Tampa Bay Rays Top 10 Prospects
| Player | Pos. | LVL | Age on opening day | Acquired | FV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Theo Gillen | OF | A | 20.5 | 2024 draft, round 1, 18th Ovr, Westlake HS (TX) | 50 |
| 2. Brody Hopkins | RHP | AA | 24.1 | Via trade (SEA), 2023 draft, round 6, 187th Ovr, Winthrop | 50 |
| 3. Michael Forret | RHP | AA | 21.9 | Via trade (BAL), 2023 draft, round 14, 421st Ovr, State College of Florida | 50 |
| 4. Daniel Pierce | SS | CPX | 19.6 | 2025 draft, round 1, 14th Ovr, Mill Creek HS (GA) | 50 |
| 5. Slater De Brun | OF | CPX | 18.7 | Via trade (BAL), 2025 draft, round 1, 37th Ovr, Summit HS (OR) | 50 |
| 6. Anderson Brito | RHP | A+ | 21.7 | Via trade (HOU), 2024 international signing class (Venezuela) | 45 |
| 7. Jose Urbina | RHP | A+ | 20.3 | 2023 international signing class, Venezuela | 45 |
| 8. Caden Bodine | C | A | 22.3 | Via trade (BAL), 2025 draft, round 1, 30th Ovr, Coastal Carolina | 45 |
| 9. Brendan Summerhill | OF | A | 22.3 | 2025 draft, round 1, 42nd Ovr, Arizona | 45 |
| 10. Santiago Suarez | RHP | AAA | 21.2 | Via trade (MIA), 2022 international signing class, Venezuela | 45 |
1. Theo Gillen
The Rays first round pick in the 2024 draft, Gillen was drafted as a shortstop but was immediately moved to the outfield where he has spent a majority of his time in center field thus far at Low-A Charleston. Aside from a brief injury history that he brought with him out of high school, Gillen’s floor is fairly high as he’s a well-rounded player with plenty of athletic upside. The 6’2”, 195 pound left-handed hitter was one of just five hitters in 2025 with at least 300 plate appearances exclusively in full-season ball and a 150 wRC+ north of 150. Gillen is a very polished hitter, displaying an advanced approach at the dish while making contact at an average rate with future power projection and some current pull-side pop already in his bag. He’s also an above-average runner on the base paths, highlighted by his 36 steals to just three caught stealings in 2025. The speed showed up in his first season in the outfield as well where he’s believed to be able to stick in center field as he showed some ability to cover the position despite having little experience there.
2. Brody Hopkins
In a system loaded with pitching depth, the 6’4”, 200 pound Brody Hopkins finds himself at the top. Hopkins came over to Tampa Bay via the Randy Arozarena trade with Seattle in 2024 in the middle of his first pro season. Upon his arrival with the Rays, it has been nothing but steady improvement with flashes of some pretty high upside. Between Low-A Modesto with the Mariners and High-A Bowling Green with the Rays in 2024, Hopkins struck out 27.2% of the batters he faced while his opposition hit just .199 off of him. He spent the entirety of 2025 at Double-A Montgomery where he continued posting as that strikeout rate came up a tick to 28.7% while opposing hitters hit just .201. It’s all about stuff for Hopkins and it’s some of the best stuff in Minor League Baseball. The fastball sits in the mid-90s, grabbing 98s and 99s at times with cut-ride action and a very flat approach due to his low-launch. From there, the sweeper and curveballs are his go-to breaking pitches, the sweeper working in the mid-80s, averaging roughly 15 inches of horizontal movement while the curveball also works in the mid-80s with 12 to 15 inches of downer break. He mixes in a cutter and a changeup that both sit at roughly 90 mph, with the changeup standing out for its arm-side run and depth. For all of the stuff to count, Hopkins still needs to make some strides in the command department if he’s going to be an impact starter at the big league level. He walked 12.2% of hitters in 2025 and can sometimes have a hard time repeating his higher effort delivery. While Hopkins is on the older side of Double-A prospects, he only has two seasons devoted to pitching at this point as he was a two-way player in the college ranks. With that being said, he’s an elite athlete and there might be more remaining ceiling for Hopkins as a prospect than his age might lead you to believe.
