7 Former Top MLB Prospects Close to Being Labeled a Bust

It's difficult to put the bust label on a former prospect, because development often isn't a linear process.

Take, for example, Jordan Walker. After hitting .211 with a .595 OPS and minus-2.5 WAR between 2024 and 2025, Walker seemed in danger of being labeled a bust. Instead, the former first-round pick—still only 23—has come back and had a monster season so far for the St. Louis Cardinals. Over his first 42 games of 2026, Walker has hit .294 with 12 home runs, a .945 OPS and a 2.6 WAR, per Baseball Reference. Walker has gone from looking like a bust to a building block for Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals.

So, take all this with a grain of salt. It's not easy to evaluate talent. With that said, here are seven former top MLB prospects close to being labeled busts.

Druw Jones, Arizona Diamondbacks

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The son of Hall of Famer Andruw Jones, Druw Jones was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Wesleyan School in Georgia.

Four years later, Jones is still at Double-A Amarillo, where he's hitting .202 with a .622 OPS. It's true that he's only 22 years old, but when you use a top-five pick on a high school player, you expect them to either be at the majors or pushing for a call-up by that age. Jones isn't even at Triple-A. In fact, entering the season, Jones didn't even crack the top 100 prospects in baseball list that B/R's Joel Reuter put together.

At that time of his selection, there was actually some surprise that the Baltimore Orioles didn't take Jones No. 1 overall, instead opting to use the top pick on Jackson Holliday. The jury is still out on Holliday, but he's played in more than 200 games at the MLB level. Jones hasn't sniffed the majors.

Kumar Rocker, Texas Rangers

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Despite Kumar Rocker's medicals prompting the Mets to not sign him after selecting him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, the Rangers used the third pick a year later on Rocker, betting that he would rediscover the form that made him must-watch at Vanderbilt University.

Now 26, Rocker has pitched in parts of three MLB seasons for the Rangers. Across 113.1 frames, Rocker has a 5.08 ERA and 4.58 FIP. He posted a 13.9 K/9 for Vanderbilt in 2021, his final collegiate season. So far as a major leaguer, he has a 7.9 K/9.

Five years ago, it would have been unthinkable that Rocker and Jack Leiter—who electrified collegiate baseball atop the Vanderbilt rotation—would be part of the same MLB staff. The reality has been pretty underwhelming, though, as Rocker has struggled to find his footing and Leiter has a 4.08 ERA since the start of the 2025 campaign.

Dylan Crews, Washington Nationals

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Selected out of LSU with the No. 2 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, the Nationals hoped that Dylan Crews would be part of their next great core, alongside some of the pieces they acquired by trading majors stars like Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Max Scherzer.

While James Wood and CJ Abrams—acquired from the San Diego Padres in the August 2022 Juan Soto trade—have been hits, Crews so far goes more into the group of disappointing prospects like Keibert Ruiz.

Across his first 116 MLB games, Crews has hit just .211 with a .634 OPS. It should be noted that none of those games have come this season, as Crews has spent all of 2026 at Triple-A Rochester, where he's hitting .273 with a .773 OPS.

Crews is still only 24 years old and has six career defensive runs saved in right field in the majors. The fact that he can't crack the rebuilding Nationals roster, though, isn't encouraging.

Kevin Parada, New York Mets

The Mets used the 11th pick in the 2022 MLB Draft on Kevin Parada, a catcher/DH that hit 26 home runs, drove in 88 runs and posted a 1.162 OPS during his final season at Georgia Tech.

Unfortunately for the Mets, Parada hasn't been anything like that offensive player since turning pro. Set to turn 25 in August, Parada still finds himself at Double-A Binghamton, where he's batting .184 with a .523 OPS in 29 games this season. He did get a brief shot with Triple-A Syracuse last season, but posted a minuscule .286 slugging percentage in 16 games.

All of this stings more knowing the Mets took Parada just two picks prior to Zach Neto being taken by the Los Angeles Angels. Chase DeLauter and Justin Crawford are two other rookies taken within six picks of Parada that the Mets obviously would rather have if given a mulligan.

Matt McLain, Cincinnati Reds

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This one is tough, because Matt McLain looked like a budding superstar when he posted a 3.2 WAR in 2023 over his first 89 MLB games, a stretch that saw him homer 16 times, drive in 50 runs and steal 14 bases.

However, McLain missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing left shoulder surgery, and he really hasn't been the same player since. In 191 games since the start of the 2025 campaign, McLain has hit .218 with a .648 OPS and 1.6 WAR, a far cry from the type of production he put up in his first glimpse at the MLB level.

Perhaps as McLain continues to move further away from his shoulder surgery he'll recapture the form he once showed. Then again, that surgery was back in March of 2024. One would think he would be fine by this point, but the production hasn't returned.

Robert Hassell III, Washington Nationals

On one hand, the Nationals have already hit on both Abrams and Wood in the 2022 trade return they got from the Padres for Soto. Yes, they traded away Soto in his mid-20s. But, when you make a trade of that magnitude, hitting on two major prospects is a pretty big win. Anything beyond that is gravy.

On the other hand, the Nationals haven't been able to turn having Abrams and Wood into being a competitive team, because they aren't spending in a meaningful way and haven't developed much around them.

One of the pieces that the Nationals hoped would be part of the core led by Abrams and Wood was Robert Hassell III, whom the Padres selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of Independence High School in Tennessee.

Hassell appeared in 70 games for the Nationals last season, striking out 70 times, while drawing just eight walks and posting a .572 OPS. Hassell does have the flexibility to play all three outfield spots, but didn't hit much in his first stint in the majors. He continues to wait on a second opportunity in the majors, because like Crews, he's a 24-year-old at Triple-A Syracuse. He hasn't forced the hands of the Nationals there, as he's hitting just .243 with a .658 OPS.

70 games, in theory, is too small of a sample size to write someone off after. But with more context, Hassell is definitely trending in the bust direction.

Luisangel Acuña, Chicago White Sox

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No one was suggesting that Luisangel Acuña was going to be the same player that his older brother Ronald is, but he was once a pretty highly-ranked prospect himself. So far, that hasn't led to much success in the majors.

Acuña was thought of highlyenough that the New York Mets sent $35.5 million in cash when they traded Scherzer to the Texas Rangers in July of 2023, essentially paying to acquire Acuña. While he flashed some real talent in a cup of coffee in 2024, Acuña hit just .234 with a .567 OPS over the larger sample size of 95 games in 2025. The Mets then traded him this offseason to the White Sox to acquire oft-injured outfielder Luis Robert Jr.

While the 24-year-old Acuña has provided some defensive flexibility on the southside, he's hitting just .181 with a .435 OPS. It's great that he can play both middle infield positions and in the outfield, but that only matters if he can couple it with some offensive production.