Prospect-Rich Hops Finish 2025: Season Summary
Published on September 8, 2025 under Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
Though the final standings weren't what the 2025 Hillsboro Hops envisioned --- they finished 60-71 --- the club featured a higher-than-usual number of players who are on track to make an impact in the major leagues.
One of them, 20-year-old shortstop Cristofer Torin, hit two home runs on Sunday afternoon at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, Wash., to lead Hillsboro to a season-ending 5-3 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils. In the top of the first inning, Torin replaced an ill Modeifi Marte, and belted the third pinch-hit home run in Hops history, a two-run shot to put Hillsboro up 2-0. After an RBI single by Druw Jones in the fifth made it 3-0, Torin went deep again in the sixth, a solo shot for a 4-0 lead.
Hops starter Junior Sanchez --- at just 19 years old, one of the youngest starting pitchers in the league --- tossed five shutout innings. The right-hander allowed just two hits, walking two and striking out two. The Hops' bullpen allowed Tri-City to inch within a run in the seventh, though an athletic glove-shovel by reliever Teofilo Mendez on a bunt for a force-out at third likely prevented further damage. Lefty Jake Fitzgibbons came on to strand a pair in the seventh and keep the lead intact, then worked a scoreless eighth. The Hops added a run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Adrian Rodriguez. And flame-throwing right-hander Sam Knowlton struck out the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to earn his club-leading ninth save.
The somewhat unheralded Torin quietly put together an excellent season. He hit .287 and had an on-base percentage of .381, both fifth in the league. He finished one shy of the league lead in hits. He fielded an excellent shortstop (and occasional second base). And he did this as one of the younger players in the league, turning 20 on May 25th. (The two ahead of him in the league hits race were Charlie Szykowny and Jonah Cox of Eugene, ages 25 and 24, respectively.)
Torin is one of the headliners of a group of prospects who spent most or all of the 2025 season in Hillsboro, and who figure to join the ranks of prominent former Hops to make their marks on the major leagues. To date, 64 former Hops have gone on to play in the majors. This includes the likes of Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo and Brandon Pfaadt, who led the list of 11 former Hops on the parent Arizona Diamondbacks' 2023 World Series roster.
What makes this group of 2025 Hops prospects so special is their youth. The average age of a position player in the High-A Northwest League is 22 years, four months; of a pitcher, 23 years, four months. Torin, again, turned 20 in May. Jones will be 22 in November. Infielder Jansel Luis turned 20 last March. Outfielder Slade Caldwell, the Diamondbacks' number-one pick in 2024, was 18 years old and the youngest position player in the league when he arrived on the scene in June (he turned 19 shortly after joining the Hops). And right-hander Daniel Eagen, arguably the best pitcher in the league in 2025, is 22 years old.
Luis' performance was surprising. He finished third in the league in hitting, at .304, and from Independence Day to the end of the season hit .344, best in the circuit. And he fielded well at second, third and short.
Jones, the second overall pick in the 2022 draft, quietly re-established his status as an excellent prospect. Playing his second consecutive fully healthy season, he made some adjustments at the plate in June that paid dividends. From June 28 to the end of the year, he slashed .296/.380/.463, league marks of 9th/5th/8th. As a fun side note, he hit two inside-the-park homers, accounting for half of the Hops' total in their 12-year history. And by any account, his combination of range, arm and instincts would make him one of the best defensive outfielders in the major leagues right now.
A lot was asked of Caldwell, who was pushed to High-A in his first pro year, 13th months after concluding his high school career. He began the season with Low-A Visalia, hitting .294 with an on-base percentage of .460 in 48 games. He initially struggled after his promotion to Hillsboro in early June, but made adjustments and hit .304 in August, with an OBP of .403.
Eagen, the first-year pro out of tiny D1 Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., anchored the Hops' pitching staff until his promotion to Double-A in mid-August. He went 7-5 with a 2.49 ERA and set a Hops single-season record with 132 strikeouts.
