The Tampa Bay Rays may be shifting one of their top pitching prospects into a different lane, and the early signs are loud.
Brody Hopkins has spent his professional career as a starter, but his recent work suggests the Rays are at least exploring a move to the bullpen. That’s a familiar kind of Rays move, too. The organization has long made a habit of squeezing more out of pitchers by adjusting roles, and this looks like another example of that same approach.
Hopkins has already been used in a relief setting with Triple-A Durham, though those earlier outings came in bulk-inning work. He threw five innings on May 29 and again on June 4. His first true bullpen appearance came on June 24, and that one was rough - he walked four batters, allowed one hit and was charged with two earned runs.
But the most recent look was the kind that makes teams pay attention.
In his Aug. 15 outing, Hopkins was electric. He averaged 100.6 mph with his fastball and reached 101.5. That extra juice made everything else sharper, too, as his 95 mph cutter and 90 mph curveball both drew whiffs.
Pitch Profiler noted that Hopkins worked just one inning, but it was a dominant one. He faced three batters, struck out two, didn’t issue a walk, and posted his first appearance without a walk in 2026.
The numbers behind the stuff were just as strong. His proSTUFF+ came in at 123 overall.
His four-seam fastball, thrown eight times, checked in at 117. The curveball, used three times, landed at 139, while the one cutter he threw earned a 120.
Half of his 12 pitches produced a whiff, which tells you everything about how difficult he was to square up.
There’s still plenty to watch here as the 2026 season goes on. If the big league club needs relief help and Hopkins keeps pitching like this, he could become part of the conversation.
He still has the arsenal to start, but the command has to improve. He has issued 87 walks in 86 innings, and that’s the obstacle standing between his stuff and a more stable role.
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