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The Stash List Week 14: Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash in 2026

Top 10 pitching prospects to stash in redraft league.

John Villavicencio
Dynasty 3 Hours Ago

The Pitcher Edition of the Stash List highlights the 10 best pitching prospects likely to make an impact during the 2026 season.

Prospects are often thought of as holding value only in dynasty formats. However, knowing which prospects hold value for the current season can help set you apart in redraft leagues. Several have a 2026 ETA, and getting ahead of the curve on rostering these prospects is a key part of roster management. Last year, we saw more pitching prospects make their debut than ever before, and there is no reason we should expect to see anything change in 2026. Keep reading to find out the top ten pitchers you should stash in your redraft leagues.

Ground Rules

  • The Stash List is for your redraft leagues and does not consider impact beyond 2026.
  • Only current minor league players who are expected to make an impact this season are included.
  • Upside, proximity, health, and opportunity are all weighed for each player.
  • The focus is on 12-team leagues with standard categories.
  • Rankings and roster percentages will be updated weekly.
  • Stats will be updated weekly for all players through Thursday’s games.

 

Minor League Starting Pitcher Leaders in Strikeout Rate through June 25, 2026 (minimum 140 batters faced)

 

The Stash List

Graduates/Call-Ups

The following prospects joined the big league clubs over the last week:

Yilber Díaz ARI was recalled to support a depleted Diamondbacks pitching staff and got shelled without finishing an inning. He now owns a 94.50 ERA and 11.99 WHIP on the season, which are fun to type due to their rarity.

Kohl Drake ARI was also called up to serve in long relief, but then optioned without a single appearance. Drake had posted increasingly poor monthly stats until June, when he stopped allowing home runs. Even with the turn in his fortune, the results do not inspire confidence. Even considering that he is pitching in the offense-friendly Pacific Coast League, the walks are up, and the strikeouts are down. His velocity is still down a few ticks since a shoulder strain ended his season in late August. There is always the chance that the stuff plays up in the Major Leagues, but he should leave the fastball at the hotel. Batters are slugging .575 against the four-seamer with seven home runs this season.

Jose Cabrera ARI came out of nowhere to make his Major League debut after appearing in only three Triple-A games. The 6’3″ righty struck out three batters on ten whiffs across five innings last week. He flipped his 6-pitch mix around from what he had been doing in Reno by fading the 94 mph fastball to feature the cutter and sweeper. Track his progress as he is lined up for a Friday night start at Tampa Bay.

Mitch Bratt ARI became the fourth Diamondback prospect pitcher to be called up in the last week. The velocity was up two ticks for Bratt in his debut. He also had a bit more movement with the slurve-and-slider combination. He finished with three strikeouts on seven whiffs across three innings. Bratt had been injured and missed a month, so expect him to build up from 50-60 pitches for a few more appearances of his ballet/capoeira routine. He was optioned back to Triple-A already.

Carson Palmquist WSN had been building up as a long reliever in Triple-A. He earned his first start with the Nationals on Wednesday, going 3.1 innings with three strikeouts to one walk. The 6’3″ sidearmer gets 7.3 feet of extension and should see immediate gains now that he is no longer in the Pacific Coast League or playing in Coors Field. Although there isn’t much strikeout upside to his profile, his arm angle and great sinker could provoke a lot of ground balls.

Julian Garcia CIN made his Major League debut after being drafted over a decade ago. He was a standout pitcher in independent baseball for two seasons with the Kansas City Monarchs. The slider and sweeper combo each earned a 40% whiff rate at Triple-A. The four-seamer averages 18 inches of induced vertical break, which makes the pitch a little better given the low 90s velocity. The 31-year-old appears to be a long relief option for the Reds and has moderate strikeout appeal.