The list of legitimate big-league hopefuls hardly stops at those five players. Others who were with the Hops most or all of the 2025 season, and who could make their marks in the majors, include Knowlton and fellow hard-throwing righty Edgar Isea. Both routinely hit 100 or more MPH, and both improved their command and secondary offerings under the tutelage of pitching coach Tyler Mark. Likewise left-hander Carlos Rey, who posted a 3.38 ERA in 43 relief appearances before a late-season promotion. And big lefty John West out of Boston College, like Eagen a first-year pro, had his ups and downs but showed flashes of potential as a #4 or #5 big-league starter.
Outfielder Angel Ortiz, age 22, hit .266 (.344 in August) and led the club with 11 homers. Catcher Kenny Castillo, who turned 21 in May, hit .354 in July before breaking a bone in his hand in mid-August. Outfielder Junior Franco hit .300 in 73 games, and was third in the NWL in slugging (.503) during the season's second half. And 21-year-old Anderdson Rojas, who can field any position and who is a potential superutilityman in the big leagues, hit .307 in 45 games in June and July before tailing off over the season's final five weeks.
Others who could see significant time in the major leagues --- some quite soon --- spent a smaller part of the 2025 season with the Hops. Relievers Hayden Durke (15 games with Hillsboro) and Philip Abner (11 games) are already with Triple-A Reno. Fellow relievers Nate Savino (17 games) and Eli Saul (24 games) earned promotions to Double-A Amarillo.
Outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt (68 games with the Hops) is hitting .298 with Amarillo. Infielder Demetrio Crisantes (34 games), who had finished third in the minor leagues in hitting in 2024 (.341), was rounding into form in mid-May when a shoulder injury sidelined him for the rest of the year. First baseman Ben McLaughlin (72 games) turned himself into a prospect and is excelling at Double-A since a promotion in early August; Baseball America recently named him the best defensive first baseman in the NWL in 2025. Catcher Gavin Logan (33 games) got emergency duty at Triple-A, and over two stints with Reno hit .366 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 12 games. RHP Yordin Chalas struggled as a starter and went on the IL, and upon his return he moved back to the bullpen and reverted to strong form.
A selection of players with bright futures joined the Hops toward the end of the season. RHP David Hagaman, a 4th-rounder in 2024, was acquired from the Rangers in the deadline deal for Merrill Kelly and made five starts for the Hops, allowing just 11 hits and four walks in 20 innings, while striking out 27; outside of Eagen among the 2025 Hops, Hagaman appears to have the best potential as a big-league starter. Fellow trade acquisition Ashton Izzi (who came from Seattle in the Josh Naylor deal) made six starts for Hillsboro and in his final outing at Tri-City he tossed six one-hit shutout innings, striking out a career-high nine. Sanchez and Lefty Wilkin Paredes, both somewhat under the radar, looked sharp at times after their promotion from Visalia.
And first baseman Modeifi Marte --- though older than others at age 23 --- could find his way to the majors. Marte showed a remarkable ability to put the ball in play after his promotion from Visalia just prior to the All-Star break. He hit .276 over 43 games for the Hops, and struck out just 12 percent of the time. The Diamondbacks believe he can hit for more power than he showed (he had three homers in 366 at-bats across two levels this year), and if this happens, he's a decent sleeper prospect.
With all these legitimate major-league prospects --- with the possible exception of the Mariners' affiliate in Everett, the Hops likely had the heaviest true prospect-laden roster in the league --- what went wrong for the 2025 Hops? Why, after setting the 70-year-old Northwest League record for consecutive playoff appearances (six) from 2014-19, did they go a fifth straight year without advancing to the postseason?
There are three main reasons.
