DURHAM, N.C. — Rays No. 7 prospect Brody Hopkins touched 102.1 mph on his final pitch of the night during Triple-A Durham’s 10-2 win over Nashville at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the hardest pitch he has thrown at the level and a velocity only 19 big league pitchers and nine other Triple-A hurlers have reached this season.
The 24-year-old right-hander fired 13 pitches in the outing, four of which exceeded 101 mph — 101.5, 101.2 and the 102.1 mph groundout that ended his night. Hopkins had thrown 1,795 pitches at Triple-A entering the game with just five at 101 mph or harder. He averaged 100.8 mph with his four-seam fastball and has now compiled 47 pitches at 100 mph or higher this year, 34 of them over the past two months.
“He’s a different cat right now on the mound. He’s loving this new role,” Durham broadcasters said during the outing.
The numbers since Hopkins moved to the bullpen tell the story. As a starter across 19 outings, he posted a 5.96 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, .226 batting average against and 9.7 walks per nine innings. In 12 relief appearances, those marks have plummeted to a 2.25 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, .136 batting average against and 5.4 walks per nine. He has largely pared his arsenal to three pitches — four-seamer, cutter and curveball — and his 122 strikeouts this year are tied for the second-most among all Rays minor leaguers. His .208 opponents’ average leads the system among pitchers who have worked at least 90 innings.
Hopkins’ path mirrors that of right-hander Ty Johnson, the Rays’ No. 10 prospect, who made 10 starts for Durham before transitioning to relief in late July. After 11 bullpen appearances in which Triple-A hitters batted just .125 against him, Johnson made his Major League debut last weekend in Texas.
Acquired from Seattle as part of the Randy Arozarena deal at the 2024 Trade Deadline, Hopkins appeared on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list earlier this year after posting a 2.72 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 116 innings at Double-A Montgomery last season. He is not currently on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster but remains an option as the Rays — who carry the eighth-best team ERA in the Majors at 3.81 but rank 17th among bullpens at 4.08 — push for the American League East pennant down the stretch.