8 Former Top MLB Prospects Struggling to Break Through
It's the young guys who hold most of the star power in Major League Baseball today, but even aspiring young stars can vouch for one constant:
Baseball is a really hard game to be good at, especially at the major league level.
With this in mind, let's take a closer look at eight major leaguers who were very recently among the best prospects in the sport, but who are struggling to live up to their former billing.
We excluded guys who are being held short of their potential by health matters, such as Grayson Rodriguez. We also left out guys whose prospect stock was sliding even before they reached MLB, instead focusing on players who got their shots just when their stock was peaking. For this, we deferred to MLB Pipeline's rankings.
Another important note is that this is not about former prospects who can officially be declared busts. B/R has a whole 'nother list for that lot.
Let's count 'em down, with the least hyped former prospect at the bottom and the most hyped one at the top.
LF/RF Heston Kjerstad, Baltimore Orioles
1 of 8
Age: 26
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 32 in 2024
MLB Stats: 85 G, 247 PA, 9 HR, 2 SB, .233 AVG, .301 OBP, .381 SLG, -0.2 WAR
The Orioles have spent the 2020s building a contender (an ostensible one, at least) around young hitters, and Heston Kjerstad seemed like a shoo-in to fit right in.
He tore through the minors after the O's drafted him No. 2 overall in 2020, racking up OPSes north of .900 at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He was even solid in cameo appearances in Baltimore in 2023 and 2024, posting a 116 OPS+.
This background plus the departure of Anthony Santander over the winter gave the O's every excuse to give Kjerstad a proper look in 2025, but it's not working out and it isn't just the results that fail to impress.
There's a lot of blue on Kjerstad's Baseball Savant profile, with even his 20th-percentile bat speed looking like a positive next to disastrous whiff and chase rates. In practice, it all explains why he has two walks against 31 strikeouts.
This is even though the left-handed swinger has taken 78 of his 100 plate appearances with the platoon advantage against righties. Further, he isn't making up for his offensive struggles in the field.
Add it all up, and Kjerstad is a candidate for a minor league reset sometime soon.
2B/3B Brett Baty, New York Mets
2 of 8
Age: 25
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 21 in 2023
MLB Stats: 190 G, 668 PA, 17 HR, 3 SB, .215 AVG, .278 OBP, .332 OBP, -0.4 rWAR
Like Heston Kjerstad, Brett Baty is another former high draft pick who has mostly laid waste to the minor leagues.
The Mets chose Baty with the No. 12 pick in 2019, and his minor league track record includes OPSes in the .900 neighborhood at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. At his peak in 2023, he got 60 grades for his hit and power tools.
Baty got lost in the wilderness after a disappointing 108-game run with the Mets in 2023, but he seemed on his way to getting out this spring. He forced his way onto the roster as the starting second baseman with a 1.186 OPS.
So much for that, though. Baty was optioned to the minors on April 24 and only recently got recalled on Wednesday. He's not lacking in confidence, but everything about his profile leaves a lot to be desired.
Baty has 20 strikeouts against three walks in the majors in 2025, with breaking balls holding him to one hit in 18 at-bats. The book on him clearly states that he's a fastball hitter, as he's seeing fastballs less than half the time.
It's on Baty to adjust accordingly. After nearly 200 games in the majors, all the Mets can really do about that is hope.
LF Jasson Domínguez, New York Yankees
3 of 8
Age: 22
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 21 in 2025
MLB Stats: 58 G, 224 PA, 11 HR, 9 SB, .231 AVG, .326 OBP, .451 SLG, 1.1 rWAR
Jasson Domínguez was a top prospect for what felt like forever, appearing in MLB Pipeline's top 100 annually between 2020 and 2025.
He has since shed his prospect status, and his season hasn't been without bright spots. He's indeed coming off a huge Friday night in Sacramento—everything else here was naturally written earlier in the day—homering three times after going into the game with just two for the whole season.
"The Martian" has otherwise lived up to his billing as a tools-y player, as his bat speed, walk rate, arm strength and sprint speed all grade out above average.
Domínguez has been cold more often than he's been hot, however, and that largely traces back to the same problem Brett Baty has. Breaking stuff has given Domínguez fits, as he's 9-for-39 with 21 strikeouts against it.
You can rest assured that pitchers are aware of that, and Yankees fans are certainly aware of the rookie's shortcomings in left field. His defensive struggles were an issue during spring training, and he's already tied for last among outfielders with minus-four Outs Above Average.
Despite how long he's been around, it's worth a reminder that Domínguez is still only 22. But at a certain point, he'll need to show the Yankees he was worth all the hype.
LHP Kyle Harrison, San Francisco Giants
4 of 8
Age: 23
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 18 in 2023
MLB Stats: 33 G, 31 GS, 162.0 IP, 154 H (26 HR), 158 K, 56 BB, 4.39 ERA, 1.1 rWAR
Kyle Harrison was only a third-round draft pick in 2020, but he had a simple trick for climbing the ranks: Blowing hitters away with his fastball.
The heater was the key to Harrison fanning 452 of the 1,208 batters he faced (37.4 percent) in the minors between 2021 and 2023. By the time the Giants called him up in 2023, he had "Next Big Thing" written all over him.
The fastball played well for Harrison in 2023, but its average velocity dropped to 92.5 mph in 2024 and its effectiveness basically followed suit. Otherwise, he basically didn't have any reliable weapons as he racked up a 4.56 ERA in 24 starts.
