The 10 hottest rookies from the past month

Baseball's best rookie in May turned pro for $140,000 out of the Dominican Republic and ranked just 19th on MLB Pipeline's preseason Angels Top 30 Prospects list. The second-best went No. 1 overall in the 2024 Draft and signed for $8.95 million.

Successful rookies come from a wide variety of pedigrees, as Walbert Ureña and Travis Bazzana indicate. Below, we've ranked the 10 hottest rookies from the past month (and included their rankings in our first Rookie of the Year poll from mid-May):

1. Walbert Ureña, RHP, Angels
After going winless and logging a 4.76 ERA in his first month in the Majors, Ureña went 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA and .553 opponent OPS in six starts during his second. While his fastball averages 98 mph and touches 101, his best pitch is actually his low-90s changeup with wicked fade.

2. Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians (AL others receiving votes)
Bazzana made his big league debut on April 28 and slashed .311/.398/.476 with 11 extra-base hits and eight steals during his first full month in Cleveland. That's exactly the type of production the Guardians expected when they took him with the first pick in a loaded 2024 Draft.

3. Trey Yesavage, RHP, Blue Jays (AL others receiving votes)
Back from a shoulder impingement, Yesavage is carving up hitters with the carry on his fastball and the devastation of his splitter, just like he did as a postseason sensation last October. He recorded a 2.56 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings during six May starts.

4. Munetaka Murakami, 1B, White Sox (AL No. 1)
After taking the big leagues by storm with 12 homers in March/April, Murakami went deep eight more times in May while batting .244/.382/.556. He leads the Majors with 20 homers and all rookies with a .560 slugging percentage and .938 OPS, though he went on the IL Saturday with a hamstring strain that could sideline him for 4-6 weeks.

5. Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates (NL No. 4)
Griffin joined the Pirates on April 3, signed a $140 million contract five days later and then scuffled to a .231/.290/.341 line by the end of the month. In May, he showed off his five-tool talent by batting .306/.361/.459 with 10 extra-base hits and seven steals, not to mention quality defense at shortstop. Pittsburgh placed him on the IL with a forearm strain on Sunday but doesn't expect him to miss much time.

6. Payton Tolle, LHP, Red Sox (AL others receiving votes)
The extension in Tolle's delivery gave him one of the most unhittable fastballs in the Minors last year and is doing so again in the Majors this season. Big leaguers batted just .171/.227/.244 against his two- and four-seamers in May as he recorded a 2.35 ERA with 31 strikeouts versus just 27 baserunners in 30 2/3 innings.

7. Samuel Basallo, C, Orioles (AL others receiving votes)
Basallo struggled in his first taste of the big leagues in 2025 and improved this April before going off in May: .338/.376/.597 with 11 extra-base hits. He has teamed with Adley Rutschman to give the Orioles by far the most productive pair of catchers in MLB.

8. Carson Benge, OF, Mets (NL others receiving votes)
The Mets had the faith to stick with Benge after he slashed .189/.247/.278 in March/April, and he repaid them by batting .306/.375/.426 with nine extra-base hits in May. The third 2024 first-rounder on this list, following Bazzana and Griffin, he's tapping into his potential for solid tools across the board.

9. Tristan Peters, OF, White Sox
A seventh-round pick by the Brewers in 2021 out of Southern Illinois, Peters got dealt to the Giants and then the Rays before being sold to the White Sox last December. He's not tooled up but has been useful on a club lacking in outfield options, hitting .303/.376/.487 with 10 extra-base knocks in May.

10. Parker Messick, LHP, Guardians (AL No. 5)
Messick's changeup grades as his best pitch and it's helping his low-90s fastball work as his most effective offering in the Majors. He posted a 2.72 ERA in seven starts last summer to help the Guardians win the American League Central and a 1.73 mark in March/April before logging a 2.73 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 33 innings in May.