Here is another check-in on PLV and Fan4+ darlings around the minors. Instead of looking at the biggest names, let’s look at some of the best recent performers who may not have the prospect profile to earn dynasty respect, but could make their real-life value known soon.
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Checking in on Big-name Prospects:
MiLB Season Stats: 14 GS/64.0 IP/4.50 ERA/23.3% K%/14.2% BB%/1.69 WHIP
Weekly Stats: 1 GS/2.0 IP/22.50 ERA/26.7% K%/26.7% BB%/4.50 WHIP
Noah Schultz, the White Sox’s towering 6-foot-10 lefty, has firmly established himself not just as Chicago’s top prospect but also as the premier left-handed pitching prospect in baseball. His rapid 2025 ascent—from Double-A Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte, along with a second-straight Futures Game nod—has only reinforced the front-line upside tied to his 70-grade slider and mid-90s fastball. But while the ceiling remains massive, that upside has yet to fully translate in his early Triple-A action since his June 14 promotion.
The 2022 first-rounder has long been a strikeout machine in the minors, but his swing-and-miss dominance has taken a hit in 2025. The strikeouts have dipped and walks have ticked up—issues that first surfaced in Double-A and have followed him to Charlotte. His most recent outing on June 27 was another rough one: just two innings of high-scoring work, backed by a below-average Fan4+ performance that reflected his struggles. So far in Triple-A, batters have a .348 xwOBA against Schultz’s sinker. Though it hasn’t been barrelled up yet, it’s not missing bats the way it once did. That said, Schultz’s whiff rate on the sinker is still an impressive 38.9%, and each of his offerings is generating at least a 37.5% whiff rate, highlighted by an absurd 62.5% whiff rate on his changeup. The flip side? That changeup also carries a .391 xwOBA allowed, showing it’s either missing bats or getting tagged hard. His slider remains elite and worthy of the hype. It owns a 50% whiff rate and a 42.9% strikeout rate—true out-pitch material. The problem isn’t stuff; it’s consistency, command, and stamina. And while his Triple-A stat line is ugly on the surface, the underlying pitch metrics still support the top-of-the-rotation projection.
Schultz is walking a familiar developmental path for White Sox pitching prospects: dominate a level, hit turbulence at the next, make adjustments, and repeat. Scouts still project a future No. 2 starter built around a plus fastball/elite slider combo with above-average command once his mechanics stabilize. Expect the White Sox to keep him in Charlotte through late summer, with a potential September cameo only if he trims the walks and shows consistent five-inning stamina. Long term, Schultz is on track for a full rotation audition in 2026, with a real shot to step in as the club’s top lefty now that Garrett Crochet has been dealt. For the White Sox’s sake, they’ll be hoping Schultz’s stay in Chicago is longer—and more decorated—than Crochet’s.
Weekly Four-Seam Standouts
This section could be a combination of Bubba Chandler (142 on June 28 ), Emmet Sheehan (143 on June 25), or Andrew Painter (123 on June 27), week in and week out. Those pitchers are among the cream of the prospect crop, and their fastballs are a large part of their success. Instead of honing in on the player’s managers many already know, here are some other above-average offerings and what makes them worth noting.
Edgardo Henriquez, 23, Los Angeles Dodgers
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 147 Fan4+ in June 26, 2025, start
MiLB Season Stats: 12 G (1 GS)/12.0 IP/6.75 ERA/28.6% K%/10.7% BB%/1.67 WHIP
It’s rare to see a single-inning reliever crack MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects list for any system—but then again, it’s rare to see raw stuff as electric as what Dodgers prospect Edgardo Henríquez brings to the mound. The Venezuela native made his MLB debut last season, and his postseason performance felt like a legitimate audition for a 2025 bullpen role. That trajectory was halted in spring training by a fractured left foot, sidelining Henríquez for nearly three months. But on June 29, the Dodgers reinstated the flamethrower and optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, setting the stage for his return.
Henríquez pairs a 102-mph fastball and upper-90s cutter with strikeout swagger. Trim the walks, stay on the mound, and he’s a future late-inning weapon for a contender that churns out power arms like few others. With that kind of velocity and movement, the strikeouts tend to come in bunches. If he stays healthy and sharpens his command, Henríquez has all the tools to become a dominant late-inning weapon for Los Angeles sooner rather than later.
