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The Stash List Week 23: Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash in 2025

Top 10 pitching prospects to stash in redraft league

John Villavicencio
Dynasty 8/30/2025

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:

Bubba Chandler (PIT) made his major league debut on August 22 and did what we all expected him to do: earn a save. What?! Chandler could earn a starting spot, but will settle in as bulk relief after four innings with three strikeouts, two hits, and zero walks. He generated a modest six whiffs on 40 pitches, with the changeup being his best pitch. The four-seamer was clocked at up to 98.4 mph and reached 100 mph with 17 inches of IVB. It turns out that maybe Chandler was psychologically affected by the lengthy Triple-A stay and should be good to go in 2026. He followed up the four-inning save with a four-inning victory on August 27, building more momentum for a starting role.

Mick Abel (MIN) was bludgeoned for six earned runs on a Colson Montgomery grand slam, six other hits, and two walks. The strikeout upside he displayed in his 11-strikeout performance the previous week fizzled out. Abel allowed six hard-hit balls over three innings with a whopping 84% zContact rate on his entire five pitch arsenal. Major league hitters appear to like whatever Abel is serving up, with a 53% hard-hit rate against and 6.47 FIP.

Mason Barnett (ATH) likes to throw his 94 mph fastball almost 60% of the time, pairing it with a sweeper that dives 10 inches to the glove side. Those pitches have combined for 13 home runs allowed, something to be wary of with the Athletics playing in Sacramento this weekend, hitting triple digits every day. Godspeed, Mason!

Zach Maxwell (CIN) is not a starter, but is a dominant reliever in waiting for the Reds. His 2025 debut began with five strikeouts on a 100 mph fastball and a slider with 119 Stuff+.

Lil Mac finally made his first major league start against Cleveland on August 25. Ian Seymour (TBR) is another crafty left-handed pitcher who is overcoming a lack of velocity with guile and quality sequencing. The slider has been his best secondary, and he will get another start on Sunday to prove he should stay in the rotation.

Caden Dana (LAA) was someone who popped up on the stash list earlier in the year, but has been consistently inconsistent. He turned in a 13-strikeout performance two weeks ago and followed that up with a three-inning flameout. Dana appears set to get a two-start week, assuming a call-up. Yet, beware that he has allowed five home runs this month.

 

Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash

 

1. Jonah Tong, RHP, New York Mets

2025 AA, AAA Stat line: 113.2 IP | 1.43 ERA | 40.5 K% | 10.6 BB%

2024 MiLB Stat line: 113.0 IP | 3.03 ERA | 34.2 K% | 10.0 BB%

 

Whoa, Jonah Tong in the Mets dugout in September? That reality is becoming closer to fruition than ever before, as many media outlets are blowing a lot of smoke into the rumors. David Stearns, Mets General Manager, spoke with the New York Post about bringing together the top 14 pitchers in the New York organization. People are stretching those comments to include Tong as one of those top 14. And a few days later, the rumors were confirmed as Tong will take the mound against the Miami Marlins on Friday. The Mets starters are not firing on all cylinders as Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, and Clay Holmes have all performed inconsistently of late. Their struggles, coupled with Tong’s ascendance, are providing a path for Tong to stick with the team through the playoffs.

Over two Triple-A starts and 11.2 innings, Tong has 17 strikeouts, three walks, two extra base hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, a 69% strike rate, a 21% swinging-strike rate, and a 40% ground-ball rate. In his second Triple-A start, Tong improved his prospect stock by shutting out Indianapolis and generating 20 whiffs and eight strikeouts. You already know that his delivery resembles Tim Lincecum, yet he is achieving an elite extension of 6.9 feet from his 6’1″ frame. And despite the over-the-top delivery, his release height is reasonably low. His fastball is sitting 96 mph and humming in with 19 inches of induced vertical break. The changeup is tailing out with 13 inches of break. Although he doesn’t throw the slider and curveball too much, they are part of a four-pitch arsenal that has no less than a 33% whiff rate. This season, I am starting to grasp the importance of extreme outliers (velocity, extension, release height, pitch movement) in producing shapes and directions that are unfamiliar to hitters. Hitters are less likely to have prepared enough against them, and the outliers are succeeding. Jonah Reid Tin Chee Matthew Tong is following suit and is proving to be major league-ready way ahead of schedule.

Note: Any player added to the 40-man roster before midnight on August 31 is eligible for the playoff roster. Check that link for a few other scenarios.