 

Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash

 

1. Kade Anderson, LHP, Seattle Mariners

2026 AAA Stat line: 61.2 IP | 1.02 ERA | 41.1 K% | 3.7 BB%

2025 NCAA Stat line: 119.0 IP | 3.43 ERA | 37.4 K% | 7.3 BB%

 

Kade Anderson continues to succeed in the same manner he has all season. First, he is throwing strikes. He is posting a 68% strike rate, which manifests in that astonishingly low 3.7% walk rate. He has only posted two games with a strike rate below 65%. The second layer of throwing strikes is to describe what kind of strikes. Well, Anderson sits in the top 5% of swinging strikes. In this area, he has only posted one game with a swinging strike rate below 15%. Finally, Anderson has leaned heavily on his breakers to put hitters away. To lefties, it’s a heavy dose of curveballs and sliders. Against righties, they receive a combination of four-seamers and changeups. Anderson is placing all of these pitches on the outside corner with the occasional fastball up high in the zone. The next step will be to see whether higher-level competition makes more contact or sits on his stuff, being on the edges of the zone.

In his recent start against Frisco, he went another six innings of scoreless ball. It marked his fifth consecutive start without giving up a run. Anderson was efficient as he only needed 70 pitches to complete almost three times through the order. The low pitch count is in a loop of missing bats with his pitches, as well as catching the Rough Riders guessing at the plate. He had 18 called strikes as well as eleven whiffs that led to eight strikeouts. The fastball took a back seat again to the breakers and offspeed stuff. The lack of a premium fastball is the one area of his game that is in doubt until promotion.

Everyone is speculating about a call-up for Anderson and Arkansas teammate Ryan Sloan. Everyone realizes that Seattle has a track record of having their top pitching prospects skip Triple-A Tacoma and the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Everyone is aware that the Mariners currently have no room or need in the rotation for another starting pitcher. Yet, we still want to see movement, progress, change, or a statement that indicates the organization values him as highly as fantasy managers are right now. The closest we can get to excitement is in quotes from the Double-A manager. Yet, we stash Anderson because healthy pitching staffs are a week-to-week proposition, and anything can happen in baseball.

He pitched on Friday night, so let’s see if he can lower his absurd 1.02 ERA further.

 

2. Karson Milbrandt, RHP, Miami Marlins

2026 AAA/AA Stat line: 62 IP | 1.31 ERA | 35.1 K% | 11.6 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 90 IP | 3.00 ERA | 29.0 K% | 12.3 BB%

 

The funk rolls on for Karson Milbrandt as he makes his case for a 2026 Major League debut. The 22-year-old is way ahead of schedule after three Triple-A starts, but still has a few skills to improve before being considered for a call-up this summer. The pristine control remains elusive as he has allowed at least three walks in each outing thus far, with a below average 61% strike rate. Whether it is the new baseball at the higher level, his complex mechanics, or a different issue, Milbrandt will need to tidy up the delivery to reduce the free passes.

Right before his promotion to Jacksonville, Milbrandt went on a podcast with Baseball America. He described the evolution of his pitch mix, which doesn’t feature a changeup as of now. In the absence of the changeup, he relies on his breaking pitches to challenge both sets of hitters. The gyro slider that he throws at 88 mph is essentially a cutter with its high velocity and late break. It is a perfect complement to the wider breaking sweeper that he releases from a similar point. When things are going well, the sweeper generates over 2800 rpm of spin and 17-plus inches of break. The curveball is not currently getting positive results with a moderate 50 inches of drop and 2700 rpm of spin. Likely, hitters are easily picking up (curveballs are usually released higher by all pitchers) on the pitch and letting it fall out of the zone for a ball. Until he finds better counts to insert the curveball, it should be faded. (Full disclosure, Statcast has picked up a handful of split-fingered fastballs.)

And the funk that we continue to mention is in the delivery. The elaborate dance that he does with the overhead windup is a gaudy timing mechanism. Given the number of steps involved in the windup, one part being off could underlie some of the control issues. Therefore, he will likely be a pitcher with vacillating walk numbers.

