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.
Be sure to head over to the dynasty team page for all of the latest breakdowns and rankings to help take your team to the next level in 2025!
Want to find these numbers and much more? Visit the PL Pro Tools Hub, a page containing all the tools exclusive to PL Pro members for quick access.
Checking in on Big-name Prospects:
Robby Snelling, 21, Miami Marlins
MiLB Season Stats: 19 GS/100.0 IP/3.06 ERA/29.2% K%/6.6% BB%/1.15 WHIP
Weekly Stats: 1 GS/6.0 IP/0.00 ERA/47.8% K%/4.3% BB%/1.00 WHIP
Miami Marlins prospect hounds are right to key in on top prospect Thomas White’s Aug. 9 start for the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Still, it shouldn’t overshadow the performance two days prior from their second-ranked prospect, left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling. The former San Diego Padres prospect took a significant hit in his prospect stock with a down 2024 season, but has rebounded strongly in 2025 and has looked the part of one of the International League’s best pitchers since joining the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Since getting the call to Triple-A, Snelling has a sterling 1.63 ERA in five starts, nearly averaging six innings per start, too. The strikeout numbers have always been high, but the walks have remained low, and Snelling is staying in the zone plenty with his entire arsenal. Are a .297 BABIP and 96.5% stranded runner rate a flash in the pan or sustainable across the remainder of this season? It is debatable, but the results are too significant to ignore, even if the process has some pastel red flags.
Triple-A batters have a paltry .238 xwOBA against Snelling, with his fastball and curveball leading the way in usage. The four-seam offering’s velocity was noticeably down a few ticks in 2024 from this 2023 level, but is back up to averaging 94.5 MPH this season, even touching 98 MPH in a July 26 start. It isn’t an overpowering pitch, but Snelling uses it to quickly get ahead in the count and leans on his secondary stuff for the out. Snell isn’t an extension king or flamethrower at all, but the effectiveness at this point is commendable. Looking further at that fastball, Snelling has a 34.6% whiff rate in that pitch, his second-best mark in his arsenal. His 34.1% CSW% with that pitch is above average for him, but the opposition fouling off the pitch so much will keep it from being a get-out fastball.
His curveball’s 42% CSW% leads his arsenal by a healthy margin, even if batters have a ,308 xwOBA against that pitch. Snelling uses that pitch 30% of the time for good reason and uses it primarily in two-strike counts. Behind home plate (from some limited film looks), his fastball high in the zone and curveball in the bottom quadrant look so similar for much of the flight path. One easy nick on his curveball is some less than optimal spin rates, averaging 2,545 RPM in Triple-A action. That would rank just above Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowksi’s mark at 99th overall among MLB starters, but if Snelling bumped that up this offseason it could make the pitch very effective on the MLB stage.
Is Snelling’s recent run a sign of him being fixed? Hard to declare a player fixed after five starts, but the former LSU commit is doing everything right in the Marlins organization. The franchise’s pitching pipeline has been somewhat clogged in recent years, and turning Snelling around for 2026 contribution could be a big win. I wouldn’t be against seeing him once rosters expand, but only in a starter’s role.
Take a look under the PLV hood:
Weekly Four-Seam Standouts
As the season wears on, watching how fastballs improve or change down on the farm has been interesting. As new faces break into rotations or minor tweaks turn from blips to consistent factors, it is important to keep an eye on pitch shapes. Pitcher List’s Fan 4+ is a model based on the “Fan-Tastic 4” stats: velocity, extension, induced vertical break (iVB), and height-adjusted vertical approach angle (HAVAA), compared to the average four-seam fastball. What are some marks from Triple-A and Low-A’s Florida State League that jumped off the page this week?
Yoniel Curet, 22, Tampa Bay Rays
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 127 Fan4+ on Aug. 6, 2025, start
MiLB Season Stats: 9 G (8 GS)/28.0 IP/1.61 ERA/26.1% K%/6.3% BB%/0.93 WHIP
The Tampa Bay Rays get plenty of credit for finding hidden gems in other organizations, but their work in the international free agent market remains underrated. Right-hander Yoniel Curet—signed for just $150,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2019—looks like the latest success story from that pesky player pipeline.
