the Arizona Complex League, being assigned straight to Low-A Carolina, where the 18-year-old already looks far more physical while maintaining his standout speed and quickness.

Peña’s advanced bat to ball and approach stood out in the DSL, hitting .385 with an 8% strikeout rate. Just 17 years old for the entirety of the season, Peña was very much was a hit-over-power bat, with just 34 batted balls 95+ MPH in 182 plate appearances.

Through his first 66 plate appearances of 2025, Peña has already registered 20 batted balls north of 95 MPH at Low-A, while walking more than he has struck out.

The approach and bat to ball are still there for the teenage shortstop, walking (7 BB) more than he has struck out (5 BB) through his first 13 games while swiping 12 bags on 14 tries. Peña’s breakout is on a brief hold as he manages a minor hamstring issue that placed him on the 7-Day IL, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the 18-year-old as a consensus top 100 prospect by midseason.

Braylon Payne – OF – Brewers

Affiliate: Carolina Mudcats – Low-A

Not only another Brewer, but how about another Carolina Mudcat? There’s several other players on the Brewers Low-A affiliate who could have probably qualified for this piece as well, though the team’s first rounder in 2024 has a leg up.

More of a slash and dash hitter when he was selected 17th overall by the Brewers and signed for more than $1 million under slot, Payne already has made adjustments in the box to utilize his lower half more effectively from a power perspective.

Payne can absolutely fly, posting double plus run times, which has resulted in 13 bags through his first 20 games and projectable center field defense as his reads and routes are refined.

He’s young for the 2024 prep class, so a Low-A assignment is a good challenge, but the uptick in power has been plenty evident, especially to the pull side. Its rare for a player of his archetype to already be launching 111 MPH home runs with the patience to draw free passes in his age 18 season, giving Payne exciting upside.

Aroon Escobar – 2B – Phillies

Affiliate: Clearwater Threshers – Low-A

Signed for $450,000 out of Venezuela in 2022, Escobar struggled through his first two pro seasons in the Dominican before what looked to be the beginning of a breakout in the Arizona Complex League, posting a .966 OPS through 24 games, limited by shin splints in both legs.

Though a small sample, the shift in batted ball data was undeniable, and surprisingly, the underlying numbers weren’t even too bad in his two disappointing DSL seasons.

Escobar hasn’t just picked up where he left off from 2024, he’s kicked it up another notch in his age 20 season. Through nearly 100 plate appearances, Escobar is running a hard hit rate around 56% along with plus contact rates. The barrel accuracy is particularly impressive because he doesn’t get cheated on his swings.

Escobar is a fringy runner and is likely limited to an average-at-best second base, though now that he is flashing above average hit and power potential, an everyday second base role now seems like a possibility.

George Lombard Jr. – SS – Yankees

Affiliate: Somerset Patriots – Double-A (Just Promoted)

Just 18 years old at the start of last season, Lombard was understandably challenged at Low-A, posting roughly league-average numbers (.693 OPS), but when you watched him play, you still came away impressed with how he went about his business with the frame and athleticism providing plenty to dream on.

The Yankees challenged their first round selection again in 2025, assigning him to High-A where he is one of the youngest players in the South Atlantic League.

Not only has he dwarfed his 2024 offensive output at a more challenging level this season, but he was one of the best hitters in High-A period. 27 hits (10 for extra bases) in 24 games with was enough for the Yankees to promote Lombard to Double-A where he is the third-youngest player at the level, only senior to Sebastian Walcott and Nelson Rada.

His feel for the strike zone is elite, rarely expanding, often with easy takes on spin. He’s still growing into his frame, though early returns have Lombard hitting the ball two ticks harder on average.

The swing is excellent, the fundamentals are there at shortstop as well as the instincts. Lombard has the ingredients to move quickly through the minor leagues with the frame, bat speed and swing mechanics that point towards big untapped potential.

Jacob Reimer – 3B – Mets

Affiliate: Brooklyn Cyclones – High-A

A California prep bat, Reimer was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, turned in an impressive first pro season in 2023 before injuries limited him to just 21 regular season games in 2024. The Mets sent Reimer out to the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost reps, where he posted mostly average numbers, but started to make the mechanical adjustments that have him breaking out in 2025.

Reimer previously started with his weight stacked on his back side and back knee bowed out towards home. Starting so stacked with his back knee at that angle likely made it more difficult to hold his weight back as he began his launch, resulting in some drift forward.

He now starts more upright, coiling into his back side with rhythm along with his barrel getting into a slot that is much easier to get on plane (he dropped his hands too low with the bat more vertical as he loaded before).

These improvements have Reimer’s barrel living in the zone much longer while putting him in a more powerful position to hit. He has cut his ground ball rate by 10% while his hard hit rate has jumped from 33% in 2023 and 2024 combined to a whopping 49% through his first 25 games in 2025.

Still just 21 years old for the entirety of the 2025 season, Reimer all of the sudden looks like he may have the offensive upside to handle the production demands of third base.

Andrew Salas – OF/INF – Marlins

Affiliate: Jupiter Hammerheads – Low-A

The headliner of the Marlins 2025 IFA class, the Marlins shelled out $3.7 million to ink the youngest of the Salas brothers, quickly challenging him to a Low-A assignment shortly after his 17th birthday. You wouldn’t know that he should be a junior in high school with the way that he carries himself on the field, and more specifically, handles his at bats.

Through his first 18 games, Salas has walked (18) more times than he has struck out (13) thanks to a minuscule chase rate and decent contact rates.

In terms of impacting the baseball, Salas definitely looks more his age, mostly spraying soft liners around the diamond, but the mere fact that he is closer to thriving than just surviving in his first month as the youngest player at the level is quite impressive.

There may be some bumps in the road over the full season, though his ability to draw walks and steal hits with savvy drag bunts could make him a bit more slump proof than the average teenage bat.

Time will tell on what the ceiling could be as Salas develops physically, but the elite plate discipline and quality bat to ball with the chance to be a good center fielder who can provide some infield versatility has helped raise the perceived floor of the teenage prospect.

Bo Davidson – OF – Giants

Affiliate: Eugene Emeralds – High-A

Davidson is a fun story as a player who spent a year at one North Carolina junior college before taking a year off and spending the next year at another. Davidson flashed enough in 10 Coastal Plane League games in the 2023 summer to catch the attention of the Giants who signed him as a non-drafted free agent for $50,000.

He showed well as a 21-year-old in 53 Low-A games in 2024, launching nine home runs on his way to a 173 wRC+. After the productive, but short campaign, the Giants sent Davidson to the Arizona Fall League where he struggled with swing and miss some, whiffing at a 32% clip in his 19 games.

When I saw Davidson in the desert, he appeared to be over-swinging at times and was tardy on fastballs.

There’s more rhythm and cohesion to Davidson’s pre-swing moves now, previously loading his hands far earlier than his lower half, almost as two separate pieces, which appeared to disrupt his timing. Davidson’s athleticism is much more evident in the box now, moving more freely while being more in sync between his upper body and lower half.

While making the leap to High-A, Davidson cut his strikeout rate to 18.6% through his first 18 games, already leaving the yard four times with a hard hit rate of 44%.

Though it’s a small sample, the 10% increase in contact rate to start the season is easy to get excited about, especially with the quality of contact from Davidson and defensive tools to be a solid outfield defender, even if he does move to a corner.