Edgardo Henriquez threw 2 good innings for AAA OKC yesterday.
The Line
2IP 1H 1R 3Ks 1BBFastball topped at 102.2, sat 100.9. Gonna type that again, his FB SAT over 100 MPH, Wow! His spin touched 2427, so the velo combined with the carry makes that pitch pretty elite.
Needs to… pic.twitter.com/qk4Li4DezW
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 16, 2025
Frank Elissalt, 23, New York Mets
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 127 Fan4+ in June 25, 2025, start
MiLB Season Stats: 15 G (5 GS)/37.1 IP/3.13 ERA/27.6% K%/12.5% BB%/1.10 WHIP
Frank Elissalt, the 23-year-old right-hander from Miami and the Mets’ 19th-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, is turning heads in his first full professional summer. With a mid-90s fastball and swing-and-miss secondaries, Elissalt has posted a 3.13 ERA with 42 strikeouts across 37.1 innings for Low-A St. Lucie. His most recent outing was a shutout performance driven largely by a heavy dose of fastballs. Averaging 94.2 mph on the day, Elissalt’s heater had the metrics to match: a 2.1 HAVAA (Horizontal Approach Value Above Average) and a solid 17.2 inches of induced vertical break, per Pitcher List’s Fan4+ leaderboards.
Frank Elissalt with a stellar outing!
5⃣.1⃣ IP 3⃣ H 0⃣ R 0⃣ BB 2⃣ K pic.twitter.com/RZ3TzRNbgn— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) June 26, 2025
While Elissalt isn’t cracking the Mets’ Top 30 prospect rankings just yet, his early results are hard to ignore. Opponents are hitting just .168 against him, and his strike-throwing has been consistent enough to keep runs off the board. The fastball leads the way, but his developing arsenal is where evaluators will keep their focus. The slider has shown some intriguing shape in limited action. The changeup remains a work in progress, while adding a more consistent curveball could round out his repertoire. Like many arms at this stage, the next step in Elissalt’s growth will hinge on pitch development and maintaining command against more advanced hitters.
Welcome to the Bigs
Chase Burns, 22, Cincinnati Reds
MiLB Season Stats: 9 GS/44.0 IP/2.86 ERA/38.4% K%/11.3% BB%/1.02 WHIP
Debut: 5.0 IP/5.40 ERA/38.1% K%/0% BB%/1.20 WHIP
Dynasty managers have been treated to a steady wave of high-impact prospect debuts this season, and Cincinnati Reds right-hander Chase Burns is the latest to join that group. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Burns rocketed through three minor league levels this year with a 1.77 ERA and 12.14 K/9 over 66.1 innings. After being eased into pro ball and promoted to Triple-A on June 9, he made his MLB debut on June 23, stepping into a rotation in need of a spark.
It feels a little sacrilegious to praise Burns after his June 30 blowup against the Red Sox, but his debut performance against the Yankees offered a glimpse of just how electric he can be. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Burns joined Al Leiter (Yankees) and Wade Davis (Rays) as the only pitchers since 1961 to record strikeouts for each of their first six outs in an MLB debut. Leiter and Davis both surrendered runs in those first two innings; Burns held on longer, with his only blemishes coming in the fourth—a solo homer to Ben Rice and a two-run triple by Anthony Volpe following a misplay in center by TJ Friedl.
Legendary Reds skipper Terry Francona didn’t flinch after the outing.
“I think he’s a good pitcher,” Francona said. “I don’t think him giving up a couple runs is going to make somebody fold. If that was the case, we wouldn’t have brought him up.”
Nick Pollack of Pitcher List offered a detailed breakdown of Burns’ debut, and the advanced metrics reveal both promise and early warning signs. Burns leaned heavily on his four-seamer and slider, both of which earned PLV grades north of 5.00. His changeup, though, stole the show—a staggering 6.26 PLV, driven by pristine location and zero hard contact allowed. But not everything was sharp. Burns posted a concerning 43.8% bad pitch rate with the fastball, nearly cancelling out his 47.9% quality pitch rate on the same offering. It’s an early sign that while the stuff is nasty, command refinement will be critical.
Pitchers that made their MLB debuts this past week:
Jonathan Pintaro, 27, New York Mets
Elvis Alvarado, 26, Athletics