In his recent start, Milbrandt suffered from two lengthy innings that prevented him from pitching in the fifth inning. Surprisingly, the walks wouldn’t have hurt him if he hadn’t thrown the ball away on a pickoff attempt in the fourth inning. Obviously, allowing five free passes is playing with fire, but he was still able to rack up seven strikeouts on 17 whiffs. The four-seamer and sweeper led the way with eight whiffs each. Even more impressive is that he has limited contact at this level, with a low average against and only one extra base hit allowed. That fortune won’t continue forever, but the expected stats do match the outcomes. The final line over four innings of work was one earned run on three hits, five walks, and seven strikeouts.

The funk returns to the mound on Saturday as Milbrandt looks to shore up the control while maintaining the solid strikeout rates. The Marlins are experiencing good showings from various prospects at the moment. Braxton Garrett, Bradley Blalock, and the 6’8″ righty Brandon White have all flashed good stuff in recent starts. Fantasy managers will likely eschew those less-hyped names, but don’t completely overlook White, who has seen his stuff tick up this season.

Yet, most fans will be screaming, give us the funk!!!!

 

3.  River Ryan, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

2026 AAA Stat line: 32 IP | 2.81 ERA | 29.9 K% | 5.2 BB% 

2025 MLB Stat line: DID NOT PITCH IN 2025

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the luxury to “build volume” with their prospect pitchers with a nine-game lead atop the Western Division. They already operate with a six-man rotation with the expectation that frontline starters, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, will return this summer, and another supporting arm in Landon Knack starting up his rehab assignment. These riches allow the organization to bide their time with River Ryan, who himself is coming back from a major arm injury.

Ryan may justify their prudence in not rushing him up to the Major Leagues by having a few clunkers after appearing like an ace for two months. He has allowed four or more earned runs in two of his last three starts, with an increased amount of contact against him. In his most recent start, the Rivercats jumped him for ten hits, including four extra-base hits, that resulted in a career-worst eight runs allowed. To be fair, Chayce McDermott gave up a grand slam to the first batter once Ryan was removed. Yet, Ryan shouldn’t have let that bases-loaded scenario happen in the first place. The more jarring part of the stat line is seeing only seven whiffs and three strikeouts. His velocity is still up from 2024, but was down half a tick in this game. And although he was in zone across his entire six-pitch arsenal, Sacramento answered with hard hits on everything. There doesn’t appear to be an obvious reason as to why he was so poor in this outing. From the game film, one can see that there was a shadow covering home plate for the first two innings, which should work in favor of the pitcher.  Yet, he served up a home run in the second inning and recorded only one strikeout during the first two frames.

Zooming out to the big picture, the 27-year-old righty is still a top-5 leader of Triple-A pitchers with a 22% K%-BB%. He is also among the top ten in WHIP and swinging strike rate, with a top-tier FIP. The caveat with the WHIP, though, is that he has a relatively high batting average against him with a sky-high .369 BABIP. That level of contact does give one pause for concern about how Major League hitters will see his stuff. Nevertheless, he has demonstrated consistent control by limiting walks using an arsenal that features the Major League prerequisite 97 mph fastball. While the ceiling for strikeouts may be a little lower than desired, there is still a really high floor for him once he earns the return call to Los Angeles.

 

4.  Ty Johnson, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

2026 AAA Stat line: 28 IP | 1.29 ERA | 30.4 K% | 9.8 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 110.1 IP | 2.61 ERA | 34.7 K% | 8.8 BB%

 

Nine strikeouts from Ty Johnson represented a high-water mark for him since September 2025. The slider and fastball combination racked up 21 whiffs, one of his highest career totals. However, the six earned runs were the most he has given up since early on in his professional career (May 2024). The three home runs were the most he has ever allowed. Each of these contradictory occurrences makes for a difficult time quickly assessing this outing as a poor start.