 

2. Payton Tolle, LHP, Boston Red Sox

2025 A+, AA, AAA Stat line: 86.2 IP | 3.21 ERA | 35.6 K% | 6.6 BB% 

2024 NCAA Stat line: 81.1 IP | 3.12 ERA | 37.1 K% | 11.0 BB%

 

The 2024 draft class is pushing a lot of top-tier talent to the major leagues this season. Payton Tolle is finding himself on the precipice of his debut after reports about shakeups in the Boston rotation. This outcome was likely no matter what happened, given that rosters expand to 28 active players in September, yet it is happening a few days early. Tolle solidified his case with a nine-strikeout performance gem against Jacksonville on August 22. He allowed only one earned run on one hit and zero walks using a five-pitch mix. His four-seamer was up a tick in velocity to 96 mph with 17 inches of IVB. The cutter featured a tad more movement, with the slider spinning even tighter than usual. Hitters were fooled for 12 whiffs as he earned 70% strikes on his 64 pitches. Tolle is another player proving that this is a season of outliers, as pitchers with a standout element are succeeding, whether that is velocity, movement, extension, release height, arm angle, or other.

Tolle features over 7.2 feet of extension across his arsenal. Given that extension, he is releasing the ball so far down on the mound that it adds two ticks of velocity because of how close it is released to home plate. For a big-bodied 6’6″ lefty, his delivery is smooth and his command is excellent. Over the last three Triple-A starts, he has a 70% strike rate and only two walks against 17 strikeouts over 15 innings. There are no split concerns either, as his slugging against is virtually equal (.327 vs RHB and .339 vs LHB). The only blemish on his resume is allowing two home runs, one on a cutter and one on the four-seamer, in his Worcester debut. This will be the area to watch as his batted-ball profile leans towards being a fly-ball pitcher (45% in 2025). A home start in Fenway Park against a beleaguered Pirates lineup would be a favorable opponent to get him accustomed to the major league environment.

 

3. Robby Snelling, LHP, Miami Marlins

2025 AA, AAA Stat line: 118.0 IP | 2.75 ERA | 29.0 K% | 7.3 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 115.2 IP | 5.15 ERA | 22.6 K% | 8.9 BB%

 

Robby Snelling will have to percolate in Jacksonville a bit longer, as Miami didn’t call him up when they needed a starter this past week. The organization seems content to roll out Adam Mazur and Ryan Gusto until rosters expand on September 1. With Ryan Weathers out on a rehab assignment this weekend, it would be great to see Snelling make at minimum, a spot start over the next two weeks, before things get crowded. Snelling has done nothing but show that he is ready for the next challenge after rattling off his sixth straight quality start in Triple-A on August 28. It wasn’t his finest outing, but he fared well given the high number of balls put in play.

During his stretch of quality starts, Snelling has been generating a ton of strikes (68%) and swinging strikes (16%). For the most part, he has also kept the ball on the ground during that time (44%), but Rochester was able to line up his slider, the pitch with the worst-performing metrics so far in Triple-A. His slider has a .493 wOBA over nine games, even though it was up two ticks in this game. He missed high on a target, and the surprising power bat, Andrew Pinckney (20 HR 29 SB .258 .335 .430), deposited the ball onto the left field berm. He doesn’t generate any whiffs with the pitch, so he may want to scrap it until he can refine it more in the offseason. That would leave him with the changeup and seldom-used sinker to balance off the excellent curveball and four-seamer combination. Snelling finished six innings with three runs allowed on five hits and three walks. He only struck out three hitters and generated 12 whiffs. We would like to see a more refined pitch mix with the fastball, curveball, and changeup, while limiting walks and fly balls.

 

4. Andrew Painter, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

2025 A, AAA Stat line: 103.2 IP | 5.21 ERA | 23.4 K% | 9.3 BB%

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

 

For Andrew Painter’s mental health, I really hope that he gets promoted when rosters expand on September 1. Even if his cup of coffee with the Phillies forces him to be used in the bullpen, the change of scenery will do him wonders. On August 28 against Omaha, Painter had his hat handed to him over the course of six innings, where he allowed four doubles and a home run. Curiously, he also produced the most whiffs all season at 18, with 13 on the changeup. That changeup was moving 12 inches to his armside and put away four Storm Chasers on a strikeout. On the negative side, he allowed six earned runs, walked three hitters, and gave up seven hard-hit balls. He must improve a walk rate that has ballooned to 13.5% over his last five games. Combine that mark with a 60% strike rate, and it is easy to foresee the high likelihood that he won’t start any games down the stretch for a playoff-craven organization.

