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 Pitcher Leaders in Swinging Strike % through September 2, 2026 (minimum 10 starts)
The Final Stash List of 2026
Graduates/Call-Ups
The following prospects joined the big league clubs over the last week:
Yunior Marte SFG features a four-seamer, splitter, and his star pitch, an 85 hard slider. That said, the splitter seems solid, earning a multitude of popups and groundouts. It was a mediocre line, but Marte is still listed as a probable starter in a weekend start at the Mets.
Brendan Beck NYY rejoined the Major League squad in bulk relief. Over his previous three games in Scranton, Beck had thrown 16.2 innings with 27 strikeouts, five walks, and a 17% swinging strike rate. It would be nice to see him get a start or two with the way his low-velo deep arsenal was playing. He made a start on Thursday with Scranton.
Jedixson Paez BOS was on the radar for this week’s stash list, but Boston called him up before he could make the cut. Unfortunately, his Major League debut against Seattle did not go as planned. With low-90s velocity, Paez needs the rest of his arsenal to be especially sharp to compete against Major League hitters. That wasn’t the case in his debut. Dominic Canzone opened the scoring with a first-inning home run, and things quickly unraveled from there. The Mariners piled on six runs in the second inning as Paez struggled to keep his pitches out of the heart of the zone. Seattle hitters liked nearly everything they saw, producing ten hard-hit balls and tagging Paez for eight earned runs. It was a rough introduction to the Major Leagues, but it should also provide plenty of information for Paez and the Boston development staff to study before his next opportunity.
Luis De León BAL is an exciting lefty with interesting pitch characteristics. De Leon throws a splitter from the left side that has a 58% whiff rate. He will likely appear in relief.
Cesar Perdomo SFG is an interesting left-handed pitcher who had a breakout campaign in Double-A this season with a 30% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate. His time with Richmond included a 13-strikeout, 26-whiff game over seven scoreless innings. He put a partial stop to the horrendous Logan Webb start by going four innings with only one earned run allowed. He features a 93 mph fastball, slider, and changeup. There doesn’t appear to be whiff upside, but at 24 years old, he appears to be crafty with his stuff.
Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash
1. Jonah Tong, RHP, New York Mets
2026 AAA Stat line: 107 IP | 4.54 ERA | 27.0 K% | 12.6 BB%
2025 MLB Stat line: 18.2 IP | 7.71 ERA | 25.3 K% | 10.3 BB%
Scrap 2025 for a moment and imagine Jonah Tong standing on the precipice of his Major League debut this fall. At 23 years old, he would still be the youngest member of the Mets’ pitching staff, with plenty of runway left to develop. There would be no 7.71 ERA hanging over his name and none of the lingering questions about whether his stuff could survive at the highest level. Instead, Tong would simply be another talented young arm learning to harness his arsenal, developing more east-west movement and refining his control across the board. The disappointment currently attached to his name would be replaced by nothing but optimism about his future.
Alas, Tong has completed his charcoal lemonade detox and appears ready for prime time in Queens once again.
Tong made several significant adjustments early this season, and it has taken some time for the results to catch up. His arm angle is down by as much as 8 degrees, which, in theory, could help lengthen his career given the noted injury concerns associated with a high arm slot. Numerous factors—including trunk tilt and stride changes—could explain the difference, but the magnitude of the change is striking on paper. He has also dramatically increased his cutter usage by removing the slider from his repertoire. The cutter gives him a weapon on the glove side while producing a high strike rate. Tong primarily uses it early or in the middle of counts and rarely relies on it as a putaway pitch. In other words, it’s a strike stealer, not a bat misser.
Check out Jonah Tong’s latest start
Despite the excitement surrounding his latest start, Tong’s post-All-Star Break performance has been a mixed bag. He has gone 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 26 K%, and 12 BB% during that stretch. There have been some ugly moments, including one outing in which he surrendered back-to-back-to-back home runs and five total homers across three different pitch types. Still, the overall performance has been good enough to put him firmly back into the stash conversation. Tong has already looked better than some of the Mets’ current starters, and with New York trying to navigate the final stretch of a disappointing season, there is little reason not to consider giving him another opportunity.
