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The Stash List Week 18: Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash in 2025

Top 10 pitching prospects to stash in redraft league

John Villavicencio
Dynasty 7/26/2025

The Pitcher Edition of the Stash List highlights the 10 best pitching prospects likely to make an impact during the 2025 season.

Prospects are often thought of as only holding value in dynasty formats. However, knowing which prospects hold value for the current season can help set you apart in redraft leagues. Several have a 2025 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 2025. 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 2025.
  • 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.

 

The Stash List

 

Graduates/Call-Ups

 

The following prospects got the call to the major leagues within the last week:

Michael McGreevy survived a ton of balls in play to go seven innings with one earned run allowed (two runs overall). He was having more success with whiffs and strikeouts in Triple-A, but his role will always be to eat innings and keep runs off the scoreboard.

Zebby Matthews did that thing again, where he strikes out batters, but then gives up a bunch of runs. He continues to be an intriguing arm, but someone to track from your bench until he puts it together.

Troy Melton did his thing with the strikeouts against Pittsburgh, but also served up two home runs, including a grand slam. Hopefully, he gets at least one more opportunity to prove himself. The Major League Statcast showed his extension up 3-4 inches to 7.1 feet. I noticed a similar discrepancy in Mick Abel’s debut. It is to be seen if the numbers hold up over time.

Joe Boyle & Ian Seymour are set for expanded roles with the demotion of Taj Bradley. Boyle lines up squarely to assume the open rotation spot. He hasn’t pitched more than 60 pitches since July 6, so he may not pitch long enough to qualify for a win.

 

Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash

 

1. Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

2025 AAA Stat line: 82.2 IP | 3.27 ERA | 29.3 K% | 11.5 BB%

2024 MiLB Stat line: 119.2 IP | 3.08 ERA | 30.9 K% | 8.6 BB%

 

After coming into the 2025 season with an expectation that he would be an early-season call-up, Bubba Chandler is teetering off the edge of prospect relevance for the rest of this season with his inconsistent play. In his last four starts, he has experienced the good (two six-inning scoreless wins), the bad (two homers and five earned runs allowed), and the ugly (four walks and a sub-58% strike rate). In that time, he had a 2.83 ERA and 27% strikeout rate, but also an 11.7% walk rate and a 63% fly ball rate. The changing batted ball data is highlighting the recent hittability of his pitches. He came into the season with a groundball rate closer to 42%, but the extra base hits and fly balls are stacking up.  Further troubling, Chandler has started each of these games with multiple baserunners, sometimes surrendering runs, and sometimes avoiding major damage with a strikeout. The performance is concerningly inconsistent, enough to test the faith in any fantasy manager to continue holding onto Chandler as a stash for the 2025 season.

After calling for more reliability in his slider, Chandler served up two bombs with the pitch on July 18. Hopefully, he doesn’t have to face Minor League legend Daz Cameron again (he won’t have to in the regular season!), who also hit multiple home runs off Quinn Mathews earlier this season. Although Chandler isn’t throwing the slider as fast as Jacob Misiorowski (93 mph), Cam Schlittler (92 mph), or Joe Boyle (90 mph), Chandler’s 88 mph puts him in the 90th percentile for Statcast-tracked players in the Minor Leagues. Chandler’s slider now operates in a velocity range a few miles per hour short of his changeup, but with virtually no movement. Its three inches of glove-side break gives the ball a sharp bite with tight spin. If he doesn’t have the feel for the slider, he will have games where the pitch only lands in the zone 38% of the time, like it did on July 18 against Nashville. It was the third time out of the last five gams where Chandler failed to complete four innings. He ended up allowing five earned runs on eight hits, eight hard-hit balls, two home runs, and two walks. Chandler recorded four strikeouts on nine whiffs in what is shaping up to be a big miss for fantasy analysts, making him the number one pitching prospect to target in the offseason.

