In order to provide the best and most accurate prospect rankings possible, it’s essential to constantly review player performance and trends. By watching tape, combing through data and doing some good, old-fashioned reporting, Baseball America is able to be on the lookout for rising players who have yet to crack our Top 100 Prospects list.
With that in mind, today we’ll be looking at five pitchers on the outside looking in who are boasting both the performance and attributes needed for potential Top 100 status.
Jonah Tong, RHP, Mets
The Mets righthander may well be the next name to jump onto the Top 100 list thanks his strong performance to begin the season.
Tong has implemented several changes with his pitch mix that have resulted in excellent numbers to date. Over the offseason, Tong improved his changeup by changing his grip to add more drop. The offering subsequently became Tong’s primary secondary and is backed by excellent results, including a 54% in-zone whiff rate.
It’s not just his changeup that has seen a revamped look in 2025, as his fastball velocity is up nearly two mph, now sitting 94-95 mph and touching 97 at peak. Tong’s fastball has excellent shape with nearly 19 inches of ride on average and heavy cut.
Development of Tong’s slider will be paramount, as he mixes two breaking ball shapes in a downer curveball and slurvy slider. His plus fastball and above-average changeup give the Canadian product a baseline of skills for success in the major leagues.
Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics
Jump has been a favorite of analytically-minded evaluators since his days at JSerra HS in California.
And undersized lefthander at six feet tall, Jump’s lower release height of just 5-foot-5 allows his four-seam fastball plane to play up. So far as a professional, he has dominated with the pitch, using it around 60% of the time between his starts in High-A and Double-A in 2025. The fastball sits 94-95 mph, touching 97 at peak, and he typically generates between 16-18 inches of induced vertical break—an above-average number for his release height. Jump has displayed plus command of the pitch, with a fastball zone rate in the mid 60s and a whiff rate over 30%.
Jump also mixes three secondaries, the primary ones being a low-80s curveball with two-plane break and a mid-80s slider with baby sweeper-type shape. His changeup is thrown less than five percent of the time and is not a major part of his arsenal. Jump’s fastball movement and command provide a foundation to build upon, and so far, his first taste of professional ball has been dominant.
Carlos Lagrange, RHP, Yankees
The Yankees have been notoriously-strong evaluators on the international front for years, and Lagrange is one of the latest products of the organization’s historical success.
Standing 6-foot-7, Lagrange is blessed with outlier power in his right arm. He sits 98-99 mph on his fastball as a starter and touches 101 mph at peak, meaning few pitchers in the world throw harder than he does.
Over seven starts this season, he owns a 4.63 ERA, but a majority of those runs were scored in just a pair of outings. For most of the season, Lagrange has displayed the best command of his career and is sporting a 7.6% walk rate at present. That newfound command could push Lagrange to another level of prospect status, as his combination of plus stuff and the ability to command it portends well for future success.
Lagrange’s slider is a low-to-mid-80s offering with around 10 inches of sweep on average. He also mixes a changeup in the high 80s as his best swing-and-miss secondary, but he’s still learning to consistently command the pitch.
With a powerful arsenal, improving secondaries and growing command, Lagrange is trending upward.
George Klassen, RHP, Angels
Unfortunately, Klassen is currently on the injured list thanks to a hard liner he took to the head on May 11. Prior to the injury, however, he was trending toward Top 100 consideration, as his strike-throwing has taken another step forward this season and improved command has been a major development since he was drafted.
Over seven starts, Klassen has pitched to just a 4.97 ERA, but it’s backed by a 3.08 FIP and 2.58 xFIP. His stuff remains jaw-dropping, as he sits 96-97 mph on his fastball and touches 99 at peak. While the heater doesn’t feature tremendous ride, Klassen’s 14 inches of average armside run make up for the lack of traditional four-seam movement.
His primary secondary is a low-90s gyro slider that has generated whiffs at rate of 45% in 2025. He also mixes a curveball in the mid 80s featuring slurvy shape that he deploys as his primary weapon against lefthanded batters.
All in all, it’s a mix of premium stuff and improving execution, making Klassen one of the more exciting names outside the Top 100 list.
Bishop Letson, RHP, Brewers
The Brewers are starting to hit “embarrassment of riches” status, as every level of Milwaukee’s minor league system is littered with exciting prospects. While the Low-A Carolina Mudcats team boasts some of the best positional prospects in the game, the High-A Wisconsin team has a stellar rotation led by Letson.
The righty mixes four pitches: two fastball shapes, a sweeper and changeup. The sweeper is Letson’s primary pitch, thrown 38% of the time and boasting 16 inches of sweep on average. He shows the ability to command the pitch, using it to generate the highest in-zone whiff rate in his arsenal.
Letson’s two fastball shapes have definitively different looks. His primary fastball is a four-seam variant sitting 92-94 mph with average ride and around 10-11 inches of armside run. He mixes a two-seam fastball in the same velocity range with single-digit vertical break and 17 inches of armside run. He also blends in a changeup, but it’s a rarely-used pitch without much vertical separation off the fastball.
Letson has pitched to strong results over six appearances this season, as he owns a 1.33 ERA over 27 innings. After a few shorter outings early in the season, he’s gone five-plus innings in each of his last three starts.