His latest outing provided plenty of ammunition for the case. Tong threw a one-hitter in a “complete game” across seven innings, while once again showcasing both the athleticism and excess energy that have become defining characteristics of his delivery. His follow-through can fluctuate between controlled athleticism and outright chaos, occasionally producing a spinning finish that leaves his back facing home plate. I’ve learned that a significant part of pitching involves allowing the throwing arm to decelerate naturally and helping the body dissipate its momentum after release, so some of this movement may simply be part of the process. Still, Tong’s finish looks unusually energy-intensive. Ultimately, it’s a meaningless quirk if the results are good—but very few starting pitchers at any level finish quite like this.
And on this night, the results were excellent. Tong finished with two walks and eight strikeouts on 13 whiffs. The fastball touched 97 mph, while the changeup generated six whiffs. That’s the combination we’re looking for: enough velocity to challenge hitters and enough deception and movement to generate swings and misses.
Tong is scheduled on the mound for a Saturday start with Syracuse, but appears poised for a return to New York within the next week, with Robert Stock potentially being the odd man out of the rotation. The schedule could give him an immediate opportunity to make an impression, with a favorable matchup in Miami, a home game against the Orioles, a tough assignment against the Phillies, and a final weekend matchup with the Nationals.
2. David Sandlin LHP, New York Mets
2026 AAA/A+ Stat line: 63.2 IP | 2.12 ERA | 23.7 K% | 12.6 BB%
2026 MLB Stat line: 24.2 IP | 6.93 ERA | 22.6 K% | 11.3 BB%
The Chicago White Sox are one month away from completing a historic worst-to-first turnaround. They are achieving this success despite a battered rotation that currently features José Urquidy, while their Opening Day Starter, Shane Smith, toils away in Triple-A. To put it mildly, the White Sox are going to need reinforcements to fend off the surging Guardians and Twins. Enter hero, David Sandlin? Not quite a savior, but there are myths about people with his first name, and therefore we anticipate a legendary positive (or negative) outcome down the stretch.
Check out how David Sandlin is throwing high 90s
After last appearing in the Major Leagues in early August, Sandlin is exhibiting strong stuff amid his recent three-game stretch. The 6’4″ righty was sitting at 96 mph on the four-seamer, and hit 99 mph on the radar gun a few times. He also flashed dominant command of his cutter, which had a 93% strike rate in the game and earned him six whiffs. With a six-pitch arsenal and now a 99 mph fastball, Sandlin is an intriguing arm to track given his solid experience already built up with the Major League squad. This nine-strikeout “complete game” (doubleheader day) was easily his best game of the season and sets him up for a return trip to Chicago in the next week or so. He could easily supplant Erick Fedde against Minnesota or push Sean Burke back a day.
3. Jackson Wolf, LHP, Detroit Tigers
2026 AAA Stat line: 106 IP | 6.28 ERA | 22.6 K% | 9.1 BB%
2025 MiLB Stat line: 128.2 IP | 5.04 ERA | 23.4 K% | 8.2 BB%
Ever since joining the Detroit organization, Jackson Wolf has taken his game to another level. Acquired from San Diego in the Casey Mize trade at the 2026 deadline, the left-handed submariner brings a deep pitch mix and a dizzying range of velocity bands from his 6’7″ frame. Wolf generates more than 7.1 feet of extension, which helps his 90-91 mph four-seamer play above its radar-gun reading. His delivery is just as unusual. At first glance, it looks like he’s about to drop his arm all the way to the ground à la Tyler Rogers, but he actually finishes just above parallel with the surface. The result is a funky, difficult-to-track delivery that gives his otherwise modest velocity extra life.
The strike rate has dipped to 63% from last season, but Wolf has continued to keep his walk rate below 10%. The exciting development is the strikeout surge, which has pushed his K% above 31% with Detroit. With the Tigers out of the playoff picture, there is little reason not to find out what Wolf can offer heading into 2027. At 27 years old, he is still young enough to contribute beyond this season, and Detroit has an opportunity to determine whether there is a legitimate late-blooming starter hiding in that unusual delivery. River Ryan represents the other intriguing option in this experiment. Let’s see what Jackson has to offer.
Watch Jackson Wolf fling it from the left side
Wolf tied a career high with 11 strikeouts in his latest start, and the performance was a master class in changing speeds and shapes. He continually manipulated velocity and movement to prevent hitters from simply sitting on the 90 mph fastball. Even when hitters guessed correctly, the “heater” still generated three strikeouts while producing a 39% CSW%. Overall, Wolf threw six pitches at least 10% of the time, creating a remarkably diverse attack that kept hitters guessing.