Curet hasn’t been a household name in 2025, largely because he opened the season on the IL with a right shoulder injury. His Triple-A debut didn’t come until Aug. 6 against Memphis, but the initial results were encouraging. In four innings, he wasn’t dominant, but for a pitcher with only eight games under his belt this season, it was a solid showing at a new level. His fastball—a 70-grade pitch by MLB Pipeline—looked the part. It features plus extension, lively arm-side run, and the kind of movement that can give hitters fits. The changeup still needs work if he’s going to recapture his full starter potential, but at just 22 years old and already in Durham, the Rays have another intriguing arm quietly climbing the ladder.
Chase Dollander, 23, Colorado Rockies
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 120 Fan4+ in Aug. 5, 2025, start
MiLB Season Stats: 4 GS/15.1 IP/7.04 ERA/23.3% K%/13.7% BB%/1.89 WHIP
Before his solid five-inning outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 11, Colorado Rockies right-hander Chase Dollander wasn’t exactly lighting up the box score in Triple-A. That slump mirrored his rough big-league debut earlier this season, when he posted a 6.68 ERA over 15 starts. Even so, his most recent minor-league start showed a bit of optimism—his fastball earned some strong marks despite a season-long 3.90 PLV at that level, where it’s generally been viewed as a below-average offering. As long as the trend is pointing up, there’s at least some hope. Now it’s on Dollander to finish 2025 on a high note and make a stronger case for a spot in Colorado’s rotation next year.
Johnny King, 19, Toronto Blue Jays
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 109 Fan4+ in Aug. 10, 2025, start
MiLB Season Stats: 13 G (10 GS)/45.0 IP/1.40 ERA/42.2% K%/13.0% BB%/1.20 WHIP
Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Johnny King is still a ways from The Show, but the early returns have to excite the front office. The 2024 third-round pick cruised through Florida Complex League competition and has handled Low-A Dunedin with similar ease. He ranks among the MiLB leaders in strikeout-to-walk differential—top 12 among pitchers with 40+ innings—and his ~18% swinging-strike rate sits in the top 20 across the minors. King attacks hitters at the top of the zone with his fastball, then pairs it with a so-so curveball as his primary putaway pitch. He’s already a highly regarded prospect in Toronto’s system, but how he adjusts to older competition as he climbs the ladder will be a key watch moving forward.
Welcome to the Bigs
Cam Sanders, 28, Pittsburgh Pirates
MiLB Season Stats: 33 G (0 GS)/42.1 IP/1.91 ERA/30.5% K%/12.0% BB%/0.97 WHIP
Debut: 2.0 IP/0.00 ERA/25.0% K%/12.5% BB%/1.00 WHIP
Without any major prospect call-ups or even a debut from a formal starting pitcher, the spotlight lands in Pittsburgh and fell on right-hander Cam Sanders. With nothing to lose in 2025, the Pirates selected the 28-year-old’s contract on Aug. 5, giving the former Chicago Cubs prospect his shot. He made the most of it, tossing two solid innings in an 8–1 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Sanders allowed just one hit, walked one, and struck out two, flashing a fastball in the high-90s and drawing praise for the sharp movement on both his slider and changeup.
“It’s just an awesome feeling,” Sanders said. “Finally got the feeling back in my legs… I was just thinking, ‘Get the ball over the plate. Make something happen.’”
Sanders earned the promotion after a standout minor-league campaign, posting a combined 1.91 ERA across 33 appearances with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, striking out 51 batters over 42 ⅓ innings. Manager Don Kelly had few expectations beyond letting him showcase his tools—and he delivered.
“The stuff is electric when he’s pairing the 98 [mph] fastball with the slider, and the changeup looks really good too,” Kelly said.
A former Cubs draftee, Sanders elected free agency after the 2024 season before joining Pittsburgh for 2025. His debut didn’t change the outcome of the game, but it left a strong first impression. Sanders has looked like a different pitcher since moving to the bullpen full-time, and with the Pirates’ roster flexibility, the late bloomer should get a fair runway to prove himself.
Pitchers that made their MLB debuts this past week:
P.J. Poulin, 29, Washington Nationals