3. Michael Forret
A 14th round pick from the JUCO ranks in 2023, Michael Forret quickly made a name for himself in the Orioles system before coming over to the Rays as part of the package that netted Baltimore Shane Baz during the off-season. In 74 innings between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie with the Orioles in 2025, Forret was among the best when it came to run prevention large in part due to his ability to put hitters away via the strikeout. He struck out 32.3% of hitters while walking just 7.4% as hitters also hit at just a .154 clip off of him. In fact, Forret was one of just 17 Minor League pitchers last year to throw at least 50 innings with a 30% strikeout rate, a sub-2.50 FIP, and a sub-.200 batting average against. Of those 17, he was one of two that did it at age 21 or younger, the other being Thomas White of the Marlins, one of the consensus top prospects in baseball. It’s primarily a three pitch mix for Forret, but the mix comes with a lot of variety. He throws a four-seam fastball but can also turn it into a sinker-ish two-seam, both of which live in the mid-90s. He throws a gyro shaped slider and a sweeper, with the sweeper working in the mid-80s and the slider seeing more upper-80s. He introduced a kick-changeup in 2025 opposed to the traditional changeup he had been throwing and it returned some solid results while he also mixes in a splitter at times. He has excellent feel for his arsenal and he commands it well for his age and level, so there’s a lot to like about the overall package moving forward.
4. Daniel Pierce
Daniel Pierce was one of the risers in a deep group of prep shortstops in the 2025 draft class. While he was projected to go later in the first round, the Rays took him at 14th overall, signing him at $1M below the pick’s assigned slot value. Pierce is a well-rounded, high floor player, a profile the Rays have targeted in recent drafts. Pierce is a near-lock to stick at shortstop due to his athleticism, instincts and above-average arm. At the plate, there’s a lot of future projection on his 6’0”, 185 pound frame that may lead to above-average power. It’s an above-average hit tool and solid swing decisions that compliments the growing power and present bat speed as Pierce makes consistent hard contact to all fields with some feel for getting the ball in the air to the pull-side. Pierce is an above-average runner too and can likely be penciled in for double-digit steals on an annual basis. He has yet to make his professional debut and will likely spend most of 2025 at Low-A Charleston.
5. Slater De Brun
Although he has yet to make his professional debut, Slater De Brun offers a lot to be excited about. One of the toolsier yet underrated prep bats in the 2025 draft class, the Orioles were able to select him with the fourth of their four first round draft picks before shipping him off to Tampa Bay as part of the Shane Baz trade. The 5’10”, 190 pound De Brun fits perfectly into the undersized, speedy outfielder archetype that has recently been popularized among MLB teams due to Corbin Carroll’s success. De Brun receives a lot of comps to Carroll, and for good reason. He had one of the better hit/speed combos in the 2025 draft class, featuring above-average bat to ball skills and an advanced approach along with plus speed that plays on both the bases and in the field. There isn’t a ton of power projection, but De Brun is pretty strong and physical for his size and can get to his power more often than not due to his contact skills and swing decisions. In the outfield, it’s an average arm but excellent range that likely lets him stick in center field for the long haul. De Brun is yet another high-floor athlete that the Rays love to develop.
6. Anderson Brito
Acquired in the three-team trade that sent Brandon Lowe to the Pirates, Anderson Brito came over to the Rays from the Astros. As an older prospect in the 2024 international signing class, Brito was able to come State side in his first season of pro ball in 2024 where he threw 27.1 innings with Low-A Fayetteville. Between Low-A, the Complex League, and the Dominican Summer League, Brito never looked challenged as he struck out 38.9% of the hitters he faced between the three levels. He spent the entirety of 2025 at High-A Asheville where it was largely the same case in a shorter stint due to a shoulder injury that ended his season in late June. He continued striking out hitters at a high clip, posting a 31.1% strikeout rate while hitters could only muster up a .202 batting average against him. Brito has been up to 99 mph with his fastball and sits in the mid-90s with some above-average ride. A low-80s sweeping slider and a mid-80s downer curveball are his breaking pitches of choice with the sweeper standing out due to the amount of horizontal break on the pitch. He has flashed an upper-80s changeup as well but it needs some work. Command and physical projection are weaknesses on Brito’s resume at the moment. He’s only 5’10” and 155 pounds, so there’s some concern with his ability to handle a big league workload, and that concern has only heightened after his recent shoulder injury (stress reaction).
