2:39PM: Hopkins’ selection has been officially announced by the Rays. Right-hander Alex Cook was optioned to Triple-A to create room on the active roster, and right-hander Michael Grove was designated for assignment. (MLBTR explored the Grove transaction in greater detail here.)
1:20PM: The Rays will be selecting right-hander Brody Hopkins’ contract before today’s game with the Astros. WCIV’s Scott Eisberg was the first to report the news after being informed by none other than Hopkins’ father. Corresponding moves will need to be made to make room for Hopkins on both the Rays’ active roster and the 40-man roster.
A sixth-round pick for the Mariners in the 2023 draft, Brody is the second member of the Hopkins family to reach the majors, as his older brother TJ played in 25 games as an outfielder and DH for the Reds in 2023. The younger Hopkins has been in Tampa’s organization since the 2024 trade deadline, when the Mariners included Hopkins as part of the trade package that brought Randy Arozarena to Seattle.
Hopkins drew top-100 attention prior to the season, though MLB Pipeline no longer has him in their top-100 prospect list and he has dropped from 37th in Baseball America’s preseason ranking to 81st in BA’s updated list from August. The 24-year-old got his first taste of Triple-A ball this year and the overall results haven’t been good, as Hopkins has 5.17 ERA and an ungainly 21% walk rate over 94 innings for Durham.
Most of the damage came as a starting pitcher, however, and Hopkins has looked much sharper since being moved to Durham’s bullpen in mid-August. He has a 3.00 ERA, 16 strikeouts and (perhaps most importantly) just five walks over 39 total batters faced in nine innings of relief work.
It remains to be seen whether or not this role change will remain permanent, as Hopkins pitched well enough as a starter in the lower minor league levels that Tampa Bay probably doesn’t want to close the door on his rotation future. Becoming a reliever, however, has now earned Hopkins his first taste of Major League action, and his high-octane arsenal might lend itself more naturally to a bullpen role down the road.
As per Baseball America’s scouting report, “Hopkins has the best stuff of any Rays minor league starter, with an all-out, all-power, all-the-time approach that is quite unusual for a starting pitcher.” BA gives Hopkins’ curveball a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale, as well as 65 grades for his fastball and cutter, and a 60 for his sweeper.
All of these pitches usually come with extra velocity, topped off by an upper-90’s fastball that can touch the 100mph mark. It makes for quite a repertoire on paper, though as one can guess from his Triple-A walk rate, Hopkins has had trouble keeping all these plus pitches inside the strike zone.
Tampa Bay’s pitching development unit has a long history of getting the best out of high-upside arms, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Hopkins is able to immediately impact the Rays’ bullpen. This late-season call-up is at least a chance for the big league staff to evaluate Hopkins in a look ahead to 2027, and the best-case scenario would see Hopkins become a secret weapon for the Rays in postseason.