Starting with the good, Johnson continues to get away with having only two pitches. The deceptive T. rex arm action and relatively low release play up the velocity and movement on his 94 mph fastball. He can get up to 19 inches of ride on the four-seamer. More curiously, he does generate a high rate of spin on the fastball, sometimes over 2800 rpm. There must be something about the spin axis he gets on his pitch and the low slot from which he pitches that adds even more deception. This level of pitching analysis still eludes me, but something is happening with how the ball spins off his hand that helps him tunnel the slider and four-seamer well. Furthermore, his 85 mph slider appears to come in two versions. One with almost no horizontal movement and another with five inches of break. All of these factors help him create some diversity in what appears to be a two-pitch arsenal.

No doubt, no one wants to see a final line of six earned runs that includes three home runs. The nine strikeouts are a soothing salve to that wounding result, but they don’t completely make up for the damage to a fantasy team’s ratios. It will be interesting to see how Johnson bounces back because, without a deep arsenal, there aren’t many options to conduct a proper trial and error. NOTE: Someone pointed out that Durham can be a hitter’s park in the summer. It was 85 degrees at game time. Johnson has been a bit worse at home this season, made to look much worse after this start.

With a Friday night start at Norfolk, Johnson got a few extra days of rest to recover.

 

5.  Jaxon Wiggins, RHP, Chicago Cubs

2026 AAA Stat line: 12.2 IP | 4.97 ERA | 27.8 K% | 14.8 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 78 IP | 2.19 ERA | 31.0 K% | 11.5 BB%

 

The Chicago Cubs have put together a hodgepodge of a starting rotation after suffering from numerous long-term injuries that are stretching their organizational depth. Thank goodness for the return of Jaxon Wiggins, who can enter the dialogue as either support out of the bullpen or in a starting role. The 6’6″ righty has been on the shelf due to a right elbow strain this season and missed around two months with shoulder soreness in 2025. Those health issues, combined with inconsistent command, may limit Wiggins to shorter stints until he becomes a more reliable pitcher.

Last season, Wiggins built up to a modest 78 innings, but never eclipsed 80 pitches in a game more than a handful of times. After a promotion to Triple-A in September, he was able to assert himself with a 31% strikeout rate, but the anvil of a 55% strike rate and a 13% walk rate weighed that success down. Yet, he possesses a standout fastball that can easily resuscitate his profile. Early in 2026, the four-seamer was down around 96 mph, but still had outstanding movement with an average induced vertical break of 18 inches and a horizontal break of nine inches. He paired it nicely with an 89 mph cutter from a similar release point. Even more crucial to his success is locating the changeup and curveball in competitive spots. The offspeed pitch can be a major putaway pitch for him with 13 inches of armside break. It doesn’t get that much drop, but it can have a bit more velocity (89-90 mph) on it when he is back to full strength. Finally, the curveball rounds out the arsenal as his pace changer. The sixty inches of drop spinning into home plate at over 2800 rpm gives him another out pitch. At this point in his development, the arsenal is strong enough. The next step in his progression may be to catch the zone more frequently and possibly follow the path of Carlos Lagrange in being more strategic with the usage of his fastball.

In his first rehab start, Wiggins threw 49 pitches and struck out three batters. Unfortunately, he also served up a low changeup for a solo home run in the second inning. It turned out to be the only hit he allowed in the appearance. It was also one of the few pitches that found the lower third of the zone, as he was consistently up. That is a good outcome given that he utilizes an over-the-top delivery, and one might expect to see a vertical approach angle downwards to the target. Back in his initial 2026 start, Wiggins was able to crank up the vertical break to as much as 21 inches. The other notable feature of his delivery is the solid extension. Whereas Lagrange uses a step slide with minimal extension, Wiggins can generate more depth towards home plate. However, he appears to be holding back in 2026 with a more casual follow-through. Nevertheless, he is healthy, missing bats, and building up to a starter’s workload. The 55% strike rate won’t cut it, so hopefully we see some progress the next time out.