 

2. Mick Abel, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

2025 AAA Stat line: 69.0 IP | 1.83 ERA | 27.0 K% | 10.3 BB% 

2025 MLB Stat line: 25.0 IP | 5.04 ERA | 19.4 K% | 8.3 BB%

 

With Mick Abel, we are chasing the success of that Major League debut, where he didn’t walk a single batter and struck out nine. In that start, the velocity on his arsenal was up, and he started throwing his best pitch, the curveball, more often. The curveball has a solid spin rate over 2600 rpm, dropping over 50 inches from its release point. For his curveball, he has a 38% whiff rate in the Major Leagues, along with a 36% whiff on the pitch while with Lehigh Valley. Despite the appearance of success, the pitch was being hit well, just like his entire arsenal, and he was demoted to figure things out in Triple-A. Abel appears to be building more confidence in the slider and sinker as they have been the primary secondaries for his recent Minor League starts. The curveball is being deemphasized, with the thought that he may be preparing himself for a longer stint with Philadelphia down the stretch.

In those past two starts, the slider has been clutch. With its gyro spin, it has not allowed a hit or walk, while generating a 35% whiff rate. Expanding his arsenal beyond the fastball and curveball will be key, especially as he seeks to continue limiting free passes. The strikeouts and whiffs are a bonus for any Abel start, but the low walk totals are a must-have. The fact that he allowed seven home runs in those five games in June and July will make empty bases a priority. The expectation is that the home runs will peter out, yet he did come into the 2025 season with higher-than-average home runs allowed. His FIP and xFIP confirm that a pitch mix tweak is a good thing to test with a home run to fly ball rate hovering around 20%. The statistic xFIP adjusts for a league-average home run rate, with Abel’s Major League xFIP at 4.70 compared to his 5.04 ERA. The difference signals that he has been a little “unlucky”, but critics could counter as to why it is so high in the first place. Nevertheless, Abel has finished back-to-back scoreless six-inning starts with two or fewer walks. Now, we await the outcome when he reintroduces the curveball with a more powerful slider.

 

3. Andrew Painter, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

2025 A, AAA Stat line: 73.0 IP | 4.68 ERA | 24.3 K% | 7.8 BB%

2024 AFL Stat line: 15.2 IP | 2.30 ERA | 30.5 K% | 6.7 BB%

 

If every inning pitched takes away one possible Major League inning, why is Andrew Painter wasting his pitches in Lehigh Valley? Painter is quickly approaching his 2022 season high of 103 innings, two years removed from his July 2023 Tommy John surgery. I expect that Mick Abel will get the first call if a starter is needed in Philadelphia, but the heart wants to see Painter get at least a few weeks of starts before being likely reduced to a reliever role in the playoffs. The trade deadline will likely see an aggressive Phillies move, but Painter and Abel are above-average roster additions if they don’t make any trades.

Although the anticipation around his debut grows, Painter continues to dig himself a hole. He was cruising for the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth inning, where he lost the feel for his pitches. His control wavered so much that he allowed three walks in the inning. Although the 351-foot home run he allowed in the same inning to Ryan Mountcastle may not have gone out in every park, he is now averaging 1.75 home runs per nine innings. Even if this is all bad luck (3.96 xFIP vs 4.68 ERA) or small sample noise, it would be nice to see a bump up in strikeouts. His swinging strike rate is 12.4% this season after sitting above 16% in 2022. He has been fading the use of the cutter for the last month as he experiments with the most productive use of his six-pitch mix. The velocity has remained steady at 97 mph on the fastball. Painter should continue testing his stuff against Triple-A as he seeks to remain healthy enough to be available when the Phillies need him.

 

4. Logan Henderson, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

2025 AAA Stat line: 72.1 IP | 3.36 ERA | 28.2 K% | 8.2 BB%

2025 MLB Stat line: 21.0 IP | 1.71 ERA | 35.8 K% | 7.4 BB%

 

Logan Henderson had been building momentum for a third Major League stint until this recent outing on July 20 against Indianapolis. He didn’t make it out of the fourth inning after allowing four earned runs on five hits and four walks. It was the first time he allowed more than two walks since June 25 and the fourth time this season. Henderson has a solid 66% strike rate, but the wildness came out in this game, with the fastball responsible for all of the free passes. That lack of fastball control is an issue for a pitcher who throws two pitches over 80% of the time. Further troubling is that the cutter has become vastly unreliable and thus nonexistent. Fortunately, his gyro slider stepped up in this game, generating four whiffs in the game. Yet, he primarily throws the slider only to right-handed batters. One may expect that he could face an issue against opposite-handed hitters if he does not have more than the fastball and changeup combination working in a particular game. Righties are slugging .331 with five home runs in 182 plate appearances off Henderson, as compared to lefties slugging .353 with seven home runs in 190 plate appearances.