On the positive side, he set a season-high for whiffs, almost reached 100 pitches, and showed off the potential of a pitch that he was not throwing earlier in the year. The outcomes are still horrible for Painter, but we are still talking about a top-tier prospect with standout qualities. He shouldn’t be simply written off. Let’s get him into a new environment so we can stimulate a new and hopefully improved response.

 

5. Trey Yesavage, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays

2025 AA, AAA Stat line: 91.2 IP | 3.24 ERA | 41.2 K% | 10.4 BB% 

2024 NCAA Stat line: 93.1 IP | 2.03 ERA | 40.4 K% | 8.9 BB%

 

Three games into his Triple-A career, Trey Yesavage is doing his best to show his ace abilities that were so obvious earlier in the year. He hasn’t been as dominant as he was in Double-A and Single-A, but a 34% strikeout rate is very good indeed. On the flip side, his swinging-strike rate isn’t close to the 21% he was boasting in previous levels. He is also carrying a 17% walk rate with Triple-A Buffalo that zaps some of the benefits of the high strikeouts. The other improvements we hope to see down the stretch are a higher strike rate (~61% in Triple-A), surpassing five innings, and a more effective fastball.

On Wednesday night, Yesavage didn’t reach five innings, but he was able to gain more production from his 95 mph four-seamer with only one hard-hit ball against the pitch and a 30% CSW on the pitch. Digging into the game breakdown, I was curious to see two new pitches pop up. The few changeups listed may be a miscategorization, since they only appeared in the first inning. In addition, StatCast registered Yesavage as having thrown an 86 mph cutter, which matches the spin, movement, and velocity of his slider. While it would be a welcome development for him to build out the repertoire with a pitch that has glove-side break, the 82 mph splitter is still a star pitch that commands a 60% whiff rate and generated five whiffs here. In this game, Yesavage put together a better Triple-A appearance, with five strikeouts, two walks, two hits, and one earned run over 4.2 innings against Indianapolis. This gives him 16 punch-outs against eight walks over three Triple-A starts.

Toronto will want to see positive traction with the fastball and slider (and maybe the cutter?) before considering a call-up. In the big scheme of things, Yesavage is way ahead of schedule. Any major league action this fall signals a huge vote of confidence from the organization in his skills for the near term and any big club rostering in early 2026.

 

6. Forrest Whitley, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

2025 AAA Stat line: 45.2 IP | 2.56 ERA | 30.4 K% | 9.4 BB% 

2025 MLB Stat line: 12.0 IP | 13.50 ERA | 18.2 K% | 12.1 BB% 

 

It has been a long and bumpy road to the major leagues for Forrest Whitley, who began his career as a first-round draft pick with the Houston Astros back in 2016 when he was fresh out of high school. The 19-year-old graded out as having an above-average fastball and curveball, but never got the wheels off the ground, despite a few stops where he flashed high strikeout potential. Fast forward to 2025, when he has already seen some major league action with both Houston and Tampa Bay, but only out of the bullpen. After being acquired by Tampa Bay for cash, he didn’t put up a strong first impression. He took the mound five times for the Rays and gave up ten runs over the last two appearances. On the positive side, he was hitting 96 mph with the four-seamer, and the curveball was popping over 120 in the Stuff+ sheet. Yet, the Rays didn’t like what they saw and designated him for assignment. “Lucky” for them, he cleared waivers and was optioned to Triple-A Durham, where he has been building back up to be a starter. And that’s where they really did have good fortune because Whitley has proven to be a much better starter than reliever.

In eight starts (and nine total games) with Durham, Whitley has gone 40 innings with a 29.5% strikeout rate, an 8.3% walk rate, and a 2.25 ERA. He is using a six-pitch mix that features three fastballs, including a 95 mph four-seamer, an 89 mph cutter with decent movement, and a seldom-used sinker, along with a changeup that moves 18 inches, a slurve with a big arcing break, and a highly touted curveball. Since his Rays tenure began, the changeup and slurve each have a whiff rate of more than 38%, with the changeup being his best putaway pitch. At a minimum, with his Triple-A performance, Whitley has shown that he has the tools and ability to make a positive contribution as a starter.

