Rays pitching prospect made his Major League debut this weekend against the Astros. His stuff was electric and his command was better than expected. He could be an impact reliever during the final two weeks of the regular season and into October.
It’s not a hyperbole to say that Hopkins has the best stuff in professional baseball.
It starts with a very low, sub five-foot release height with plus extension that makes his 100mph fastball get on hitters even faster than the radar gun suggests. It gets significantly more vertical movement that expected from his slot, making it a pitch that plays best up in and above the zone – although the release traits and sheer velocity make it something that will be effective anywhere in the zone.
Hopkins pairs that with a mid-90s cutting fastball that can miss bats when located up and induce weak contact when located down. His best pitch though is his upper 80s breaking ball. It has a steep break and drops more than other breaking balls from a similar slot and velocity. There really isn’t a 1-for-1 comp for that pitch. Hopkins hasn’t thrown any in the majors yet, but Hopkins also throws a pair of plus secondaries. He has a low-90s offspeed pitch that he gets plus separation off his fastball, and an upper-80s slider with a two-plane shape.
The area for Hopkins remains his command. He has a relatively low training age as he didn’t start pitching full time until he became a professional in 2024, so he is likely to be a slow-burn type of developer in his command. This, coupled with having to adjust to a new baseball this season in Triple-A, gave him some struggles early on.
His command improved following a mechanical adjustment in June, and his zone and strike rates steadily improved as the year went on. But there wasn’t room for Hopkins in the Major League rotation. They began to shorten him up to a relief role in mid-August, and he has taken to it well.
Fast forward to yesterday, and Hopkins looked solid with his command in his Major League debut:
He had an above-average strike rate in that outing, and the homerun he allowed was really just a great piece of hitting from Isaac Paredes to turn on triple-digits at the very top of the zone up and in. He zoned two pitches at 50% as well, so hitters couldn’t be passive at the plate. Hopkins continues to command the ball a little bit better every time he takes the mound.
In the bullpen, his command has looked closer to average than the 30-grade command he was showing previously this season.
Hopkins honestly looks more like how he did at Double-A Montgomery in 2025.
It appears that he’s adjusting well to the AAA/Major League baseball. His arsenal has been simplified a bit – relying less on his offspeed pitch and leaning more into his fastballs and outlier breaking ball. Hopkins could still work as a starter in the future with a smaller arsenal because all three of those pitches grade as elite or close to it.
Hopkins will certainly have an opportunity to work as a starter beyond this season, but he’ll have a chance to impact games in relief as the Rays look to make some noise in the Postseason.
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