Prior to the start of each season, the Draysbay community takes part in an excercise in which the top prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays system are ranked by popular vote.
This season, the Draysbay community
ranked the top 25 prospects in the Rays system with several others receiving votes but just falling shy of making the cut.
With the 2025 season officially over, we can now look back and see how each prospect performed and whether their stock has improved, remained the same, or fallen over past several months.
An important note:
This is not a re-ranking of the Rays top prospects but a review of the prospects in the order that they were ranked entering the season.
Also, I will not be featuring players no longer within the Rays organization.
#20: Dylan Lesko
What Danny wrote entering the season:
The key return for RP Jason Adam, Lesko was the Padres 15th overall selection in the 2022 draft despite him needing Tommy John surgery that Spring; his results have not yet materialized. I combined his results for both organizations in one stat line above as the Rays only gave him 6 appearances (3 starts) before the season ended. He has a fastball up to 98 mph with a plus-plus change.
Entering the season, the Rays assigned Lesko to High-A with the hopes that with some offseason tinkering he’d be able to reclaim his status as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. However, the results were disastrous and after walking 39% of the hitters he faced and giving up basehits to another 39% of them over four appearances, the Rays decided a massive reset was in order and kept Lesko from recorded game action for a few months until he made his return in mid-July.
Upon returning, nothing much was different for Lesko as he continued to be plagued by poor performance and woeful command issues. Checking through his individual performances, it’s a struggle find outings which Lesko produced solid results. He did have a solid performance when he made his return in July, striking out two in a perfect inning in the Complex League; that was the high point of his year
Minor League Stats by Month:
April: 23.62 ERA | 15.02 FIP | 14.3 K% | 28.6 BB% | .615 AVG | 2.2 IP | 0/4 GS/G
May: DIDN’T PLAY
June: DIDN’T PLAY
July: 1.69 ERA | 5.63 FIP | 29.6 K% | 33.3 BB% | .194 AVG | 5.1 IP | 1/4 GS/G
Aug: 12.00 ERA | 9.46 FIP | 14.0 K% | 36.0 BB% | .219 AVG | 9 IP | 0/9 GS/G
Sep: 9.00 ERA | 3.57 FIP | 0.0 K% | 0.0 BB% | .600 AVG | 1 IP | 0/1 GS/G
2025 SEASON NUMBERS:
CPX: 0.00 ERA | 3.97 FIP | 36.4 K% | 27.3 BB% | .063 AVG | 11.1 WHIFF% | 5 IP | 1/3 GS/G
A: 12.19 ERA | 9.57 FIP | 11.7 K% | 35.0 BB% | .282 AVG | 7.3 WHIFF% | 10.1 IP | 0/1 GS/G
A+: 23.63 ERA | 15.02 FIP | 14.3 K% | 28.6 BB% | .615 AVG | 4.9 WHIFF% | 2.2 IP | 0/4 GS/G
The Rays still have another season until Lesko becomes Rule 5 eligible, but it wasn’t likely a team would take him at this point. Lesko made his final appearance of the year on September 7th, his 22nd birthday, in Single-A but where he’ll begin the 2026 season is a mystery.
So is Lesko’s stock improving, the same, or falling?
