All 13 Players With 80-Grade Tools In The 2025 Prospect Handbook (original) (raw)
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Image credit: Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Photo by Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
Within the pages of the 2025 Prospect Handbook, readers will find much more than scouting reports on 900 players. Included with each capsule are grades for every one of their tools.
For position players, the list includes the standard five: hitting, power, speed, fielding and arm strength. For pitchers, we grade each piece of their repertoire, as well as their control.
Tools that earn 80s on the 20-80 scouting scale are considered elite, and players with those marks on their card are rare. In fact, just 13 prospects in the 2025 Prospect Handbook have one such grade by their name.
Last year, that total was 18.
This year’s group is not only smaller, it’s also concentrated into fewer categories. No player earned an 80 grade for hit or power. There were no 80-grade hitters in the 2024 Handbook, and only Junior Caminero was forecasted for 80-grade power.
Here’s how the 80s were divvied up in 2025.
SPEED
By far, this is the most 80-laded category. Six players rank as top-end burners, including Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Orioles), Homer Bush Jr. (Rays), DaShawn Keirsey (Twins), Kendall George (Dodgers), Kellon Lindsey (Dodgers) and Chandler Simpson (Rays).
None of these names is surprising. Simpson led the minors with 104 stolen bases and Bradfield finished second with 74. Bush stole 43 bags—which led the Padres organization—before adding 14 more after being dealt to the Rays.
Keirsey’s 36 swipes tied him for second in Minnesota’s system, and George’s identical total placed him in third among Dodgers farmhands. Lindsey hasn’t played in a professional game.
DEFENSE
Just like last season, Bradfield is the only player with multiple 80 grades on his scouting report. His elite wheels fuel his defense, which should allow him to be a slam dunk to stick in center field and provide plenty of value.
This year, he’s joined by new Marlins prospect Starlyn Caba, who has already earned a rep as the best shortstop defender in the minors. His athleticism, footwork, soft hands and advanced instincts allow him to make every play imaginable… and a few more out of the realm of possibility for lesser defenders.
He was dealt to Miami in the trade that brought lefty Jesus Luzardo to Philly.
Rays first baseman Tre’ Morgan also earns an 80 for his range, quickness and ability to save his fellow infielders from errors.
FASTBALLS
Three pitchers earned 80 grades for the kind of heat their right arms can generate: Reynaldo Yean (Dodgers), Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers) and Daniel Espino (Guardians).
Yean’s velocity is unmatched among minor leaguers. He was only non-debuted pitcher whose fastball was thrown more than 100 mph on average. His max velocity of 104.6 was also tops in the minors . Couple the velocity with an average of 19.7 inches of induced vertical break and you have a forecast of elite heat.
Misiorowski has long been one of the hardest-throwers in the minors. His fastball averaged 97 mph and touched 101. He used the pitch, along with a pair of 70-grade breaking balls, to strike out 127 hitters in 97.1 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
Espino hasn’t pitched since April 2022 but had some of the best stuff in the minor leagues before a litany of injuries put his career on hold.
SPLITTER
Though he hasn’t signed with a team and doesn’t appear in any of the 30 chapters, Roki Sasaki’s splitter is already considered the best in the world. He complements the splitter with a 70-grade fastball that regularly reaches triple-digits, as well as a plus slider and a fringy curveball.
The 23-year-old Sasaki has already dominated the competition in Japan and gave the best of the rest of the sport a sneak preview during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where he helped his club take home the gold medal. His stuff will put him in the mix for the sport’s top prospect the moment he signs.