On August 24th, he went 5.1 innings, striking out six and walking two Lehigh Valley batters. He also allowed three earned runs on four hits, including a home run. He generated ten whiffs in the game, with the slurve being his most effective pitch. Whitley was able to eclipse 70 pitches for the sixth consecutive game with a solid improvement on the five walks he offered in the previous game. At a 65% strike rate and 13% swinging-strike rate with Tampa Bay, we hope to see fewer walk issues in his upcoming starts.

 

7. Robert Gasser, LHP, Milwaukee Brewers

2025 CPX, A+, AAA Stat line: 19.2 IP | 2.29 ERA | 22.1 K% | 9.1 BB% 

2024 MLB Stat line: 28.0 IP | 2.57 ERA | 14.0 K% | 0.9 BB% 

 

This addition to the stash list is more of a research project rather than a strong recommendation to add to your 2025 fantasy teams. Robert Gasser is a 6’0″ lefty spinning in breaking balls to generate whiffs with above-average command. Before he had Tommy John surgery in mid-2024, Gasser threw two quality starts with 16 strikeouts to one walk over 28 innings. He is currently building up to 60-70 pitches with Triple-A Nashville, so there is a small chance he could join the major league squad in September if the arm holds up over the next few starts.

Gasser is throwing five different pitches, with the four-seamer and sweeper being his top options. The 93 mph fastball can get up to 18 inches of IVB with a few inches of horizontal movement. The sweeper bends into the plate with 14 inches of break at 81 mph. He complements this duo with a changeup, cutter, and sinker. All three fastball shapes are released from a similar point (6.3′ release height and 6.5′ extension), which should make up for any lack of velocity. Yet, except for the sweeper, his arsenal has been hit pretty hard with wOBAs over .346 on the four-seamer, cutter, and sinker. So far over his minor league outings, Gasser has managed a 27% whiff rate on the sweeper, an 18% whiff rate on the fastball, and a 10% whiff rate on the cutter. Admittedly, his strikeout upside is minimal (8% swinging-strike rate over 4 AAA starts), so we will rely on him to throw strikes (65% strikes), limit walks (10.5% walk rate), and keep succeeding with the sweeper (eight of his 12 AAA strikeouts).

The goal is for him to enter 2026 healthy and with a strong understanding of sequencing his pitches to generate as many whiffs as possible. The 30% strikeout rate he had in the minor leagues before 2024 may be too ambitious, but there isn’t any reason to believe that he couldn’t repeat that level with a healthy offseason. His final line from his August 24th start against Louisville saw him throw 63% of his 65 pitches for strikes with six whiffs, four strikeouts, three hits, two walks, two earned runs, and one home run allowed.

 

The Next Wave of Prospect Arms – Pop-Up Arms

 

The next three players represent a long-term play with the small possibility of seeing major league action at the end of 2026. They were not on my radar before this season, and in some cases, were not familiar to many prospect hounds either. Although you may not play in a dynasty league, fantasy managers in redraft leagues should familiarize themselves with the next big wave of pitching prospects who could start the season on their big league club.

 

8. Daniel Eagen, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

2025 A+, AA Stat line: 105.1 IP | 2.31 ERA | 33.8 K% | 10.1 BB% 

2024 NCAA Stat line: 77.2 IP | 2.67 ERA | 38.1 K% | 8.8 BB% 

 

The first pop-up pitcher is Daniel Eagen is coming off a successful college season where he won the Big South Pitcher of the Year. He managed to set a school record with 122 strikeouts over 77.2 innings to propel him into a third-round draft slot. Eagen has shown off a 60-grade curveball and 60-grade command in 2025 from his stint in High-A to his recent promotion to Double-A. The 6’4″ righty is putting together the high strikeouts and low walks we scour for in emerging prospects. He flashed this potential at Presbyterian College, and it has carried over to the minor leagues, where he has had a 34% strikeout rate in High-A and a 30%  strikeout rate over one start in Double-A. At 23 years old, there is the potential that he could be a 2026 call-up if he continues this trend of whiffs and command.

Eagen mainly utilizes the fastball, curveball, and slider to fool hitters. The slider is average, but it gets a boost from a curveball that disappears off the table with a substantial drop. His fastball has surprising zip from his high three-quarters arm angle that does get up in the zone with above-average induced vertical break. On top of the stuff, he displays above-average command as seen by the 74% strike rate in his August 22nd start. In this game, he threw a measly 32 pitches through four innings, which helped him last until the eighth inning in his Double-A debut. Eagen generated 12 whiffs over 84 pitches in 7.2 innings, while giving up only two hits and one walk. Over the last three games, Eagen has compiled 29 strikeouts, four walks, zero runs, and a 16% swinging strike rate in 20.2 innings. His stock is definitely rising as he cements himself in the top ten for strikeout leaders amongst all levels of the minor leagues.

