The 2025 MLB Draft season is in full swing, and I've had the opportunity to scout some of the top prospects in the game. While it's the heart of draft season, I've been able to catch a few minor-league games featuring several top prospects from the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, and Baltimore Orioles systems. Here's a deep dive into some of the most intriguing players I've seen so far.
One standout player is Dante Nori, the Phillies' first-round pick in 2024. Nori, a high school prospect who was already 19-and-three-quarters at the draft, is showing some real promise. After a miserable start to his 2025 season, he finished well thanks to some approach changes. That has carried over into this year, and he is off to a solid start with Double-A Reading, hitting .286/.341/.462 with a 16.9 percent strikeout rate. What makes Nori particularly fascinating is his ability to get the bat to the ball. His swing is simple and short, with enough bat speed to swat line drives to the outfield. However, he's not patient, with a chase rate of 29 percent on the year, which could be a concern for his long-term development.
Another standout player is Bryan Rincon, a shortstop who has always had elite defense to keep him going as a prospect. However, he spent the last two years in the Phillies' system in High A, playing around some injuries and struggling at the plate. This year, he's hitting well for Reading, boosted somewhat by the Fightins' hitter-friendly home park. Rincon's improvements at the plate are real enough to make him a .260-ish hitter with 12-15 homers, which would make him a regular at short. However, he's still only 22, and his long-term prospects remain uncertain.
Aroon Escobar, another Phillies prospect, didn't have a great game, with a bloop single, an infield single, and a TOOTBLAN (Thrown Out On the Bases Like a Nincompoop). However, he's hitting .277/.362/.420, better at Reading than on the road, with just a 15.3 percent strikeout rate. Escobar is a year younger than Rincon and three months younger than Nori, and his performance this year is just a reflection of what he's capable of.
Liam Doyle, a Cardinals prospect, showed top-shelf stuff once again. He was the No. 5 pick in the draft last year in large part because his fastball was one of the best in the class, up to 100 with crazy ride that made it almost unhittable when he'd throw it at the top of the zone. However, his command isn't great, and I could see why he was off to a bad start on paper even with this kind of arsenal. Doyle is still a work in progress, but I'm optimistic about him as a long-term rotation guy.
Ike Irish, the Orioles' first pick in the 2026 draft, is looking fantastic right now, hitting .326/.434/.573. In the game I saw, he went 1 for 5 with a walk, but even the outs were loud, with three hard-hit flyouts to center. Irish is fine in right field, not good yet, with a plus arm, but the bat is going to carry him. I'd like to see him in Double A soon to challenge him.
Wehiwa Aloy, the Orioles' second pick in 2026, entered the game in the eighth inning and had two at bats, striking out once looking and once swinging. It's a small sample size, but he looked bad both times, as if he couldn't catch up to 92 mph. However, he had four hits, including a homer plus a walk in five plate appearances two days prior to that. Aloy's swing decisions were a much bigger issue than his bat speed.
Yeiber Cartaya, a right-hander who started the game for Frederick (now the Orioles' High-A affiliate), was a pleasant surprise. He has three pitches and the hilarious 0.68 ERA isn't just a fluke. He was mostly 93-95 and seemed to miss some bats with the fastball, while he showed an above-average changeup with good tailing action that he really should use more often. Cartaya has a lower three-quarters arm slot that looks like it has some of that deception from the lower release height that teams are chasing now, and he lands slightly on the third base side, cutting himself off a little while adding some deception against right-handed batters.
In conclusion, the 2025 MLB Draft season is shaping up to be an exciting one, with several top prospects showing real promise. While some players are still a work in progress, others are already making waves in the minor leagues. It will be fascinating to see how these players develop over the coming years and whether they can live up to the hype.
