Rookies I Love For 2025
A Blog by Will from Overdue Sports
It’s never too early to start thinking about players I’m going to be extremely high on for next season, especially as the entire baseball world impatiently wait on the ‘Soto Sweepstakes’ to come to an end. On top of that, I love looking for some top rookies or young players that will getting their first cup of coffee in the Bigs next season, so here are a few rookies I love in 2025.
Rhett Lowder/RHP/Cincinnati Reds
With the trade of Brady Singer to Cincinnati, I have some questions on what Lowder’s role and workload will look like in 2025, but he has all the makings of an NL ROY candidate similar to his former counterpart, Paul Skenes. In Lowder’s first stint with the Reds, he would throw 30.2 innings over six starts, accumulating a 2-2 record. Lowder threw to a 1.17 ERA and 1.272 WHIP in those innings, with 22 K and 14 BB. While the walk numbers were very uncharacteristic from what we saw at Wake Forest (143 K to 24 BB in 2023 at Wake), he had very few walks in his short run through the minors, and I chalk it up to nibbling/nerves.
Above all else, Lowder misses barrels at an extremely high rate, and if he had played a full season, he would’ve found himself with the best of the best (3.3%). Living with a 3/4 arm action, the Sinker/Changeup combo has been his bread and butter through his college days, and I anticipate it being the majority of what he throws in the pros. He’ll be a groundball machine and can make a serious impact for the Reds, who I’m extremely high on in 2025.
Coby Mayo/3B/Baltimore Orioles
We all know Coby Mayo for being a freak of nature, standing in at 6’5, 230, and being part of what is quite frankly a ‘prospect logjam’ in Baltimore at the moment. While his first taste of MLB action didn’t go as planned (let’s not forget, neither did Jackson Holliday’s), finding four hits over 41 ABs, Mayo has done nothing but mash his way through the minors as he clubbed 25 HR, 73 RBI, and 54 of his 105 hits going for extra bases across two MiLB levels (A+, AAA) in 2024.
I love Mayo’s approach at the plate, and while there is some strikeout concern (28.4%), his physicality and slugging ability are the shining diamond for the 2020 draft product. I can easily see him being a consistent 30 HR player at the Major League level. With plus arm strength and a solid glove at the hot corner, Mayo could be your stereotypical slugging third-baseman.
Jacob Wilson/SS/United States Athletics
I hate that I can’t give the A’s the label of Oakland, and if you’ve been following me for a while, you know I have a soft spot for this team, and see the future vision with what they’re cooking in young talent. While Wilson won’t be the Gunnar Henderson-type shortstop slugging and being flashy, Jacob Wilson has a legitimate 80-grade hit tool. Striking out just 31 times over three seasons (155 games) in his college career at Grand Canyon University. Wilson flashed this in his short stint in the MLB in 2024 before going down with injuries, striking out just 10 times (8 walks) in 91 ABs.
Wilson may just be a refreshed Luis Arraez (but with actually good defense), but definitely can run into some extra base hits. Luckily, with the way the A’s lineup shakes out, he just has to set the table for guys like Shae Langeliers and Lawrence Butler. I can easily see Wilson hitting above the .300 mark with a sub-10 % K% in his first full season, all while locking down one of the most physically demanding positions on the diamond.
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