 

9. Gage Stanifer, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays

2025  A, A+ Stat line: 97.0 IP | 2.69 ERA | 36.4 K% | 12.1 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 59.2 IP | 6.34 ERA | 23.2 K% | 18.1 BB%

 

Gage Stanifer is likely going under the radar to most dynasty managers, but he is carrying a stronger strikeout profile through two levels in 2025. This is a sign of major growth after a season to forget for Stanifer, who never made it out of the fourth inning in 2024, with a 56% strike rate and 18% walk rate. This season, he is up to a 63% strike rate and down to a 12% walk rate. The 21-year-old was drafted out of high school in 2022 by the Blue Jays and is finally bringing his talents to fruition. Looking at his tracked data in the Florida League from early 2025, Stanifer was throwing four pitches. He led with a 95 mph sinker that has almost 18 inches of induced vertical break and 13 inches of armside break. He backed up that heater with a tight-arcing slider, a changeup with 15 inches of break, and a four-seamer. At the time, the sinker and slider combination had above a 37% whiff rate and only one extra base hit allowed. Those metrics only cover his time as a reliever, so things are definitely different now that he is in a starting role. As a starter in High-A, he has 81 strikeouts, 26 walks, a 64% strike rate, a 16% swinging-strike rate, and only two home runs allowed over 56 innings.

In his most recent start with Vancouver, he turned in his third consecutive quality start. Stanifer sequences his pitches well with a slider and curveball that support a whole cadre of pitches with natural armside break. The changeup and sinker are beautiful to watch because he lands them all over the zone. He was able to generate 14 whiffs over 77 pitches in this game, while boasting a 19% swinging-strike rate over the last three games. The eight strikeouts here were weighed down by only one walk, a testament to whatever offseason adjustments he made to improve his strike-throwing abilities. Furthermore, Stanifer doesn’t have any concerns with splits, with a .218 SLG versus righties and a .247 SLG versus lefties. With little time left in the season, it would be great to see him get a couple of starts in Double-A. If that promotion does arrive, Stanifer could be in line for major league action in late 2026.

 

10. Caden Scarborough, RHP, Texas Rangers

2025 A, A+ Stat line: 84.0 IP | 2.57 ERA | 33.6 K% | 6.4 BB% 

2024 MiLB Stat line: 10.1 IP | 6.97 ERA | 24.5 K% | 17.0 BB%

 

My interest level grew quickly with Caden Scarborough in the last few weeks. I added him to the Villains dynasty team in a 20-team league with 200+ prospects because it felt like the hype was starting to build. The 6’5″ righty was taken out of high school in the 2023 draft and has been gradually building up the pitch count to 70 over the season. Over his last four Single-A starts, he struck out 20 batters against three walks over 20 innings. A few other outlets were starting to call out his performance (Chris Clegg’s 8.22 newsletter and episode 107 of Prospect Live’s Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast), with his Fantrax roster rate climbing up to 8%. The momentum was palpable, so it was exciting to watch him confirm those expectations by having a great debut on High-A.

In his debut, Scarborough went five innings, throwing 71% of his 73 pitches for strikes. Impressively, he had a season-high 17 whiffs and a season-high nine strikeouts. The announcers were gushing over the stuff in the fifth inning, with the sweeper being particularly effective as a putaway pitch. They were calling some of his sliders a splitter, but it is unclear if he actually throws a splitter. Nevertheless, Scarborough has a smooth, athletic delivery with above-average extension that puts a low release height on each pitch. The fastball is around 95 mph with the potential for more with the amount of extension that he gets. His background in basketball is certainly a plus and helps project more growth as he builds up his pitching stamina. The risk is obviously that as he goes above 80-90 pitches, he will run out of steam. This was somewhat evident in the fifth inning when he was putting in extra effort to get a 10th strikeout. The last three sliders were not finished with the same level of execution, but he was still able to get that final out on a fastball. With a high strikeout rate, a low walk rate, and a solid batted-ball profile  (44% ground-ball rate), Scarborough is going to jump up to within the top five of the Rangers’ best prospects.

 

On The Bubble

 

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

Henry Baez (ATH), JR Ritchie (ATL), Miguel Ullola (HOU), Brandon Sproat (NYM), Blade Tidwell (SFG), and Quinn Mathews (STL).

 

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