The 2025 minor league baseball season is in full swing and with the game more international than ever, these 15 prospects born outside the United States, could see their Major League Baseball debut in 2025.
Travis Bazzana, 2B, Cleveland Guardians – The second baseman out of Oregon State, the first-ever first rounder from Australia and first player born outside of North America to go No. 1 overall when he was selected by the Guardians in the 2024 MLB Draft. After a solid showing in High-A Lake County with a .765 OPS and three homers in 27 games, he’s off to a fast start in 2025 for Double-A Akron. He has an OPS of .897 with a homer and three triples. With the Guardians trading Andrés Giménez to Toronto in the offseason, if Bazzana can build off a strong start in Akron, he could find himself in Triple-A Columbus sometime in May with a potential call up this summer to MLB.
Samuel Basallo, C, Baltimore Orioles – The 20-year-old catcher from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is one of the most highly regarded catching prospects to ever come out of the Caribbean nation. As a 19-year-old, Basallo reached Triple-A in Baltimore’s organization. While he struggled a bit, he was the only 19-year-old in Triple-A in 2024. He had an .820 OPS with 16 home runs for Double-A Bowie in 2024. In 2025, he is once again at Triple-A Norfolk, and got off to a quick start with two homers in his first seven games and had one of the hardest hit balls in all of minor league baseball at 115.5 mph on March 29. An injury placed him on the injured list in early April, but he should be back in the coming days and will be knocking on the door to crack Baltimore’s roster this summer. The top catching prospect in baseball will be a piece many teams will be calling Baltimore about, as Adley Rutschman is the starting catcher for the O’s. Expect him to get promoted at some point this year.
Moisés Ballesteros, C/1B, Chicago Cubs – The 21-year-old catcher from Los Teques, Venezuela, is absolutely mashing for Triple-A Iowa. He has a slash line of .388/.447/.582 with two homers and in his last four games, he has hit six pitches with an exit velocity of at least 102 mph. His catching has taken a jump forward and there’s no doubt he’s ready for his MLB debut. He currently is blocked by a Cubs roster that has been the best in MLB in 2025. Whether it’s on the Cubs or somewhere else following a trade, he’s a safe bet to make his MLB debut in 2025 and will be given quite a bit of playing time.
Ernesto Martínez Jr., 1B/CF, Milwaukee Brewers – The 25-year-old first baseman was born in Holguin, Cuba, and later moved to France as a teenager. He’s now in his eighth season with Milwaukee and has reached Triple-A for the first time. With Nashville in 2025, he has truly had his breakout season, hitting .297/.378/.484 with three homers and has two of the hardest-hit balls in all of minor league baseball at 114-plus mph. His walk rate has climbed from 8.8% in Double-A to 13.0% in Triple-A, while maintaining a similar strikeout rate to his time in Double-A at 17.4%. He ranked eighth in Triple-A in average exit velocity at 95.7% and 14th in hard-hit% at 58.3%. If he can build on this start, he should be receiving the call from the Brewers in short order.
Eric Cerantola, P, Kansas City Royals – The right-handed reliever from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is at the Triple-A level in 2025 after pitching in both Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. He’s off to a rough start in 2025 with an ERA over 7, but if he can return to 2024 form at Triple-A Omaha, he should get a shot at making Kansas City’s roster at some point in 2025. He posted a K% just north of 31% with a 3.77 ERA. If he can get his K% back to that level, he should be positioned to get promoted at some point in 2025.
Alessandro Ercolani, P, Pittsburgh Pirates – The right handed reliever/starter from Borgo Maggiore, San Marino, has made his debut in Double-A for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization. In 2024 in High-A, Ercolani had a breakout season. He posted a K% of 29.7% and a career-low BB% of 8% to go with a 3.29 ERA. In 2025, he had a rough debut but in his last two appearances, the recently-turned 21-year-old has gone six innings and allowed three hits and one run with six strikeouts. Early in 2025, the amount of balls put in play against him that are being pulled are the lowest in his brief career, while balls hit to the opposite field are skyrocketing at over 47%. This is a big early sign that his command and velocity are better than ever and he could be in for a big season. With the Pirates in for another long season at the Major League level, he should have a good shot at getting to Pittsburgh in 2025 if he can sustain the success from his last couple outings. He would be the first player from San Marino to ever play in MLB.
Jeferson Quero, C, Milwaukee Brewers – The catcher from Venezuela missed nearly the entire 2024 season with a torn labrum and has yet to play in 2025 in Triple-A as he’s still recovering. In Double-A as a 20-year-old in 2023, he posted a .779 OPS and 16 homers with solid walk and K rates. He should be in line for an MLB promotion at some point in 2025 if he’s able to show he’s fully recovered behind the plate. While a solid young offensive player, his defensive work is what made him a very highly regarded prospect, with him having won the minor league gold glove award in 2023 at catcher, and he’s Milwaukee’s No. 1 ranked prospect.