7. Jose Urbina
Jose Urbina is a recent international signing success for the Rays and is a rare case of a Latin-American teenager coming state side before making his professional debut. Not long after turning 17, Urbina was throwing to hitters at the Complex League as one of just ten pitchers under the age of 18 to appear in a game at the Complex in 2023. The Rays let him settle in there for a large part of 2024 before giving him his first taste of full-season ball at Low-A Charleston where he spent a majority of 2025 before advancing to High-A Bowling Green for a quick cup of coffee at the end of the season. From short season to full season, Urbina’s results actually improved as he struck out more hitters while walking less hitters which was encouraging for a prospect very young for his level. The fastball is Urbina’s bread and butter, a high octane pitch living in the mid to upper-90s and grabbing triple digits at times. The breaking pitch of choice is a mid-80s sweeping slider while he mixes in a changeup with excellent results but is in need of more usage and consistency. While his strike throwing improved in 2025, it will be a continued sticking point for Urbina and will likely be the difference in him being a starter or a reliever.
8. Caden Bodine
Perhaps the most polished player in the 2025 draft class, Caden Bodine was the quarterback of the Coastal Carolina team that came up short to LSU in the College World Series final last June. Bodine was arguably the best defensive catcher in the draft class due to his elite framing capabilities, strong arm, and ability to handle a pitching staff. At the plate, he also displayed one of the more advanced hit tools in the class, making contact at a high rate and employing a very advanced approach as a switch-hitter without much holes on either side. Although an excellent hitter, he has little to show in the power department which probably remains the case as he leans into the defense while taking what he can get from the hit tool. Bodine was drafted by the Orioles but traded to the Rays as part of the package that returned Shane Baz over the off-season. He got 49 plate appearances in an 11 game stint at Low-A Delmarva following the draft where he posted a .408 OBP and a 133 wRC+ while drawing five walks to eight strikeouts.
9. Brendan Summerhill
Another high floor athlete in a system loaded with such, Brendan Summerhill offers a combination of contact skills, speed, and defense as the Rays second selection in last year’s draft. Summerhill was one of the top college outfielders in the 2025 draft class as he displayed one of the more advanced hit tools and approaches among the group. It was a 17.4% walk rate to just a 11.6% strikeout rate in his final year at Arizona, and that trend continued as he posted a 14.3% walk rate to an 11.9% strikeout rate in a 10 game cup of coffee with Low-A Charleston following the draft. Summerhill showed little to no power in his college career, however, there is some juice to dream on with his 6’3”, 200 pound frame, so you’ve got to wonder if the Rays will look to unlock some of that power potential given his other offensive tools that help pave a way for him to get there. Summerhill played all three outfield spots in college but profiles best in center field where he can let his athleticism play and has the arm strength to be a plus defender there. On the bases, it’s above-average speed that likely returns 10-20 steals on an annual basis.
10. Santiago Suarez
Although it feels like he has been in the Rays system a while now, Santiago Suarez’s journey actually began with the Marlins before he was traded to the Rays prior to 2023 for Xavier Edwards. Despite having just turned 21, Suarez advanced as high as Triple-A Durham in 2025, passing up Double-A Montgomery, for a quick cup of coffee at the end of the year, something the Rays have done with recent top prospects. With that being said, it’s likely Suarez opens 2026 at Double-A, but there’s still a decent shot he debuts with the Rays this year. Suarez stands out for his plus command and control of the strike zone. He walked just 3.8% of hitters in 2025, a mark that ranked second in the system among pitchers with at least 50 innings. Among all Minor League pitchers under the age of 21, it ranked third. The only time he has walked over 5% of hitters in his career was during a 39.2 inning stint at the Complex League in 2023 in which he posted a 5.3% walk rate. As for the stuff, Suarez is primarily a two-pitch pitcher, throwing a mid-90s fastball that can reach the upper-90s and a downer low-80s curveball with a lot of bite and separation off of the fastball. He mixes in a changeup as well, but more as a neutralizer against lefties while the fastball and curveball are his main offerings. A cutter was also introduced to his arsenal in 2025, so the development of both the cutter and changeup can play a big role in his projection as a starter.