Whether Wiggins makes a debut as a starter or reliever in 2026, there is modest strikeout upside for a team that desperately needs a pitching boost to buoy their wobbly playoff odds.

 

6.  Carlos Lagrange, RHP, New York Yankees

2026 AAA Stat line: 62.2 IP | 3.88 ERA | 30.0 K% | 11.4 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 120 IP | 3.53 ERA | 33.4 K% | 12.3 BB%

 

As announced, the Yankees are slowly chipping away at the structure of Carlos Lagrange, the starting pitcher, as they seek to bring him to the Major Leagues as a reliever this season. The question is whether they are doing so with a chisel to reveal new layers or casting new parts to add to the original mold. Lagrange, standing 6’7″ tall and almost 250 pounds, already appears as a nearly complete classical sculpture. Yet, as impressive as the stuff shows up on a data report, the game log is saying that he is not quite ready for opening night.

Since the bullpen move was announced at the start of June, Lagrange has seen his innings and pitch count dwindle to single-inning appearances. Notably, he has seen his control improve slightly without any diminished ability to generate whiffs or strikeouts. As a reliever, he is throwing 65% strikes with a 15% swinging strikeout rate that shows up as a 12% walk rate and 34% strikeout rate. Furthermore, batters are barely making contact with his pitches, or more specifically, aren’t getting hits with the pitches they do make contact with. Hitters have a .186 average against in June with only one barrel. The poor control was the main aspect of his game that was holding him back, so the fact that the rest of his form is holding true makes it an exciting development for his case to join the big league bullpen.

So what exactly are the Yankees casting or carving from Langrange’s profile? I have made the case that the four-seamer needs to be a surprise pitch rather than a featured weapon. Although the velocity is elite, the movement and approach angle are suspect. That pitch was being hammered and wasn’t delivering on the whiffs as one would expect. Akin to Mason Miller, he was already experimenting with a slider-heavy approach as a starter. That continues to be true with Lagrange in the reliever role, as it is now his most-used pitch. Across each relief appearance, Lagrange appears to be limiting his arsenal to three or four pitches. The other noticeable change is the location of his pitches. The fastball is landing slightly higher and more to the glove side in the zone. The slider is now landing more often on the arm side of the plate and lower in the zone than before. The changeup is landing at the center of the plate and lower in the zone than before. It appears that he may be receiving more specific tutelage about where to throw his stuff rather than how.

The Yankees are using finely gritted sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges around Lagrange as opposed to a more blunt tool. With a solid arsenal that includes premium velocity, Lagrange is ready for his grand unveiling in the Bronx, entering the game from the center field bullpen. His most recent game saw him enter as the closer and earn his first career save, something dynasty managers are both discouraged by and excited about at the same time.

 

7.  Jack Wenninger, RHP, New York Mets

2026 AAA Stat line: 63 IP | 3.71 ERA | 23.0 K% | 12.9 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 135.2 IP | 2.92 ERA | 26.4 K% | 7.6 BB%

 

It was another start where the results did not match the stuff for Jack Wenninger. He mostly breezed through three innings before running into bad fortune in the fourth inning. Up until that point, he had allowed two hits, one walk, and posted three strikeouts. Then he put on three straight baserunners before Dylan Moore capitalized with an opposite-field grand slam on a high slider. He was shortly removed from the game after 3.2 innings of work. The final line included four runs on five hits and three walks alongside four strikeouts on eleven whiffs. Wenninger has not won a game in over a month and has given up a home run in six consecutive games. The interesting part is that his stuff is still holding up and may be getting better.

Part of the process of tracking pitching prospects is to trust the stuff and pedigree for as long as possible. Assuming the velocity and movement remain solid, then the actual game logs are a secondary consideration of how well they are pitching. For Wenninger, the fastball velocity dipped at the beginning of this season, along with an absence of any swing-and-miss from his arsenal. Furthermore, he just isn’t hitting the zone as much as he was in 2025. With a decreased strike rate, now sitting below 58%, the walks have compounded his inability to strike as many batters out as he did before.