The curveball and sweeper were particularly nasty, each producing a whiff rate above 42%. Although the curveball comes out of a higher release point, Wolf maintains an extreme outside release position across his arsenal, making it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball cleanly. His season-long slugging percentage and OPS allowed remain fairly high, but those numbers have taken a significant step in the right direction over his last four games with Detroit.
Wolf’s first taste of the Majors came in 2023, when his fastball sat below 89 mph. Since then, he has added velocity, refined his arsenal, and developed one of the most unusual deliveries in the system. That combination makes him an especially interesting fit for a rotation filled with more traditional looks.
Wolf versus Ryan to determine who reaches the Majors first? That’s a side quest worth following.
4. Owen Murphy, RHP, Atlanta Braves
2026 AAA/AA Stat line: 111.1 IP | 3.72 ERA | 24.9 K% | 10.5 BB%
2026 MLB Stat line: 6.2 IP | 4.05 ERA | 20.7 K% | 6.9 BB%
Owen Murphy is a no-frills starter who offers the inner peace that comes with strikes and innings. His pitches are mostly average, but they produce decent results, making him the kind of pitcher who can quietly support a fantasy roster without necessarily carrying it. That has been the story since his previous Major League appearance on July 18. Since then, Murphy has posted 24 strikeouts, 11 walks, a 1.78 ERA, .196 AVG, .601 OPS, 65% strike rate, and 11% swinging strike rate across 30.1 innings. That’s useful fantasy production, but it isn’t the profile that wins a championship by itself.
Murphy looked solid on the mound this past week, although he was pitching with noticeably less gusto. His velocity was down two ticks across the arsenal, which created movement profiles that differed from his usual shapes. The 86 mph slider was the standout, generating six whiffs while also producing weak contact. Murphy allowed only two hits and one walk despite striking out just three hitters. It’s unlikely he can sustain this level of weak contact against Major League hitters, particularly given the high flyball rate (71% flyball rate during the period mentioned above), but his ability to keep runners off the bases helps offset some of that concern.
Check out how Owen Murphy stays cool over six innings
The slider is a big part of why Murphy can make this work. It is harder, features good spin, and resembles a cutter. Combined with his low walk rate, similar release points, and consistent mechanics, Murphy has enough repeatability to succeed even when the velocity isn’t where we expect it to be. The final line was 6.1 innings of scoreless work with one walk and three strikeouts on ten whiffs.
The Braves have positioned themselves at the top of the National League East despite numerous injuries on both offense and the mound. With Spencer Schwellenback and Hurston Waldrep out for the season and beyond, there should be opportunities for young pitchers to claim a spot start. Unfortunately for Murphy, Reynaldo López is nearing a return after throwing (5 IP 4 ER 2K 0 BB) on August 28 at Triple-A, and the veterans are performing well enough to hold their rotation spots.
Murphy offers moderate counting-stat upside thanks to his propensity to pitch deep into games, but that opportunity will likely have to wait until 2027 or 2028. For now, the rotation depth leaves Murphy in the frustrating position of being good enough to help a fantasy roster, but perhaps not close enough to the Major League rotation to make that help available.
5. Jamie Arnold, LHP, Athletics
2026 AA/AAA Stat line: 118.1 IP | 3.42 ERA | 25.1 K% | 9.9 BB%
2025 NCAA Stat line: 84.2 IP | 2.98 ERA | 33.9 K% | 7.7 BB%
It was only a few weeks ago when we considered Jamie Arnold as a long-shot stash candidate. Now, after a promotion to Las Vegas, he becomes one of the first 2025 draft picks to reach Triple-A (Of course, Kade Anderson jumped over AAA; Devin Taylor ATH appears to be the only other 2025 first- or second-round draft pick to reach Triple-A) and has his sights squarely on joining Sacramento. Even if he doesn’t make his debut this September, Arnold will likely throw a pitch in the playoffs given that the Aviators clinched the first half championship, setting themselves up for the best-of-three championship September 22-24. The 6’1″ lefty began this next stage of his career with a solid five-inning victory at El Paso.