With Milwaukee in a good position to win the division or earn a wild card berth, Henderson could find his way onto the playoff roster. Yet, he would likely support in a relief role down the stretch to prepare. He has surpassed last year’s innings and appears to be on a pitch count over the last month, where he hasn’t surpassed more than 83 pitches in any given game. This doesn’t bode well for his fantasy value, as his real-world value may direct him to shorter outings. We recommend stashing Henderson in leagues with wins as a category and look forward to greater effectiveness out of his slider.

 

5. Nolan McLean, RHP, New York Mets

2025 AA, AAA Stat line: 98.0 IP | 2.57 ERA | 26.5 K% | 10.1 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 109.2 IP | 3.78 ERA | 25.1 K% | 9.1 BB%

 

Nolan McLean can be considered the top Mets prospect pitcher to stash, given his proximity and performance over the first half of the season. Jonah Tong gets the headline for the ridiculous strikeout numbers (138 strikeouts in 89 innings), but McLean is maintaining his strikeout (27.8% to 26% in Triple-A) and walk rates (11.1% to 10.1% in Triple-A) after the early-season promotion to Triple-A. Recently, McLean turned up the dial to elevate the strikeouts to 30.4% and improve the walk rate to 8.7% over the last six games. In those starts, he has a 3.55 ERA, 62% strike rate, 42 strikeouts, and 12 walks. In addition to already faring well in Triple-A, McLean is seen as more of a workhorse ready to take on a heavier load in the major leagues, especially with his vast six-pitch arsenal.

On July 24, McLean survived seven hard-hit balls and over 19 balls in play to make his longest professional start of 7.1 innings. He accomplished this feat with the support of four pitches that each had a called strike and whiff rate over 32%. The sinker, cutter, sweeper, and curveball helped him limit Omaha to two earned runs in the second inning. The opposing lineup was stacked with left-handed batters, something that has given him an issue this year. McLean has given up five home runs and a .740 OPS to lefties, while allowing only one home run and a .440 OPS to righties. This is the exact situation where the deep arsenal can flourish, as he can turn to a variety of options to keep hitters off balance. He is showing himself capable of replicating Clay Holmes or Frankie Montas Jr.’s numbers, if the Mets do choose to give him that opportunity in the second half. McLean will likely need to be called up as a starter as the Mets start the trade season off with a new reliever, Gregory Soto, to hold down a bullpen spot.

 

6. Brandon Sproat, RHP, New York Mets

2025 AAA Stat line: 85.0 IP | 4.34 ERA | 19.5 K% | 10.8 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 116.1 IP | 3.40 ERA | 28.3 K% | 9.1 BB%

 

Brandon Sproat is having a mini-resurgence as the velocity jump is propelling him towards a late-season call-up. Sproat has now gone four games without allowing an earned run, throwing 67% strikes, generating 27 strikeouts, and only giving out six walks. He came into the 2025 season as the Mets’ number one pitching prospect, and he is doing what he can to earn that title. His average fastball velocity is now up a tick to 97 mph over the previous four games, generating whiffs 34% of the time with its 10 inches of tailing action. The curveball and changeup are boosting the increased effectiveness of his arsenal with their weak contact rates and greater than 46% whiff rates. This trio of pitches is helping him attack hitters to all parts of the zone with a solid velocity disparity and movement.

Now that Sproat is using his curveball and changeup more frequently than he did earlier in 2025, we could see his groundball rate continue to hover at an all-time high. Over the past four games, he is carrying a 64% groundball rate, a mark that is much higher than his 50% groundball rate last season. If he can sustain this batted ball profile, it will help lower his expected stats and keep him in the game longer. On July 19 against the Norfolk Tide, he generated 14 whiffs and earned nine strikeouts for the first time in Triple-A. The overall strikeout totals may have appeared to dry up for now, but he is demonstrating that his vast arsenal, combined with elite velocity, can make him a highly productive pitcher.