Hao-Yu Lee, 2B, Detroit Tigers – The second baseman from Taiwan has made his Triple-A debut in Toledo and after a rough start, has caught fire in the last week. In his last 5 games, Lee has a .901 OPS with a HR and 2 stolen bases. Known for his plate discipline, Lee saw his BB% dip to 8.5% in AA in 2024 but that has bounced back to 12% in 2025. With him heating up, a promotion to Detroit in 2025 seems inevitable.
Bradgley Rodríguez, P, San Diego Padres – The 21-year-old right handed reliever from Venezuela has been nearly untouchable to start 2025 in Double-A. He has a 42.9% strikeout rate and has allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings and just one walk. He throws in the upper 90’s with a devastating changeup and has the arsenal to be a quick riser in 2025 and make the big league club in San Diego later in the year.
Sebastian Walcott, SS, Texas Rangers – The 19-year-old shortstop from Nassau, Bahamas, has found his footing after a slow start for Double-A Frisco. In his last six games, he is 6-for-18 with eight walks. He has pulled his BB% up to 16.7% and strikeout rate is down to 24.2%. Both those numbers would be career best numbers. If he sustains this run, it will be extremely hard for the Rangers to not call him up in 2025.
Owen Caissie
The 22 year old Canadian OF from Burlington, Ontario, the #3 Cubs prospect, is off to a slow start for Triple-A Iowa in 2025, thanks to an ankle injury. He still has an OPS of .776 with 3 HR despite the slow start and is just getting back into form. He also has the third best barrel rate on balls in play in AAA. He is going to hit for power in MLB but it is just a matter of when he is called to MLB. Cubs aren’t in a rush to promote him but he could be a trade chip at the deadline and could find himself in MLB that way.
Arij Fransen, P, Cincinnati Reds – The 23-year-old right-handed reliever from Deventer, Netherlands, truly put it together the back half of last season in High-A in Cincinnati’s organization and has been even better in 2025 in Double-A. With a fastball that now sits mid 90s consistently and a nasty arm slot, Fransen has been mowing down right-handed hitters. Righties are 2-for-17 with a walk against him and have yet to have an extra base hit. Lefties have had more success with an .820 OPS. He’ll need to develop his secondary pitches to get lefties out consistently, but he has the stuff to get righties out at the MLB level right now. On that alone, he could end up seeing time in MLB in Cincy’s bullpen. He has a K% of 29.5% and BB% of 6.8% and an ERA of 1.69 in 2025. He’d be the second born-and-developed pitcher from The Netherlands since 1981 to reach MLB.
Po-Yu Chen, P, Pittsburgh Pirates – The righty from Taiwan is off to a fast start in 2025 for Double-A Altoona. He has a 3.86 ERA, but he is missing bats like never before. He has a 34.8% strikeout rate with a 2.95 FIP in 11 2/3 innings. The Pirates aren’t necessarily aggressive when it comes to promotion, but early signs indicate he could force their hand as the season goes on.
Ismael Munguia, OF, New York Yankees – The 26-year-old outfielder from Nicaragua is in Triple-A and looking to make the Yankees roster at some point in 2025. He’d be the first Nicaraguan outfielder to debut in MLB in the 21st century. For Scranton/Wilkes Barre in 2025, he has an OPS of .793 and hit his first home run of the season over the weekend. He has continued to show an elite ability to make contact. He has 43 strikeouts in his last 112 games in the minors to go with 44 walks. His ability to handle the bat and play really solid corner outfield defense makes him a clear call-up option as the season goes if the Yankees have a short term injury.
Dayán Frías, 2B/SS, Cleveland Guardians – The middle infield prospect from Colombia started the year in Triple-A for a very brief stint, but he performed well. He hit three balls with an exit velo of 97-plus mph in his three games there. Since being back in Double-A, he’s had a strong showing. He has an OPS of .841 with two homers and can play anywhere in the infield. The strikeout rate is pretty high at 31.7%, but that would blow away his career-worst rate. History suggests that will come down significantly. His walk rate has risen to 13.7%. If he can drop that to around 11-12%, he should see his stock in Cleveland’s organization rising with his versatility defensively. With the Guardians having concerns in the infield, he’s a name to watch that could make the leap all the way to MLB with a strong year.
Photo: Cleveland Guardians first-round draft pick Travis Bazzana, right, of Australia, speaks at a news conference as Chris Antonetti, left, president of baseball operations, looks on before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Cleveland, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