Arnold utilized a four-pitch mix against a balanced Chihuahuas lineup, leading with an unusual fastball. His four-seamer got an average of ten inches of vertical break and ten inches of horizontal movement, from a sub-five-foot release height. And although the velocity shows 93 mph, he did hit 96 on the radar gun a few times in the fifth inning. Hitters didn’t crush the pitch with a .167 average against, and he was able to strike out two batters. Arnold also mixed in a sweeper that moves more in reality than on paper at eight inches of break. That breaker wasn’t struck very well, while he was able to get swing-and-miss on the sinker. The splitter that he is developing was used only against righties, without much positive effect. He will need to keep building up that pitch as well as the changeup in bullpen sessions.
Watch Jamie Arnold’s pendulum delivery go back and forth
In a role reversal, Arnold gave up much more hard contact against lefties. Given his pendulum delivery, most of his pitches fall along the diagonal of the strike zone from first base to third base. In this game, though, the lefties were making great contact on any pitches he left too far inside. Perhaps they are cueing in to let his movement fall out of the zone and sitting on “mistake” pitches that don’t appear to be traveling outside. Righties currently have seven home runs with a slugging percentage a hundred percentage points higher than how lefties are slugging against them.
6. Jurrangelo Cijntje RHP, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 AAA Stat line: 117 IP | 5.38 ERA | 28.6 K% | 11.9 BB%
2025 MiLB Stat line: 108.1 IP | 3.99 ERA | 26.1 K% | 11.1 BB%
That’s right: Jurrangelo Cijntje is now listed as a right-handed pitcher because he hasn’t thrown a pitch from the left side since August 6. It appears St. Louis has officially moved on from the switch-pitching experiment. With that mystery settled, we can focus on the more interesting question: what does Cijntje have working from the right side?
The early results in Triple-A Memphis have been ugly, but the underlying numbers tell a much more encouraging story. Cijntje hasn’t won a game with Memphis, and hitters are batting .265 against him thanks in large part to an inflated .395 BABIP. That’s a much bigger gap than he experienced in Double-A and has contributed to a problematic 58 LOB%. As all those baserunners continue circling the bases, his 6.14 ERA has ballooned well beyond his 3.07 FIP and 4.07 xFIP. Yet beneath those ugly ratios, there are legitimate reasons for optimism. Cijntje is inducing weak contact, with just a 1% barrel rate, while generating a healthy 49% groundball rate. The results haven’t arrived yet, but the foundation is beginning to show.
Watch the big righty, Jurrangelo Cijntje, on the mound
The 5’11” righty is working with a four-pitch mix in Memphis. There isn’t a single overwhelming pitch, but the fastball-slider combination is the centerpiece of the arsenal. The two pitches share a similar release point and combined for eleven whiffs in his latest start against Charlotte. Cijntje finished with seven strikeouts on 12 total whiffs, despite getting BABIP’ed in a brutal 33-pitch second inning. Four singles found their way through the infield, allowing three runs to score. After that disaster, however, Cijntje retired the next nine outs with little trouble, leaning primarily on the slider and fastball while mixing in a few changeups. He finished the outing with a strong 71% strike rate.
That ability to recover after the second inning is perhaps more important than the ugly final line. Cijntje has a 96 mph fastball and a nasty slider, and both pitches are producing encouraging batted-ball results. The next step is figuring out how to better deploy the changeup and sinker against right-handed hitters. If those pitches can become reliable complements to the fastball-slider pairing, Cijntje could turn some of those underlying positives into much better run prevention.
For now, the ERA makes Cijntje easy to overlook. The stuff underneath it makes him much harder to ignore.
7. Ryan Sloan, RHP, Seattle Mariners
2026 AA Stat line: 92.2 IP | 3.50 ERA | 31.3 K% | 3.7 BB%
2025 MiLB Stat line: 82 IP | 3.73 ERA | 27.0 K% | 4.5 BB%
Ryan Sloan has been locked in throughout August, putting together five starts that look increasingly like a pitcher ready for the next challenge. The 6’5″ righty has racked up 34 strikeouts against a barely visible two walks while posting career-best indicators across the board: a 17% swinging-strike rate, 61% groundball rate, and 69% strike rate. The win-loss record is only 2-1, but that’s hardly the point. Sloan has been steadily expanding his workload, setting single-game career highs in both whiffs and strikeouts while surpassing his previous high in innings pitched. Even more impressive, he’s doing it without being pushed, consistently staying under 80 pitches. Right now, Sloan is operating at maximum efficiency. There is really only one remaining blemish to clean up before a potential call-up.
