TL;DR - Scouting Report
Roki Sasaki headlines Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects for 2025, leading six Dodgers players poised to shape the franchise direction.
Start the Rally: Tweet This Now!Baseball America released its Top 100 Prospects list for 2025, and the Dodgers are well represented, including having the top prospect in baseball, which could come as no surprise to many fans.
Let’s have a look at the six players representing the Dodgers’ farm system this upcoming season.
No. 82 LHP Jackson Ferris – ETA: 2026
The Dodgers needed to urgently move Michael Busch in order to accomplish a couple of things – let Busch find a place to play, and to gain some value for him while there was value to be had.
Busch went to the Cubs along with RHP Yency Almonte for Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope (spoiler alert: he’s coming up soon on this list).
Ferris, 21, began 2024 at High-A Great Lakes of the Midwest League, and fared well. He went 4-4 with a 3.39 ERA, 1.159 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 in 20 starts. In 98.1 innings pitched, he struck out 119 batters and walked 43.
He was later promoted to Double-A Tulsa, and didn’t do terribly; but certainly has room to grow going into 2025. He went 1-3 with a 2.54 ERA, 1.271 WHIP and 8.3 K/9 in seven starts. In 28.1 innings pitched, he struck out just 26 batters, walking 14.
When the 6-foot-4 Ferris is at his best, he can miss bats with multiple pitches. His fastball ranges in the 92-95 mph range, topping out at 97.
The knock on the prospect is his mechanics, which are unorthdox and difficult to keep in sync. He’s athletic, though, and he knows how to make it work for him.
He has drawn comparisons to Dodgers ace Blake Snell at that stage of his career, but with better stuff and a cleaner delivery.
No. 51 | OF Zyhir Hope – ETA: 2028
The second piece of the Busch trade, Hope was recently named the 2025 MLB Pipeline Breakout Prospect.
After playing seven games in rookie ball, Hope went on to play 54 games for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. There he hit .287/.415/.490 with 42 runs, 9 HRs, 31 RBIs and eight steals in 10 tries.
At just 19 years old (he’s since turned 20), Hope was already producing 110-mph exit velocities. The thought is that he combination of easy bat speed, growing strength and natural loft in his swing could evolve into some serieous power for the Dodgers.
Scouts think he could be a 30-30 guy that plays center field some day.
He also has the potential to pitch as a southpaw. He likely won’t, but is capable of doing so, boasting a fastball in the mid-90s and a promising curveball.
Hope needs to work on chasing pitches out of the zone.
MLB scouts see something in this prospect, and could be a huge reason why the Dodgers win the Busch trade.
No. 47 | OF Josue De Paula – ETA: 2026
The sweet swing of Josue De Paula is rising fast through the Dodgers organization. He signed with the club in 2022 out of the Dominican Republic via New York.
He’s the second cousin of former NBA guards Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair.
The 19-year-old turns 20 in May, and split time with Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga last season.
At Rancho Cucamonga, he hit .279/.388/.447 with 37 runs, 6 HRs, 41 RBIs and 14 steals in 55 games.
He then went to Great Lakes and hit .254/.422/.356 with 32 runs, 4 HRs, 21 RBIs and 13 steals in 16 tries in 52 games.
Only five other players in the Minors had as many runs, walks and steals at the same time.
De Paula stands 6-foot-3 and has a strong arm, shifting this past season from center field to right field. He should stay there as he continues to develop.
If he develops more power, he can rise through the system quick. He’s been the topic of trade talks. Though nothing has come close to fruition.
On the other hand, he lacks instincts and has been error prone in the outfield, and needs to clean it up defensively to make his way to the Major Leagues.
No. 46 | SS Alex Freeland – ETA: 2025
When the Dodgers signed infielder Hyeseong Kim, it was followed up by a trade of Gavin Lux to the Reds. The Dodgers infield situation remains crowded, and Freeland’s path to the big leagues is likely blocked, and could be trade fodder at midseason or sooner.
The number that sticks out with the 23-year-old Freeland is his .829 OPS across the High-A, Double-A and Triple-A levels. Combined, he hit .260/.387/.442 with 100 runs, 18 HRs, 74 RBIs and 31 steals in 33 tries.
The switch-hitter could find himself hitting primarily from the left side in the future. Although, he did improve last season from the right side, hitting his first Triple-A home run as a righty.
Freeland has never not worked hard to get what he wanted.
He overcame several surgeries to correct clubfoot, a birth defect that causes one or both feet to turn inward and downward, and became one of the better shortstops in the 2020 draft class. As a sophomore at Central Florida he broke his hamate.
That didn’t stop him from being drafted in the 3rd round by the Dodgers.
Freeland is great at working the count and drawing walks. He makes great swing decisions, too.
He has range to both sides, quick hands and plus arm strength. There aren’t many plays Freeland won’t make. This allows him the versatility the Dodgers like to play second base and third base.
No. 30 | C Dalton Rushing – ETA: 2025
Currently a catcher, the soon-to-be 24-year-old Rushing projects to move to a corner outfield position as he transitions to a big-league role.
He may be ready now.
In 77 games at Tulsa, he hit .271/.378/.513 with 44 runs, 17 HRs and 59 RBIs.
His numbers stood fairly consistent at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where in 37 games he hit .273/.396/.511 with 25 runs, 9 HRs and 26 RBIs.
Rushing’s best trait may be his attitude, though. He went to Louisville and competed behind Pirates catcher Henry Davis, who was the No. 1 overall selection in the MLB Draft in 2021.
He boasts a quick, compact left-handed swing and consistently drives the ball to his pull side without selling out for home runs. Though that comes with his share of strikeouts.
Just like in college, his path to the bigs at catcher is blocked by Will Smith. Thus, the team began to play Rushing in left field in an attempt to find an opening for him.
Like other prospects on this list, Rushing could be the subject of trade talks before long, if he isn’t already.
No. 1 | RHP Roki Sasaki – ETA: Opening Day 2025
We’ve been talking about Sasaki for years, and he’s now a Dodger, recently signing a minor-league contract with a $6.5 million signing bonus.
The 23-year-old is ready for primetime, though, and is expected to make the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster.
Sasaki boasts an otherworldly 2.02 ERA and 11.4 K/9 in four seasons pitching in Japan’s NPB.
He’s a top-end starter, according to scouts. Though one scout said, he’s not Shohei Ohtani. Instead, the scout offers a comparison of Noah Syndergaard when he was green early on in his career.
You all know about his fastball that topped out at 102 mph in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He can throw it in the range of 96-100 mph more often than not.
His best pitch is his splitter. It sits in the 88-90 mph range and looks like his fastball until it just drops hard. He produced a 57.1 percent whiff rate with it in 2024.
For comparison, the Major League average whiff rate on a splitter last season was 34.5 percent.
His third pitch is a slider, which is barely rated as a plus pitch. With it, he misseed 40.7 percent of bats, throwing it in the 83-85 mph range.
One MLB scout predicted that Sasaki could have fetched a 10-year deal worth $275-300 million in an open market.
Your Turn: Which Dodgers prospect are you most excited to see debut for the Dodgers in the near future? Tell us below in the comments!