 

7. Miguel Ullola, RHP, Houston Astros

2025 AAA Stat line: 69.1 IP | 3.50 ERA | 29.1 K% | 16.3 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 130.1 IP | 4.28 ERA | 31.1 K% | 14.0 BB%

 

Welcome to the stash list, Miguel Ullola! Ullola (pronounced “oo-yo-lah”) has been working his way through the Minor Leagues since he started in the Dominican Summer League in 2021. After throwing 124 innings in Double-A in 2024, Ullola has spent this entire season with Triple-A Sugar Land refining his five-pitch mix and bulking up the pitch count. He built a solid foundation of 130.1 innings in 2024, but he is progressing much more slowly in 2025. Despite throwing over 90 pitches in five out of the last eight games, he has only made it into the sixth inning once. His 58% strike rate during that time highlights one of his skills in need of improvement. The lack of efficiency has led to 29 walks (18% walk rate) against 44 strikeouts (27.3% strikeout rate). Ullola may translate to magician in Spanish (but it doesn’t) because his latest outing was a sleight of hand trick that he may not always be able to get away with, possessing such a high walk rate.

On July 20 against the Salt Lake Bees, Ullola struck out a season-high 11 hitters. Yet, he also had five walks with a poor 59% strike rate. All but one of the walks allowed were on balls thrown far off the plate for easy takes. His overall zone rate at 43% is not horrible, but it does demonstrate the dichotomy that hitters experienced in this game. They either read the pitch well or they swung through it. Digging into the Statcast numbers shows a hint as to why. Ullola’s fastball only sits at 93 mph, but it was humming in with 20 inches of induced vertical break at times. That was good enough to generate 11 whiffs. Furthermore, the changeup with its 25% zone rate still produced six whiffs with its 12 inches of arm-side break. Those two pitches are supported by his curveball, which has vertical drop and minimal horizontal action. His pitch mix was effective enough to minimize the harm (only three hard-hit balls) from the multiple baserunners as he magically threw strikes just when he needed them. He finished the game having completed 5.1 innings with zero hits, five walks, and those 11 strikeouts.

 

8. Parker Messick, LHP, Cleveland Guardians

2025 AAA Stat line: 80.1 IP | 3.47 ERA | 29.1 K% | 11.2 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 133.2 IP | 2.83 ERA | 30.2 K% | 8.0 BB%

 

Parker Messick is stacking up the strikeouts as he marches through the International League schedule. He is also piling up the walks at a higher rate than in his previous seasons, so it was encouraging that he allowed only one free pass on July 20 against Iowa. Messick achieved this feat despite throwing less than 60% strikes, a tad below his season average of 61%. One obstacle to achieving maximum control may be the power delivery he achieves by driving his push leg high in the air before the leg rotates through his motion. He almost finishes by turning his back towards second base. This action could be energy inefficient and mean deeper outings or longer innings could tax his stamina. Messick was cruising through five innings against Iowa, having allowed only two hits, before running out of gas in the 6th inning. He finished 5.1 innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

Messick is overcoming the suboptimal 93 mph velocity by pairing the four-seamer with the sinker. They have similar speed, but varied movements, giving hitters two things to consider if they are sitting on a fastball. He used the sinker as his main secondary pitch against Iowa, which boosted the four-seamer that generated eight whiffs in the game. Even if the sinker isn’t a big whiff pitch for him, it is effective in limiting hard contact and getting called strikes (four called strikes or 26% CSW). His most productive pitch is still his four-seamer, topping out at 94 mph with 16 inches of induced vertical break. Through two July games, the fastball has a 41% whiff rate, a .136 average, and only two extra-base hits. If he can maintain this level of productivity with those pitches while weaving in the above-average changeup, then Messick should continue racking up the strikeouts. The key will be keeping a consistent delivery throughout the game as he seeks to get the call for his Major League debut. For further reading, check out the Baseball America interview with Messick about his pitch mix (subscription required).

