Even after having his 2024 cut short by Tommy John surgery, Ricky Tiedemann is being ranked among the top prospects in baseball.
Tiedemann was ranked No. 100 by Baseball America in its annual top-100 prospects list on Wednesday, coming off a season in which he threw 17.1 innings across eight starts at three different levels.
The 22-year-old California native was the only prospect from the Toronto Blue Jays organization to crack the list. It is the third straight year that Tiedemann has been in the top 100, but due to a lack of innings and health concerns, he has dropped to the end of the list after ranking 31st in 2023 and 22nd in 2024.
He ended the year with a 5.19 ERA, a 32.5 per cent strikeout rate, a 19.3 per cent walk rate and a .203 batting average against while spending time with Toronto’s complex league team, low-A Dunedin and triple-A Buffalo.
Tiedemann underwent Tommy John surgery on July 30, 2024, and is expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2025 campaign.
The six-foot-four southpaw initially broke out as a potential top-of-the-rotation arm in 2022, when he pitched to a cumulative 2.17 ERA over 78.2 innings. But in the two seasons that have followed, he has only logged 79.1 innings of game action.
Despite the injury concerns, Baseball America continues to describe Tiedemann as one of “the game’s top left-handed pitching prospects,” citing his solid three-pitch mix at full health as something that should have him in the mix to crack Toronto’s rotation when he returns.
Elsewhere in the top 100, recent international free agent signing Roki Sasaki was named Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect for 2025. Sasaki earned the top spot after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, making an immediate impact on the rankings.
Last year, Baseball America deemed “foreign professionals” ineligible to be ranked among its top prospects, which kept the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jung Ho-Lee out of the top 100. But since Sasaki comes to MLB as an amateur international free agent and signed an MiLB contract with L.A., he was eligible to be ranked.
It is the first time since 2021 that the Baltimore Orioles did not have the top prospect.
Joining Sasaki in the top five are Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony, Detroit Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe, Red Sox infielder Kristian Campbell and Minnesota Twins outfielder Walker Jenkins.
Cleveland Guardians infielder Travis Bazzana, the top selection in last summer’s draft, was ranked No. 24.
The Seattle Mariners led all teams with seven players in the top 100, while the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays finished second with six apiece.
Owen Caissie, an outfielder in the Chicago Cubs organization, was the lone Canadian to be listed — checking in at No. 64.
A native of Burlington, Ont., Caissie delivered a strong 2024 season at triple-A Iowa. The 22-year-old smacked 19 home runs while slashing .278/.375/.472 over 127 games. He also cut his strikeout rate just less than five per cent from 2023, and figures to be ready for an MLB promotion should the Cubs be able to find space within their crowded outfield.
