Luis De Leon

After missing the first month with an elbow injury, De Leon put up impressive stats for over four months and generated significant buzz in the Arizona Fall League to close 2025. A 6-foot-3 lefty who misses bats and generates grounders at high clips, De Leon was underrated prior to this offseason due to injuries and shaky control. He eclipsed the 100-inning mark for the first time, as he added 16.1 AFL frames to the 87.1 innings he logged across Single-A, High-A and Double-A. De Leon had an elite 56.9 percent groundball rate and he peaked with a 62.9 percent groundball rate in three starts at Double-A. His strikeout rate also peaked at Double-A (35.3 percent), as De Leon started locating his fastball better early in counts. His upper-90s fastball is a worm killer and his slider and changeup project as plus secondaries. He'll need to prove he can handle a starter's workload and show that his control gains in 2025 are real, but De Leon has a chance to be one of the game's better lefty starters in a couple years. Read Past Outlooks