2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: October 16th, 2025

It’s Bowman Chrome season. For those who are new to the hobby, Bowman releases three major products (with 1^st Bowman autographs, the prime card for any prospect) throughout the year: Bowman Baseball, Bowman Chrome and Bowman Draft. Chrome usually centers around the biggest names in the recent international signing classes and is released right around the end of the MLB regular season. This set is PERFECT for the hobby prospector.

Why, might you ask? Well, the hobby values prospects not by performance, rather potential. And which prospects have more superstar potential than the teenage international prospect that came over from the Dominican, Cuba, Venezuela, Japan, and so on. The problem, 99% of these guys will fade once they enter stateside leagues (Single-A and beyond). But this is a great set for the collectors with a higher risk/reward profile (most of us have this). So I’m going to give you my checklist report and rank the prospects I’m looking to chase in the new set. This list centers around that high-risk-high-reward international profile, but some sneaky higher-level tenured players have found their way in too.

Here are our TOP-15 Chases from 2025 Bowman Chrome

1. Kevin Alvarez (HOU)

Starting-off with a bang, huh? Yes, the values are higher on some of the others I have coming up, but Alvarez is already impressing me more than those names. A big 6’4’’ lefty outfielder who leans hit over power. That’s always my kind of prospect, but even more so for international kids. 19 K’s in 156 ABs at 17-years-old in DSL league, sign me up. A Cuban phenom who has time to build on his 185 lb physique and has a slight upper-cut to his swing, one that could bring on more power without hurting his great contact and hit tools.

2. Elorky Rodriguez (TEX)

Another surprise but again, why not? Nobody can truly predict these prospects with any certainty, if they could they’d be getting calls for open GM roles instantly. I rank Elorky this high solely because of his name. Just kidding. He impressed in DSL, but more importantly, he’s got a compact lefty-swing that again, focuses on hit over power. He’s known as a “smart-for-his-age-bat-first” type of international talent.

3. Josuar Gonzalez (SF)

A switch-hitting, 6-foot-tall shortstop out of Panama, Josuar was THE prospect in the 2025 class due to his “electric bat speed”. The wide-stanced switch hitter was also considered the most complete player in the international class (with comps to a young Fransisco Lindor). He’s a bit pull-heavy right now from both sides of the plate, but he’s got plenty of time to work on that.

(If you’ve ripped bowman chrome, you know the next few names are top hits).

4. Ching-Hsien Ko (LAD)

5. Nate George (BAL)

6. Rainiel Rodriguez (STL)

7. Elian Pena (NYM)

8. Kyle Karros (COL)

Here’s one of the anomalies in the set. Karros is an American-born player who has already made his major league debut for the Rockies. I called him out when he was a “Double-A Smash Bro” alongside Cole Carrigg, before getting promoted. Karros had a fantastic minor league career from ’23-’25. An .852 career OPS with 21 HR and 121 RBI across 234 games, Karros is a “get on base by any means necessary” type of bat. The Rockies very quietly have some nice high-level pieces to hopefully turn the ship around. Karros needs to be at the forefront of that turn.

9. Diego Tornes (ATL)

An insanely young Cuban prospect (just turned 17 in July), Diego is a switch-hitting outfielder whose bat speed didn’t translate to much power in his first DSL stint. But I wouldn’t worry if I’m a Braves fan. His swing is designed for that power to come. He has the ability to drive 105 MPH+ exit velocities at his young age, which he has already displayed in his rookie ball debut.

10. Juneiker Caceres (CLE)

Hit tool, hit tool, hit tool. If you haven’t seen by now, that’s my first focus when looking at younger talent in the lower levels of pro ball. Caceres had an 86% contact rate in 2025, with only 35 K across 244 AB. The lefty outfielder will get his chance to move up the organizational rankings in his first full-stateside season in 2025.

11. Marco Dinges (MIL)

12. Andrew Salas (MIA)

13. Devin Fitz-Gerald (TEX)

A surprising name to this list given he’s “old” (20). Fitz-Gerald was a 2024 draft pick right out of high school. Scouts are a bit down on his power potential, but he’s a smart, high-contact bat who can hit from both sides of the plate. 2026 is a big year to see how he builds-off his short 10-game-stint in Single-A to close out this year.

14. Tommy White (ATH)

I called out Tommy White in our AFL (Arizona Fall League) Players To Watch write-up from last week:

The 2nd round pick from 2024 saw a much-needed lift in his second pro-year, including a strong finish after a late-season promotion to AA.  His entire slash line was up, K-rate down, and contact and line drive rates up. He’s got the tools to be a low-K power-hitter (very rare nowadays), but he’ll be turning 23 come opening day 2026. A strong AFL will give him momentum going into the spring to prove he’s ready for a late ’26 promotion to the bigs.

15. Asbel Gonzalez (KC) [BONUS SLEEPER]

Asbel has already seen 700+ AB in three pro seasons. He struggled to hit in 2025, but got on base at a .365 rate across 115 games. The power isn’t there either, only accumulating 2 HR all year. So, why do I like him? Again, he’s still only 19 and he’s fantastic at getting on base, even through his struggles. He’s a tall, true centerfield arm and glove talent, so I doubt he’ll ever need to move to the corner OF spots. And we all know the hobby loves two positions over others: Shortstop and Centerfield. He’s got the exit velocity and hard-hit rates, even with his still developing and slender physique. The 22% line drive rate and 77% contact rate just didn’t translate to hits. He also stole nearly 80 bases with only 99 hits. This kid can continue to develop and I’m banking on the average and power stats to catch up to the advanced metrics in 2026.