In this recent start, he was finally touching 96 mph on the four-seamer and reaching up to 19 inches of induced vertical break. This season, the fastball just hasn’t been in the zone enough to earn strikes or chases. The 20% whiff rate on the pitch, matched with a .486 slugging percentage on the pitch, makes it something that he needs to fade. He could serve up more sinkers, a strategy that may help induce more groundballs. Hopefully, the increased velocity brings the fastball up to a respectable level. Recently, the changeup has also had a bit more velocity and movement. As his primary putaway, it is crucial that he can attack both sets of hitters with the offspeed pitch on counts with one or two strikes. He also throws a sweeper, but that pitch feels like a major work in progress as it doesn’t have notable break, spin, or interesting results. It only appears when he is way ahead in the count.

The New York Mets are playing for pride at this juncture of the season and have no desire to finish as the worst team in their division. It’s unclear what planned roster transactions they could make, but getting Jonah Tong more service time seems prudent. A Wenninger debut is likely lower on the task list, but still likely since their rotation is a bit flimsy beyond Nolan McLean, and even he is floundering. Now, it would be great for Wenninger to confirm the hunch that his stuff is ticking up in late June by going out and throwing a quality start.

 

8.  Tyson Hardin, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

2026 AAA/AA Stat line: 69.1 IP | 4.54 ERA | 28.6 K% | 8.2 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 96 IP | 2.72 ERA | 24.7 K% | 4.4 BB%

 

The Brewers organization has not been shy about rolling Tyson Hardin out deep into a game. He has the highest pitch count per appearance (~84 pitcher /game) of anyone on this list, and he established that rate by the end of April. This converted reliever has a lot of miles left on his “arm-ometer” after barely falling short of 100 innings in 2025. As he continues to build up to a Major League promotion, we still wait for him to put together the newly demonstrated whiff stuff and the historical displays of strong control. Hardin’s getting close, as seen by the 21 strikeouts, three walks, and 15% swinging strike rate.

Impressively, Hardin can attack both sets of hitters with his deep arsenal. Last week against Memphis, he threw the cutter, four-seamer, and sweeper to lefties and righties. The sinker was mostly reserved for righties, while the changeup was a bridge pitch versus lefties. The cutter ended up being his best whiff pitch, while the four-seamer was his best putaway pitch. This game was another one where his zone rate was lower than one would expect, which led to a meager 61% strike rate. Fortunately, Hardin was tough enough to induce weak contact and limit the walks to a single free pass.

The Brewers are running away with the Central Division with a complete team. Nevertheless, pitching health is only as good as who is available for the next day. Quinn Priester is out for the season. Logan Henderson continues to be in doubt with a setback. Coleman Crow, Brandon Sproat, Robert Gasser, and Chad Patrick are each cementing their roles as bullpen arms. Hardin, who is not on the 40-man squad, represents the last of the non-debuted prospect pitchers who could give the team a strong outing.

 

9. Owen Murphy, RHP, Atlanta Braves

2026 AA/AAA Stat line: 75 IP | 4.80 ERA | 26.7 K% | 11.6 BB%

2025 MiLB Stat line: 30.1 IP | 1.19 ERA | 30.9 K% | 5.5 BB%

 

As an 18-year-old, Owen Murphy was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft with the expectation of being a front-line starter. A 2024 Tommy John surgery only delayed those hopes. In 2026, Murphy is prepared to deliver on that hype and has been surging over the last month. He recently set a career high with 21 swinging strikes in a game in which he racked up ten strikeouts. He followed up that start with another solid six innings with six strikeouts on eleven whiffs. One knock against Murphy will be the high fly-ball rate. There were ten fly balls in this game, only a few of which landed for hits. All of the hits against him were singles.