This year got off to a rough start for Harrison before the season even started, as he was optioned to Triple-A in March. He has since returned...but as a reliever.
This could be the right career move for Harrison, whose debut on May 6 saw him run his fastball at 96.2 mph and punch out two of the three batters he faced. If he sticks on this path, one can see him as the next coming of Andrew Miller.
Then again, one relief appearance obviously isn't much to go off. And even in his new role, he's only Bob Melvin's No. 2 lefty reliever behind Erik Miller.
RHP Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays
5 of 8
Age: 24
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 20 in 2023
MLB Stats: 55 G, 53 GS, 283.1 IP, 264 H (50 HR), 313 K, 104 BB, 4.70 ERA, 1.5 rWAR
Taj Bradley has a modest 4.43 ERA through seven starts this season, though that figure is partially skewed by a six-run dud against the Yankees on April 17.
There is no question that the stuff is still there for Bradley. He's running his fastball at an average of 96.3 mph, with good action on his curveball and cutter.
Bradley has nonetheless seen his strikeout rate take a dive in 2025, going from 26.6 percent in 2024 all the way down to 17.8 percent. The whiff rate on all four of his pitches is down, and he's serving up a ton of contact in the strike zone.
These are frustrating developments for a guy who occasionally looked close to taking off in 2024, even bringing a sub-3.00 ERA into the All-Star break. And given the quality of his stuff, that this is happening at all is baffling.
There are adjustments Bradley and the Rays can pursue, such as cutting down on how often he uses his four-seam fastball. It's his preferred pitch at 42 percent usage, yet it has been by far his least effective offering in three MLB seasons.
Until those adjustments are made, Bradley's ace-level ceiling will continue to exist only in theory.
3B Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins
6 of 8
Age: 24
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 18 in 2024
MLB Stats: 74 G, 270 PA, 5 HR, 3 SB, .227 AVG, .274 OBP, .335 SLG, -0.1 rWAR
Brooks Lee was the No. 8 pick in the 2022 draft, and the book on him that year didn't change much in 2023 and 2024.
In summation, it said the dude could hit. That was especially true in the 35 games he played in the minors last season, wherein he batted .331 with eight home runs. He also struck out only 21 times against 14 walks.
Putting the ball in play remains a strength for Lee, as he's fanned only 39 times at the major league level. That includes just 12 times this year, though that may not be sustainable as long as his whiff rate is in the 45th percentile.
Lee otherwise isn't doing much to put a charge into the ball. For him, key batted ball metrics like exit velocity and hard-hit rate more or less rate as average. He also isn't much for hitting the ball in the sweet spot, an easy avenue to power.
Lee has to hit, because his defensive work is more "good enough" than "good" and he doesn't have much to offer on the bases either. His sprint speed is in the 22nd percentile.
The switch-hitter has been better since a cold start to the year, as he carried a .304 average over his last 16 games into the weekend. Ideally, he'll keep that up and add a little more power, as he only has five extra-base hits in this span.
RF Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals
7 of 8
Age: 22
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 4 in 2023
MLB Stats: 200 G, 770 PA, 23 HR, 10 SB, .245 AVG, .309 OBP, .397 SLG, -1.3 rWAR
Jordan Walker's major league career started on the strongest possible note, as he began with a 12-game hitting streak that put his name in MLB history.
The rug-pull came when he was optioned back to the minors soon after that, and success continued to elude him as he bounced back and forth between the minors and majors through the end of 2024.
The work that Walker put in with hitting coach Brant Brown over the winter established some good vibes for 2025, and it has paid off in at least one respect. The 6'6", 250-pounder's bat speed has gotten even better, landing in the 99th percentile at an average of 77.6 mph.
That he's striking out a career-high 31.5 percent of the time is the bad news. His whiff rate against both breaking and offspeed is north of 40 percent, and he hasn't responded well (25.2 whiff rate) to an increase in fastballs.
The other persistent problem for Walker is that he hits too many ground balls, effectively wasting what is otherwise a powerful swing. He's hit the ball as hard as 116.5 mph, but even that was on a ground ball.
Walker has at least shifted some pressure off his bat by improving in right field this year, but that's of small comfort to the Cardinals. They need him to hit, full stop.
RF Dylan Crews, Washington Nationals
8 of 8
Age: 23
Peak MLB Pipeline Rank: No. 2 in 2025
MLB Stats: 67 G, 272 PA, 7 HR, 21 SB, .200 AVG, .261 OBP, .328 SLG, 0.4 rWAR
It was only two years ago that the Nationals chose Dylan Crews with the No. 2 pick, so their patience isn't going to be upended by a disappointing 66-game sample.
It has indeed been disappointing, though, and the biggest thing holding Crews back is obvious: He really needs to tighten his approach.
His chase rate is in the 40th percentile, and every swing he takes outside the zone has a high likelihood of being for naught. He's made contact on only 32.1 percent of the pitches he's chased at, the third-worst mark among qualified hitters.
It isn't just breaking and offspeed pitches that are bamboozling Crews. He'll also go after fastballs up above the zone and he tends to come up empty on those.
There's an adjustment waiting to be made there, perhaps involving how he stands in the box. He starts tall and then gets surprisingly low as the pitch is being delivered and he's getting into his swing.
The bright side for the meantime is that Crews' tools still impress, as he's an elite runner with booming power to all fields. If he can get his approach in a better place, watch out.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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