Cody Snavely
Major League Baseball has released its annual preseason prospect Top 100 list with a new season on the horizon, including six Los Angeles Dodgers and a new number one overall prospect.
At the end of the 2024 regular season, the Dodgers had four total players on the MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, with their highest-ranking prospect being minor league catcher Dalton Rushing, who ranked 39th. However, this season, the team added two more names to the list, including recently signed international free agent Rōki Sasaki.
#1: Roki Sasaki (RHP)
As expected, once Saski picked a Major League team, the 23-year-old Japanese phenom would take over the mantle of Major League Baseball’s new top prospect entering the 2025 season.
While Sasaki is not as polished as fellow Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, his ceiling is much higher than most prospects can ever dream of.
In his four seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB), Sasaki went a combined 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA, 0.894 WHIP, and an 11.5 K/9 in 394.2 innings pitched.
Sasaki is led by two nasty pitches in the fastball (70-Grade) and splitter (80-Grade), along with an above-average slider that should translate well from Japan.
#30: Dalton Rushing (C/OF)
Dalton Rushing is the most polished and Major League-ready out of all the top minor-league prospects in the Dodgers farm system. Multiple scouts project the catcher to debut during the 2025 season.
Rushing has lived up to the hype in just two short years. Since being drafted by the Dodgers in 2022, Rushing has put together a .273/.410/.520 slash line, along with a .930 OPS in three seasons.
This past season, Rushing grew as a hitter, inevitably getting the promotion from Double-A Tulsa to Triple-A OKC, where the Dodgers, who value versatility, played rushing in left field.
Overall, Rushing hit .271/.384/.512 with a .896 OPS (.907 OPS in Triple-A), twenty-one doubles, and twenty-six home runs, which was the second most by a minor league catcher. Rushing’s success did not go unnoticed by his peers being voted to the 2024 All Prospect Second Team at catcher.
However, with top catcher Will Smith and veteran backstop Austin Barnes in the fold for the 2025 season, Rushing will have trouble consistently getting playing time at the Major League level unless an injury happens.
#40: Josue De Paula (OF)
Dodgers fans should start to know the name, Josue De Paula, as multiple members within the organization describe the 19-year-old prospect as the most advanced young hitter their organization has had in years.
De Paula showcased his talents this year in the minor leagues, hitting .268/.404/.405 with a .809 OPS, ten home runs, and twenty-seven stolen bases between the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Great Lake Loons.
De Paula could become a slightly smaller version of Yordan Alvarez, but the Dodgers hope he’ll provide some baserunning and defensive value. However, De Paula is still two to three years away from knocking on the door of any Major League call-up.
#71: Jackson Ferris (LHP)
In twenty years, we may look back at the Michael Busch trade as one of the biggest steals in recent Major League Baseball history. Last offseason, the Dodgers turned minor league standout Michael Busch into two high-profile minor league prospects, lefty Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope, who are now top baseball prospects.
Ferris was also on Baseball America’s Top-100 list, checking in at No. 99 overall after a tremendous first full professional season for the 20-year-old left-hander.
Ferris had a 3.20 ERA in twenty-seven starts between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa with a 27.4 strikeout rate. Ferris also led all Dodgers minor league pitchers with 145 strikeouts and twenty-seven starts, and his 126.2 innings were second in the Dodgers farm system.
#72: Alex Freeland (SS)
One position the Los Angeles Dodgers have not polished since the departure of former top prospect Corey Seager is shortstop, which has been a revolving door over the last three seasons.
Currently, the Dodgers are planning to roll out all-star Mookie Betts at the position with some other internal options, such as veteran Miguel Rojas and newly signed Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim.
Freeland, 23, was the Los Angeles Dodgers third-round selection in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft and has risen through the minor leagues over the last two seasons and is currently the third-ranked prospect in the Dodgers minor league system.
This past season, Freeland put it all together, hitting .260/.387/.442 with a .829 OPS, thirty-two doubles, eighteen home runs, seventy-four RBIs, and ninety-one walks while rising through the pipeline from Single-A+ to ending the season with Triple-A OKC Baseball Club.
And with the Dodgers moving on from infielder Gavin Lux and shipping him off to Cincinnati this winter, Freeland seems to be the next man up if a situation calls for him.
#75: Zyhir Hope (OF)
Rounding out MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 for the Los Angeles Dodgers is equally exciting young prospect Zyhit Hope, whom the Dodgers acquired last offseason in the aforementioned Michael Busch trade with the Chagaco Cubs.
Hope was limited to just sixty-one games in 2024 with a shoulder injury. The good news is that Hope didn’t let the shoulder injury hamper his production on the field. A .290/.419/.484 slash line with nine home runs and nine stolen bases.
Hope handled left-handed pitching better than right-handers in 2024, with a .296 average against lefties compared to a .284 average against righties. Not only did Hope maintain a higher average, but he also held a lower strikeout rate by two percent, which was roughly 23% against right-hand pitching and 21% against left-handed pitching.
Hope also showcased his speed in his limited playing time this past season, and that speed tool should translate well in an entire season with opportunities at twenty or more bags annually.
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