 

9. Hunter Barco, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

2025 AA, AAA Stat line: 71.1 IP | 2.52 ERA | 29.8 K% | 11.8 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 66.0 IP | 3.27 ERA | 31.2 K% | 8.3 BB%

 

It was an ominous sign for Hunter Barco as he dealt with a familiar issue before his start against Nashville. For the third straight game, he had Pitchcom issues before throwing his first pitch. The Pittsburgh organization is being hounded for its budget-friendly ways, but assuredly, they would have the funds to keep their technology up to date… right? Barco was able to shrug off the ordeal and a weather delay to throw two scoreless innings. Unfortunately, back-to-back doubles to start the third frame set up his early exit from the game after 31 pitches in the inning. He finished the outing with four earned runs on four hits and two walks, along with a hit batter. The bright side is that he only allowed well-placed balls, rather than well-struck ones, so we expect him to correct those self-imposed errors next start.

The biggest takeaway from this game was that his low arm slot got even lower. Barco appeared to be slinging the ball sidearm with a release point that was three to four inches lower than his usual mark. His splitter is usually a more reliable pitch, but with a reduced velocity, it failed to get him out of an at-bat, and he lost a few hitters to walks. His sinker also didn’t have its normal movement and velocity, so we shall see if the lower arm angle is part of a new delivery or the result of something else, like the weather delay. Barco has suffered three consecutive games with a poor 13% walk rate, a control problem that has plagued him since the leap to Triple-A in May. He could be testing the new arm slot, as he is primarily a two-pitch pitcher, with the opposing lineup determining the third pitch. He uses the splitter versus righties and the cutter versus lefties. This didn’t work as well for him in this game when he could only land the sinker in the zone with consistency (the slider had a 26% zone rate), which meant it was a prime candidate for being put into play. With the Pirates settling into the non-playoff contention container, Barco will need a trade to open up a spot for him. Unfortunately, if a spot does open up, it may be in a relief role.

 

10. Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, San Francisco Giants

2025 AAA Stat line: 97.2 IP | 4.42 ERA | 21.0 K% | 6.8 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 109.2 IP | 5.17 ERA | 28.4 K% | 11.3 BB%

 

The San Francisco Giants made the plunge into the playoff race with the trade to acquire Rafael Devers, so they should be all in down the stretch, and as we approach the trade deadline. In addition, they recently demoted Hayden Birdsong, which opens up a few opportunities for new arms. Landen Roupp has also been placed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. Carson Seymour, Sean Hjelle, and Tristan Beck were initially recalled to serve as long relief. This leaves a rotation spot open for one of their young arms (or a bullpen game). The Triple-A starters on the 40-man roster have been, to put it nicely, bad. Carson Ragsdale has served up eight home runs over the last three games. Trevor McDonald has given up 13 earned runs over his last two starts. Mason Black has 24 strikeouts, but also 12 walks over his last five games. Keaton Winn has transitioned into a relief role. That leaves the two members of Triple-A Sacramento who are not on the 40-man roster. Kai-Wei Teng and Carson Whisenhunt have demonstrated promise at various times this season. Teng has finally built up the stamina to go into the sixth inning and has struck out 35 hitters over his last four games. Now we get to the recommendation to stash in Whisenhunt, who is coming off a solid appearance in the 2025 Future Game.

Whisenhunt is riding the combination of sinker and changeup to success, which is what got him an invitation to the prospect showcase. His first half featured four consecutive seven-inning games where he had 28 strikeouts and two walks. During the early part of the season, he has featured a sinker that only averages 92 mph, yet it is important in how it sets up the changeup. Both pitches have arm-side run, but with a ten mph difference. The changeup boosts the slider given their similar velocity, but with different movement. Whisenhunt played a small part in All-Star weekend, where he struck out Tommy White on a changeup and retired Kaelan Culpepper on three pitches. In his first outing of the second half, Whisenhunt threw 65% of his 68 pitches for strikes as he struck out four Oklahoma City batters over 3.2 innings. The shorter outing was likely due to the long layoff and a natural break as he approaches his innings total from 2024 (109.2 in 2024 / 97.2 in 2025). It would be great if he could use those remaining pitches in the Major Leagues so we can see how the 80-grade changeup fares.

 

On The Bubble

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

Luis Morales ATH, Hurston Waldrep ATL, Noah Schultz CHW (No updates after he was scratched from the July 19 start with knee discomfort), Ryan Johnson LAA, Robby Snelling MIA, Marco Raya MIN, Jonah Tong NYM, Henry Baez SDP, Kai-Wei Teng SFG, Tekoah Roby STL (Placed on 7-day IL with still undisclosed injury), & Cade Cavalli WSN.

 

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