Murphy utilizes a deep pitch mix akin to that of JR Ritchie. Yet Murphy’s overall arsenal has more strikeout upside, even without a premium fastball. He has three fastballs, but none of them top 93 mph. The cutter appears to be the most dynamic, coming in at 88 mph with a tight four inches of break. To complement the cutter, he can break off a slider that is a bit slower and has more break. His changeup is his primary putaway pitch to lefties, but it doesn’t have notable horizontal movement or drop. The four-seamer will continue to be faded as it doesn’t have the velocity to miss bats at the moment, despite averaging 19 inches of vertical movement. This pitch has often been hit hard and has allowed a high number of home runs on the season. Overall, Murphy is still a project in transition from injured to healthy. Although it is unlikely that he will develop much more velocity, matching Ritchie with 95 mph fastballs is a realistic outcome with more time in development.

The Atlanta Braves are rolling out a weak starting five with Martín Pérez, Bryce Elder, and JR Ritchie. Given that Spencer Strider is likely out for a lengthy absence, there will be pockets of need in the upcoming schedule. The organization is confident enough in Murphy’s arm to let him throw 90-plus pitches, so health is not the question. If he continues to display solid skills with modest strikeout rates, then Murphy has a strong case for a summer audition for a longer-term stay.

 

10.  Brody Hopkins, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

2026 AAA Stat line: 59.2 IP | 5.13 ERA | 25.3 K% | 21.7 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 116 IP | 2.72 ERA | 28.7 K% | 12.2 BB% 

 

In last week’s stash article, Martin painted an accurate picture of Brody Hopkins by writing, “Every time I start to get excited about Brody Hopkins figuring things out, he doesn’t.” Now, not only do we have to question his skills, but we also have to consider what role he will play with Tampa Bay, because things did not go well when he appeared as a follower earlier this week.

In fact, we have to ask, “What are we even doing here?” with Hopkins on this list, because his poor control is a plague. We continue to highlight the solid pitch mix, elite fastball (when located for strikes), and his athletic delivery, but then he goes out and delivers stinker after stinker. In Hopkins defense, we need to remember that he didn’t start pitching regularly until 2023.

After almost sixty innings into his initial Triple-A season, he is scuttling through major issues. The distance by which he was missing the target or even the catcher’s glove signals that something is off with his grip or arm motion. There were more than a handful of dirt spikes and air mails. The absolutely atrocious 32% strike rate was made even more dire by the 26% zone rate. For example, it was only a 40% zone rate for his four-seamer. Bleh! And the four walks on his game log all occurred in his single inning of work to the seven batters he faced.

If we wanted to assess his attitude and read into body language on the field, then we could examine the final play of the inning. With the bases loaded, Hopkins threw a fastball with an IVB over 100 inches (no exaggeration at all) all the way to the backstop, but didn’t move off the mound to back up the play at the plate. Fortunately, his catcher caught the rebounding ball and tagged the runner out to prevent a third earned run on his ledger.

Hopkins is at a low point in terms of value and trustworthiness. He sits along with pitchers who have major control issues to be observed from afar, such as Quinn Mathews, Miguel Ullola, Hagen Smith, and Joe Boyle, among others.

 

On The Bubble

Here are the next several pitchers that were in consideration for inclusion on this week’s list:

Khristian Curtis PIT, Daniel Eagen ARI, Anthony Eyanson BOS, Michael Forret TBR, Nestor German BAL, Quinn Mathews STL, Tanner McDougal CHW, Ethan Pecko HOU, Hurston Waldrep ATL (No longer qualifies as a prospect, but is making his way back in Triple-A Gwinnett from elbow inflammation. The splitter looks sharp with a 60% whif rate and five strikeouts.), Carson Whisenhunt SFG, Brandon White MIA, Joe Whitman SFG, and Matt Wilkinson SFG.

 

Pitcher Stash List

 

Stash List Key
Stash now! Upside + Proximity
Upside Stash
Proximity Stash

 

Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Bsky/Twitter)

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