That blemish is hard contact. Sloan has done an excellent job preventing baserunners via the walk, but hitters have occasionally squared him up with authority. He has now allowed a home run in four consecutive games this month. Because Sloan attacks the zone, his slider and splitter will be critical in generating more chase and weaker contact. The 61% groundball rate provides some reassurance that the home-run issue isn’t necessarily a long-term concern, but he still needs to be careful with the fastball. The pitch continues to reach the high 90s with good vertical break, yet leaving it in the middle of the zone has proven costly.
Check out the latest Ryan Sloan start
His latest outing offered a perfect snapshot of both the promise and the remaining concern. Sloan’s splitter and slider were diving sharply away from hitters, helping him generate six strikeouts on 12 whiffs. The two hardest-hit balls of the night were also the only two hits that advanced a runner to second base or farther: a home run on a middle-middle fastball and a double on a hanging slider. Otherwise, Sloan kept the damage contained and cruised through six innings on just 71 pitches.
The opportunity in Seattle could be arriving at exactly the right time. With Emerson Hancock on the injured list and Bryce Miller moving to the bullpen, there is a potential path for Sloan to reach the Majors when rosters expand. He likely wouldn’t step immediately into the same starting role as Kade Anderson, but even a late-season cameo would meaningfully raise his stock heading into 2027 redraft leagues.
Sloan already has the workload efficiency, strikeout ability, groundball generation, and Major League-caliber velocity. If he can simply do a better job of avoiding the occasional mistake over the heart of the plate, there may not be much left to prove in the Minor Leagues.
8. Caden Dana, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
2026 AAA Stat line: 81.1 IP | 5.53 ERA | 21.8 K% | 13.4 BB%
2025 MiLB Stat line: 82 IP | 5.93 ERA | 23.0 K% | 12.4 BB%
It’s been difficult to trust Caden Dana over the last two seasons. The 2023 season was a promising one, as he posted a 30% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate across two levels and 68 innings. He followed that with a fairly strong Double-A season in 2024, but the control issues really crept in during his time in Triple-A in 2025. Dana was building a reputation as an innings-eater, but the stuff wasn’t consistent enough to generate many swings and misses. Now just 22 years old, perhaps all that game experience and development is finally beginning to come together.
Dana’s four-pitch arsenal is led by a fairly average 95 mph four-seamer. Its movement profile is usually as straight as an arrow, although it does feature solid horizontal break. Even with a tick more velocity this season, the pitch is still getting hit hard, posting a .425 SLG while generating only a 12% whiff rate. It’s fair to wonder why he continues to lean on it so heavily, so that will be something to monitor in the post-game charts. The slider is the main attraction, generating a 39% whiff rate with its sharp downward action. He complements it with a big-drop curveball that also produces plenty of whiffs, plus a changeup that he uses against lefties.
Watch Caden Dana break off some great sliders
Dana’s delivery is fairly casual and uncomplicated, which makes his inconsistent control all the more curious. One notable addition this year is a glove tap, an unnecessary movement that looks like wasted energy and should probably be eliminated in the offseason. Dana is nearing the completion of his fourth full professional season, but at 22, he still has plenty of development time left to change the narrative surrounding his shaky control and inconsistent strikeout stuff.
In his recent game, Dana completed five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts on 14 whiffs. The numbers to key in on are the zero walks and a 67% strike rate. His fastballs and sliders were consistently in the zone throughout the game and generated 13 of his 14 whiffs. Of course, the heater was still his most-used pitch, and it was burned for four hard-hit balls, including three hits. That pitch clearly needs further refinement. For now, though, we’ll focus on the positive control and see whether Dana can repeat this level of strike throwing in his upcoming starts.
Dana is already on the 40-man roster and remains a stash candidate given the mixed results from the current rotation. With the organization losing its other young starter, George Klassen, Dana represents a familiar fresh face who could inject some energy into the pitching staff.
9. Bryce Mayer, RHP, Houston Astros
2026 AA/AAA Stat line: 88.1 IP | 3.16 ERA | 34.1 K% | 10.9 BB%
2025 MiLB Stat line: 87.2 IP | 4.11 ERA | 30.2 K% | 7.3 BB%
The Aviators took flight on Bryce Mayer in a torrid first inning last weekend. With 94 degrees reading on the thermometer, Las Vegas scorched the Space Cowboys’ righty for four earned runs on two home runs. Then in a snap, Mayer took control and didn’t give up much hard contact beyond a couple of 90 mph groundouts. He held off on the damage long enough that his team was eventually able to come from behind and earn the victory. Obviously, we don’t like pitchers giving up 400-foot bombs, but we can also appreciate when they demonstrate resilience. He finished five innings with ten strikeouts on 12 whiffs. He allowed only two more hits after the first inning for a total of six hits to go along with one walk.
Mayer is cut from a similar cloth as Ethan Pecko, just with a little less velocity. Both pitchers feature three fastballs alongside a curveball, changeup, and a version of the slider. Where Mayer separates himself is with his extension—he gets 7 feet on the four-seamer—and stronger whiff and strikeout rates. His slider is particularly impressive, although for some reason, he neither threw it as effectively nor used it as much the first time through the order.
Check out Bryce Mayer’s latest start
On the home run allowed to Denzel Clarke, Mayer looked like he was almost undercutting the ball into the catcher’s mitt, similar to applying backspin in tennis. His delivery features a step to the side as his arm whips through from a low slot. That arm action, combined with his low release height, helps amplify the vertical and horizontal break across his arsenal.
The lack of velocity remains the obvious concern, but we’re willing to give Mayer some room to figure out whether a different pitch sequence can help quiet the home-run problem. The control is certainly encouraging, with a 66% strike rate and 6% walk rate over four Triple-A starts.
Houston has once again taken control of the American League West, making a youth takeover of the rotation less likely. Miguel Ullola is also strictly working out of the bullpen, giving Mayer one fewer pitcher to compete with. Even as he surpasses his 2025 innings total, Mayer represents the highest-upside arm Houston has left to call on.
10. Jonathan Santucci, LHP, New York Mets
2026 AAA/AA Stat line: 114.2 IP | 4.08 ERA | 30.8 K% | 12.9 BB%
2025 MiLB Stat line: 117.2 IP | 3.06 ERA | 28.7 K% | 8.5 BB%
Santucci has three pitches with a 36% or higher whiff rate in Triple-A, with the slider and four-seamer leading the way. Despite his unconventional release point, the slider arrives firmer and harder than the typical offering, giving him a legitimate putaway weapon. The four-seamer doesn’t generate much vertical break, but it does something important: it matches the release point of his changeup and curveball, helping disguise the pitch out of his hand. Even so, Santucci may benefit from backing off the heater until he develops a better feel for the Triple-A baseball.
The slider is his second-highest-rated pitch and the offering he leans on most heavily when he’s ahead in the count. The curveball has also been difficult for hitters to put in play, likely a testament to Santucci’s pitch sequencing. Then there’s the changeup, his newest offering and perhaps the pitch with the most long-term upside. He throws it around 90 mph with 12 inches of break, giving him some much-needed horizontal movement against right-handed hitters.
Watch the southpaw Jonathan Santucci build his league-leading strikeout total
Santucci was mostly cruising in his latest start against Rochester before running into trouble in the fourth inning. Two home runs to right-handed hitters were the only blemishes on his final line. The home run rate continues to be an issue, although the high 50% ground ball rate suggests some of that damage could be attributed to bad luck. Even with the rough frame, Santucci walked one and struck out six batters on 16 whiffs. The slider was once again his best weapon, generating ten whiffs and two strikeouts. His fastball velocity held strong at 95 mph throughout the game, but hitters were able to do damage against it. Better sequencing and more precise fastball placement should help him reduce the hard contact he experienced in this outing.
With the next opening in the rotation likely to be filled by Jonah Tong first, Santucci may have to wait until 2027 or 2028 (if there is a lockout) for his Major League debut. Nevertheless, he gives the organization a left-handed option who would provide a boost to a struggling Major League team.
Final On The Bubble
Here are the next several pitchers that were in consideration for inclusion on this week’s list:
Garrett Baumann ATL, Lucas Braun ATL, Tyler Bremner LAA, Alexander Corinielle NYY, Jackson Ferris LAD, Ryan Gallagher MIN, Ashton Izzi ARI, Nestor German BAL, Trey Gibson BAL, Tyson Hardin MIL, Brody Hopkins TBR, and Joe Whitman SFG.
Final Pitcher Stash List
| Stash List Key |
|---|
| Stash now! Upside + Proximity |
| Upside Stash |
| Proximity Stash |
Featured Image by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Bsky/Twitter)