Injuries played a role. The Hops spent 65 days in first place during the first half, but tailed off over the final couple of weeks, finishing four games behind first-half champ Everett. Losing Crisantes for the rest of the year in mid-May and Luis for the final month of the first half changed the Hops' lineup entirely; if either of those players (and certainly both) had stayed healthy, the Hops would likely have won the first half easily. And both right-handed starter Mason Marriott and left-handed reliever Luke Craig were expected to be stalwarts for the Hops, and both were lost to early season Tommy John surgery.
A lack of home run power also played a role. Remarkably, the Hops were second in the league in hits, led the league in doubles, were second in triples... yet were last in the league in slugging percentage. They hit just 69 homers in 131 games, 97 fewer than league-leading Everett, and 38 fewer than Spokane, who finished next-to-last with 107 home runs.
But the biggest reason was bases on balls. Hillsboro's pitching staff averaged 5.5 walks per nine innings, most in the league (Tri-City was a distant second, 4.5 per nine innings) and fourth-most among 120 affiliated minor-league clubs. And when factoring out the starters, it was even worse. The Hillsboro bullpen averaged 6.9 walks per nine innings; include hit batters, and it was 8.2 free passes per nine. Both marks were worst in baseball.
None of this is any... well, mark against Mark. The Hops' pitching coach was given a staff heavy with classic he-throws-hard-but-doesn't-know-where-it's-going types. Knowlton and Isea are included in this, though again both improved as the season went along. Rey also walked more than he would have preferred. Ricardo Yan and the since-released Jorge Minyety also contributed. And then there was lefty Liam Norris, who walked 50 over 27 innings. The high-potential onetime third-round draft choice was never able to command his ultra-high-spin-rate curveball or his high-octane fastball, and was released in midseason.
Hillsboro's manager, Mark Reed, did a notable job of keeping the clubhouse together despite their midseason swoon. After falling short in the first half, Hillsboro came out of the gate in the second half by losing seven straight, 14 of their first 15, and 18 of their first 20. Reed never lost the clubhouse; the team both followed the process and kept hustling. After the All-Star break, Hillsboro had the third-best record in the league (24-20). And many hitters, under the direction of coach Jim Adduci, finished the season on significant upticks.
And what about 2026, as the Hops move into their highly anticipated new stadium across the parking lot from Hillsboro Ballpark?
The pitching rotation will likely feature 2025 high draft picks Patrick Forbes (from the University of Louisville) and Brian Curley (from the University of Georgia). Other candidates include Marriott, Hagaman, Paredes and Sanchez; less likely (but possible) would be the return of Izzi and West if they're not in Double-A. Nineteen-year-old righty Daury Vasquez acquitted himself well in a late-season promotion to Low-A, and could see time in Hillsboro in 2026. And highly regarded right-hander Jacob Steinmetz, who missed the entire 2025 season because of injury, figures to be in the mix for a spot in the Hops' rotation.
Caldwell will probably headline a group of talented position players, joined by Low-A second baseman J.D. Dix (1st round, 2024) and perhaps mid-season (if not sooner) by shortstop Kayson Cunningham (1st round, 2025). Castillo could return, joined at some point in 2026 back of the plate by D-backs Top 30 prospects Carlos Virahonda and/or Ivan Luciano. Marte, Rojas and Crisantes are also candidates to return to the Hops, and if so would figure to be major contributors. And third baseman Yassel Soler, a fan-favorite in Visalia, is the front-runner to man the hot corner in Hillsboro; at age 19 at Low-A, he hit .199 over the first two months of 2025, and from June 1st on hit .276.
The 2026 season opens on Friday, April 3 in Eugene. The first-ever home game at the Hops' yet-to-be-named new stadium will be on Tuesday, April 7th against Spokane.
Northwest League Stories from September 8, 2025
- Prospect-Rich Hops Finish 2025: Season Summary - Hillsboro Hops
- AquaSox Win Regular Season Finale 2-1 - Everett AquaSox
- Northwest League Championship Series Information - Eugene Emeralds
- Dust Devils Get Close, Fall Short of Hops in Season Finale - Tri-City Dust Devils
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