2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects: Daily Write-Up Series #125 Brody Hopkins

We’re 109 days from Opening Day, and the next name in my 2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects: Daily Write-Up series heads to Tampa Bay, where the Rays continue to unearth unconventional upside plays and turn them into real prospects. Coming in at #125 is Brody Hopkins, a late-blooming right-hander whose athletic two-way pedigree, fastball life, and sharpening secondaries gave him one of the more intriguing breakout arcs in the system during 2025. Even with the expected rough edges of a converted arm, Hopkins showed the kind of movement profile and strikeout potential that fit perfectly with what the Rays have been maximizing for years.

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Daily Baseball Write-Up Series #125 Brody Hopkins

The Rays don’t need any help building arms, but Double-A has a way of separating “nice story” from “real dude.” Through a sturdy 2025 run in Montgomery, 23-year-old Brody Hopkins is checking the right boxes: run prevention, bat-missing, and a FIP that backs up the ERA. The walks are the wart, but the rest of the profile is loud enough that he’s forcing his way onto more dynasty radars heading into the summer.

The results are doing the talking. Hopkins carved out a 2.72 ERA and 1.25 WHIP across 116 innings with a 10.94 K/9 and 12.3% swinging-strike rate. That’s nearly three runs of ERA better than league average with more than two extra strikeouts per nine. The underlying indicators support it, too; a 3.33 FIP and 3.37 xFIP say this isn’t smoke and mirrors. He’s keeping the ball in the park with a 0.54 HR/9, and the batted-ball mix, 41.3% grounders, 33.2% flies, helps explain why the long ball hasn’t bitten him despite a fairly pull-heavy contact profile against him. Plenty of Double-A arms can flash, but sustaining whiffs while holding down homers over a full starter’s workload is a different conversation.

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If you’re looking for the red flag, it’s control. A 4.66 BB/9 is a tangible limiter for both ceiling and fantasy efficiency, and the 1.25 WHIP reflects that traffic. His 25.5% line-drive rate also hints that when he does fall behind and come into the zone, hitters can square him up. The whole package reads like a “stuff vs. strikes” balancing act: enough juice to miss bats consistently, but still ironing out timing, release, and sequencing to get into more advantage counts. The Rays are as good as anyone at tightening mechanics and sharpening strike efficiency; if Hopkins nudges that command from 40 to even a 45, the strikeout/ground-ball pairing plays in a rotation. If not, the fallback is a multi-inning weapon where the stuff can tick up and the walks matter a little less per inning.

Fantasy Outlook

Hopkins is trending up in Dynasty formats as a bat-missing starter with real run prevention and Rays development behind him. The strikeout foundation (near-11 K/9 with a 12.3% SwStr) and strong FIP/xFIP give him mid-rotation potential if the walks come down a peg, but the current 4.66 BB/9 makes him more volatile for WHIP-driven Roto builds. In Points, the walks can cap volume by shortening outings, but the Ks and quality contact management still play, especially in deeper formats. He’s a priority add in 16–20 team Dynasty and a strong watchlist name in shallower leagues, with a realistic ETA in 2026 and an outside chance to accelerate if the strike-throwing trendline improves in Triple-A. If he trims the free passes into the low-3s per nine, you’re looking at a 170+ K pace with above-average ratios; if not, think streamer/ratios helper with strikeouts and occasional whiplash in WHIP.

What a first home start for Brody Hopkins!

8⃣ strikeouts in 6⃣ innings of one-run ball for @brodyhopkins11!!#RevItUp | #MiLB pic.twitter.com/QwtXE3BiwE

— Bowling Green Hot Rods (@BGHotRods) August 16, 2024

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FULL DAILY WRITE-UP PROSPECT LIST