Five Prospects I Keep Thinking About

"Hitting velocity isn't about cheating to it. It's about being on time. Timing is everything in baseball."

I should be writing draft reports right now.

We’re inching closer and closer our first edition of the BA 500, which is the foundation of our draft coverage at Baseball America and something we’re always building towards for multiple years for any given draft class.

To procrastinate from that a bit, I wanted to write this newsletter. I’ve got five prospects at a variety of levels who are on my mind for one reason or another.

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JR Ritchie, RHP, Braves
Age: 22

Ritchie entered the season as the No. 7 prospect on the Braves Top 30, but once Drake Baldwin graduates from prospect status I think he has as good a case for the top player in the system as anyone. He missed parts of 2023 and 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery but has always shown a deep pitch mix and advanced command when healthy. This year he’s added a sinker and a spike-curveball to his mix, which already included a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup. He posted a 1.30 ERA through seven starts and 41.2 innings with a 24.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. I haven’t seen data on the new curve yet, but it looked pretty impressive to me on video. He was promoted to Double-A after throwing a complete game shutout and one-hitter in his most recent start. Between his excellent control and impressive deep pitch mix are we about to see Spencer Schwellenbach 2.0?

Nolan McLean, RHP, Mets
Age: 23

I wish McLean stopped hitting years ago. He ranked as a top-200 player in the 2023 draft class not because of his impressive raw power as a hitter (which he has a ton of) but because of his insane arm talent. He was touching 98 mph and spinning multiple plus breaking balls with huge spin rates while coming out of the bullpen for Oklahoma State. In his first full season focused on pitching as a professional he’s posted a 1.88 ERA (3.54 FIP) through seven starts and 38.1 innings with a 25.9% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. His strike rate with the fastball is improved so far this season, and I think his delivery looks a bit more fluid and synced up. His slider was already one of the best breaking balls in them minors. Now he’s in Triple-A and knocking on the big league door.

Jacob Reimer, 3B, Mets
Age: 21

It’s hard to forget a hitting performance like the one Reimer put on at USA Baseball’s National High School Invitational in 2022. Back when Reimer was a draft prospect, I remember there being a debate among the scouting community about whether Reimer was more of a hit-over-power or a power-over-hit right/right prep profile. He missed a huge chunk of time last year with a hamstring injury, but since he’s been on the field as a professional it sounds like he’s neither: he’s just a well-rounded hitter with contact skills, a solid approach and some thump. And he’s a real hitting nerd as well. Through 33 games at High-A so far this year Reimer is hitting .328/.419/.641 (196 wRC+ with seven home runs, 13 doubles, a 20.9% strikeout rate and an 11.5% walk rate.

Derek Curiel, OF, LSU
Age: 20

Early in the 2024 draft cycle Curiel was viewed as one of the top high school hitters in the class. He didn’t have the most electric summer showcase circuit, slipped on boards the next spring and ranked No. 78 in the class before he officially withdrew from the draft to honor his commitment to LSU. His freshman season with the Tigers has been exceptional. He jumped right into the starting lineup and has primarily hit in the No. 1 or 2 spot in the lineup while handling left field. Through 53 games he’s hit .347/.472/.533 with six home runs, 15 doubles, a 16.8% strikeout rate and a 16.4% walk rate. The underlying batted ball data I’ve seen is excellent, as Curiel makes an insane amount of contact within the zone, has barreled the baseball at a strong clip with a 90th percentile EV that’s modest, but still above someone like Wake Forest’s Marek Houston from this year’s draft class. He’ll be a draft eligible sophomore in the 2026 class. I’m excited to see how he levels up in conference play in year two (and hopefully he slides to center field as well).

Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
Age: 21

Bremner entered the spring as a top-two pitcher in the class alongside Jamie Arnold. At this point it sounds like he’s behind Arnold as well as a trio of SEC arms that includes Kyson Witherspoon, Liam Doyle and Kade Anderson. Bremner has certainly not the results he was hoping for in his draft year. His ERA has jumped more than a full run—from 2.54 in 2024 to 3.84 through 13 starts this year—and his slider in particular has been less effective. Still, I wonder if he’s not just having the same sort of draft season that Chase Dollander had a few years ago. Outside of a less consistent slider, Bremner has continued to show great pure stuff. His fastball is sitting 95.2 mph and his changeup has been every bit of the 70-grade pitch it’s billed as, with nearly a 50% whiff rate on 37% usage. Maybe skeptics won’t like a FB/CH righthander, but I can’t help but think someone could help him tighten up the breaking ball. He’s looking at the best K-BB% of his career (34.4%)—which is good for 11th among qualified D-I arms—and still might be the best command pitcher in the class with a no-doubt starter profile. I’d still be all over this profile, especially if he’s falling into the middle of the first round.

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Below is the work I’ve produced for Baseball America since my last newsletter:

Writing

• 2025 MLB Mock Draft V 3.0. We’re starting to pick up some more steam when it comes to team/player connections at this stage in the draft cycle. That said, I still didn’t have a whole heck of a lot of confidence in the order—or even who the first player off the board was going to be this time around. Since putting out this mock I’ve heard more chatter about Ethan Holliday tied to the Nationals at No. 1 and Liam Doyle with the Angels at No. 2.

• What We’re Hearing About 2025 MLB Draft Prospects Two Months Out. The plan is to start putting together more of these rumor mill notebooks as we approach the draft. It’s a good way for me to be able to write about some players further down the board gaining traction or just dig a bit deeper into specific players.

• MLB Draft Chat (5/14/25). There were more than 40 really good draft questions from BA readers this week in the draft chat. Chances are there’s something you might be wondering about in the draft that’s addressed here. Especially if you’re a Blue Jays fan.

Podcasting/Video

• Future Projection Episode 125: Rising Mets Prospects & Shorter Feedback Loops On Scouting Decisions. Ben wonders if teams are starting to figure out how to evaluate their own draft classes and signing classes more quickly. We talk about Dalton rushing’s promotion and a handful of Mets prospects.

• Draft Pod: Draft Mailbag: Shortstop Defense, Draft Strategy, A Sleeper College Bat & More. Peter and I pulled some of the most interesting questions from this week’s draft chat and expanded on them in audio format.

• I made an appearance on this week’s Hot Sheet show on our YouTube channel to talk about the most recent mock draft and a core of college pitchers pushing up the board: