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The Stash List Week 9: Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash in 2026

Top 10 pitching prospects to stash in redraft league.

John Villavicencio
Dynasty 35 Minutes 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.

 

Top 13 Pitches in Extension through May 21, 2026 (Statcast-tracked leagues only and minimum 75 pitches)

 

The Stash List

Graduates/Call-Ups

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

Zebby Matthews MIN has graduated to short-term streamer status for the Twins after a seven-inning romp over Miami. The velocity is somewhat restrained, but the results have improved. However, he is not garnering many swings-and-misses, so the strikeout upside is low. I added him in a 12-team league to see if anything comes of his changes in a two-start week.

Coleman Crow MIL is succeeding with two outstanding breaking pitches under 80 mph. The curveball and slider are each spinning around 3,000 rpm out of his hand. These aren’t huge whiff pitches, and his swinging strike rate is fairly average, so he profiles as a low-strikeout pitcher should he make the return trip from Triple-A Nashville.

Robert Gasser MIL is another Brewers pseudo-prospect who is succeeding with low 90s velocity and average whiff rate. He had a breakout 2026 debut with eleven strikeouts before settling into four-inning stints. Gasser was called upon for a spot start against Minnesota and will get a tough task at home versus the Dodgers on Saturday.

Chayce McDermott LAD is no longer a starting pitcher with the Dodgers, but is running a 36% strikeout rate as a reliever, albeit with a 19% walk rate. The velocity is now above 96 mph on the fastball, supported by a decent slider.

Elmer Rodríguez NYY is getting yanked around by the constant up and down, but I’m sure he will relish an opportunity to redeem his workhorse profile. His stuff has not rated very high, but he was able to reach the fifth inning with much better control. He got a spot start this week ahead of the imminent Gerrit Cole return.

Zach Thornton NYM earned a Major League debut after shining in his first two Triple-A starts, going 13 strikeouts to three walks over 12 innings. Unfortunately,  he was at 58 pitches after two innings and put his team in a four-run hole. He has three fastball shapes, all under 93 mph, with the cutter being his most featured and most tortured. He gets another shot on Tuesday in Boston.

Jonah Tong NYM gets the call for the first time in 2026 to make a start on Saturday. He hopes things go a lot differently in the Major Leagues than they were going in Triple-A. From last week’s stash list article: “Tong is adjusting his pitch mix to start the season. He has introduced a 90 mph cutter, but has also seen more movement and spin out of the curveball and slider.” And yeah, the walk rate is up, but even more concerning is the lack of whiffs. His swinging strike rate and groundball rate have plummeted while the home run rate has skyrocketed. Good luck, Jonah!

 

Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash

 

1.  Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics

2026 AAA Stat line: 38.0 IP | 4.50 ERA | 33.1 K% | 11.8 BB% 

2025 MLB Stat line: 112.2 IP | 3.28 ERA | 28.4 K% | 7.4 BB%

 

While Kade Anderson offers fairly traditional lefty mechanics with mediocre velocity, Gage Jump is succeeding with slightly above-average velocity and a more deceptive look. The efficiency of his mechanics can be called into question, but Jump’s quick arm action has a hitch, or what I am now referring to as a crank (Soulja Boy, tell ’em). He really cranks the pull-back motion of his windup and has been able to generate much more velocity over the last year because of it.

Jump now sits at 97 mph, occasionally hitting 98.5 mph. Furthermore, the fastball and slider combination are two of the best whiff pitches in Statcast-tracked leagues. He is throwing those pitches from identical release points, which adds to their mystique for hitters, who swing and miss over 30% of the time. Jump has proven that his somewhat awkward mechanics are not a liability, as he posted over 112 innings in 2025 and had this bounce-back start after throwing 103 pitches in his previous game for the first time in his professional career.

The fastball is doing the heavy lifting as his most-used pitch. He took its usage up a notch against Reno last week by throwing it 72% of the time. The extra velocity that Kade Anderson doesn’t have helps his four-seamer carry deep into the plate up in the zone. The 85 mph slider, starting from a similar point, usually glides into the catcher’s mitt on the lower portion of the glove side of the plate. The slider velocity was up to 87 mph in the game, but that didn’t make it any more effective as a whiff pitch.

It was the fastball that generated three strikeouts on eight whiffs. Overall, Jump went four innings with six strikeouts against one walk and four hits. The 54 pitches represented a season low, but it was understandable given the more strenuous previous outing.

He followed up that successful start with a banger, striking out nine batters on 14 whiffs. Jump featured a more balanced mix, but there was a lot of contact by left-handed batters. Against the southpaw hitters, he mainly uses two pitches. He has always been a bit stronger against left-handed batters, so it’s possible this game was an anomaly, but having a better set of tools would only boost his profile.

Jump has two plus pitches and is in an organization desperate for some quality pitching. He will likely need the changeup to take a step forward to be successful at the next level, but that’s what he can work on now with Las Vegas. Yet, given his success from this game in terms of strikeouts and walks, let’s just let him cook with the best weapons he has going at the moment.

 

 

2.  Troy Melton, RHP, Detroit Tigers

2026 AAA Stat line: 11.2 IP | 1.54 ERA | 35.6 K% | 4.4 BB% 

2025 MLB Stat line: 45.2 IP | 2.76 ERA | 20.0 K% | 8.3 BB% 

 

Welcome back to the stash list, Troy! He doesn’t quite qualify as a prospect anymore, but he wasn’t really on the mound as a starter much with Detroit in 2025 (20.2 IP as a starter, 25 IP as a reliever). Yet the Tigers are in great need of a pitching boost with a whole rotation on the injured list. Melton offers some firepower at a time when the team is teetering on the edge of a lost season. He becomes eligible to come off the 60-day injured list this weekend from right elbow strain. The rehab schedule and return line him perfectly to start at Baltimore on Sunday.

Melton had a strong second rehab start, going a full five innings with one earned run on two hits and no walks. He also posted six strikeouts on twelve whiffs using his full six-pitch arsenal. He offers a follow-through with above-average extension that delivers a low release height for a wide variety of pitch movements and velocity bands. He was sitting at 97 mph by the end of 2025, so it’s encouraging to see that he is almost back to the level after two rehab starts. The cutter is the best of his three fastball shapes, but it is only a strike-chasing pitch for left-handed hitters and is seldom used to finish off an at-bat. The 85 mph slider is his primary breaker, a soft-bending pitch he uses in all counts that gets a good amount of whiffs and induces weak contact.

Taking a step back to examine the entire package, Melton offers modest strikeout upside using tools for both sets of hitters and all counts.

The principal barrier to real upside is the uncertainty of his role whenever he gets called back up to the Tigers. There are a few current starters who should be cleared away when Melton returns, but the team may slow-play his use to save his innings for later in the season. Even without the clear plan communicated to the public, Melton is a solid stash.

 

3.  River Ryan, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

2026 AAA Stat line: 16.0 IP | 2.81 ERA | 31.8 K% | 4.5 BB% 

2025 MLB Stat line: DID NOT PITCH IN 2025

 

River Ryan went missing for a month with a hamstring injury, but is back with Triple-A Oklahoma, posting eye-popping metrics. His velocity, spin, and extension were up across the board against Albuquerque last week. In addition, he exceeded triple-digits with the four-seamer six times (four for strikes). It isn’t often that an injury propels a player forward, but it’s possible that the time off allowed the coaching staff to draw out more of the good from Ryan’s skillset.

Ryan’s delivery is very fluid, with a lot of energy being carried forth towards home plate. The 6.8′ of extension being generated from his 6’2″ is impressive, helping him boost his fastball one tick to a perceived velocity of 100 mph. The release height is now averaging 5.5 feet, which helps boost is aveage vertical break on his fastball. The 92 mph slider is his best whiff pitch, but the curveball and 95 mph cutter are his best putaway pitches. Essentially, Ryan is tooled up with three plus pitches and two others slightly above average. The last hurdle for him to clear is consistency with the strike rate. If he can maintain something near this game arounr 64%, we should see him blossom into a very capable pitcher in the realm of 2025 Emmett Sheehan.

Ryan does play for a mercurial organization in Los Angeles that doesn’t always do the most straightforward thing. That said, they are allowing space for Emmet Sheehan to learn on the job as he struggles with control and home runs at times. Yet, Ryan has not displayed consistent swing-and-miss stuff, dipping to below 12% this season, which is fairly average. Maybe with this more powerful version of the four-seamer, we will see an uptick in whiffs. The Dodgers just signed Eric Laurer for a start spot to maintain a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future.

Ryan will likely remain at 4-5 innings with Oklahoma until the parent club is pressed for pitching, but he is an exciting player to watch progress over the next few weeks.

 

4. Kade Anderson, LHP, Seattle Mariners

2026 AAA Stat line: 34 IP | 1.85 ERA | 41.1 K% | 4.0 BB%

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

 

Kade Anderson had been on cruise control through his first six games and three innings. Up until that point, he had recorded 51 strikeouts against five walks, and only four extra base hits allowed. His opponent flipped the switch the second time through the order by getting five knocks against him, including a double and the more calamitous three-run home run by Omar Hernandez. The blast was off a first-pitch slider to a right-handed batter, something that is rare.

His defense may have been able to save Anderson a few extra pitches and runs, but Anderson will accept culpability for all of the damage against him. In the end, he completed only two times through the order in four innings with four strikeouts, zero walks, and five earned runs allowed. It was easily his worst start of the season, and it opens the door to doubts about the lack of fastball velocity or reliable putaway pitch.

 

5.  Carlos Lagrange, RHP, New York Yankees

2026 AAA Stat line: 38.1 IP | 4.23 ERA | 30.6 K% | 12.4 BB% 

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

 

The 50th percentile for strike rate and walk rate for the 2026 Minor League season were around 61% and 12%, respectively. Entering this game, Carlos Lagrange was carrying a 58% strike rate and 13% walk rate, a few levels under that failure mark. Therefore, it is cause for much celebration when he achieves a 64% strike rate as he did against Syracuse on Sunday. Lagrange maneuvered through first-inning troubles to allow only one more baserunner the rest of the way. His final line was six strikeouts to one walk, with two earned runs allowed on three hits across five innings. Despite the rough first frame, he had a six-pitch fifth inning that should have earned him a shot at throwing in the sixth inning with a total of 80 pitches.

It was full tilt on a slider-heavy approach again. This game, he upped the ante to over 50% sliders, a strategy that helped him post nine whiffs and five strikeouts with the pitch. In addition, he used the four-seamer as a surprise pitch, sprinkling it in during at-bat, rather than splashing it over the dish with a clumsy ladle.

The four-seamer velocity was up, averaging 100 mph on the day and landing for 7 of 11 first pitch strikes. Surprisingly, he didn’t have more strikeouts, as he had two strikes on almost every hitter except a handful. The breakers and offspeed were his main choice for a putaway. In the end, he only had one whiff on the four-seamer, something that is still so shocking to consider: A 100 mph fastball is now a swing and miss pitch. Yet, this pitch mix is the way to success, and I look forward to similar or better results the next time he employs this strategy.

 

6.  Jack Wenninger, RHP, New York Mets

2026 AAA Stat line: 35.2 IP | 1.51 ERA | 25.8 K% | 14.6 BB% 

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

 

It was a role reversal when Jack Wenninger of the Mets faced Carlos Lagrange of the Yankees. Lagrange is the one who had his control on lock, while Wenniger proceeded to issue four walks on a ghastly 46% strike rate. The big guy just didn’t have it, and he held the game scoreless for as long as he could before the Railriders broke through in the third inning. Nothing seemed to be working as all five of his pitches had a zone rate lower than 50%, with four of them being 36% of lower. After three solid performances, this one-strikeout outing was a complete dud, warranting a “Flush it!” call.

This week’s market will cool on Wenninger, who was beginning to bubble up in conversation for a waiver wire add after Clay Holmes suffered a fractured right tibia on a comebacker. The Mets’ rotation has an opening, likely to be filled by a bullpen arm like Tobias Myers or a call-up like Tong or Wenninger (was filled by Zach Thornton). Wennigner is not generating many swinging strikes, so it will be crucial for any promotion desires that he at least commands his vast arsenal in and around the zone enough to induce weak contact on the ground. Given this start, it will be hard to foresee his name being the first one up in the next week.

 

7.  Brody Hopkins, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

2026 AAA Stat line: 40.1 IP | 3.35 ERA | 24.9 K% | 19.9 BB% 

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

 

The walks continue to sink the high hopes of starting pitcher Brody Hopkins. Instead of racking up high strikeout games, Hopkins strutted into the room, headed over to the coat rack, and plopped down his fourth five-walk game in 2026 against Round Rock on Saturday. Yes, four five-walk games out of nine starts. Digging in shows that the strike rates on his pitches aren’t drastically low. Yet, it is the fact that multiple pitches are all below average in terms of achieving strikes, which melds into the poor sub-55% strike rate he has on the season. For the game, Hopkins balanced his five walks with five strikeouts across 4.2 innings of work. With this performance, he now has an underwhelming 15 strikeouts to 11 walks in May. On the bright side, he has yet to give up an earned run this month and has limited opponents to a batting average of less than .190.

If Hopkins is still considered to be a pitcher with upside, he will need to deliver results rather than just interesting pitch characteristics. We love the athletic low release height and great extension from his 6’4″ frame. He has three pitches with a whiff rate above 30% (cutter, curveball, and changeup), but also four pitches with a walk rate above 15%. Hopkins has relied on his four-seamer, something that would normally work in his favor.

Unfortunately, there is a wide variety of outcomes for the highly graded pitch, resulting in walks, strikeouts, or hard-hit balls.

 

Long Shots

As the stash list targets thin out from several graduations, we review a trio of prospects who have an opportunity to grab a rotation spot on the Major League team. Consider these recommendations as an exploration of the internal options already within the organization.

 

8. Luis Perales, RHP, Washington Nationals

2026 AAA Stat line: 36.1 IP | 2.97 ERA | 23.8 K% | 13.8 BB% 

2025 MiLB Stat line: 80 IP | 3.83 ERA | 28.7 K% | 8.2 BB%

 

The Washington Nationals shook up their front office in the offseason by acquiring some personnel from the Boston Red Sox and then swapping prospect pitchers. Luis Perales was the return in the Jake Bennett trade and has flashed some upside at various points in an injury-shortened career. This season could qualify as a success if he can make it to the end healthy after missing most of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Now with the Rochester Red Wings, Perales exited his most recent start after taking a 108 mph comeback off his right forearm. Fortunately, the initial imaging was negative for any fracture, so we can debate his stash assuming everything remains positive from here on out.

Perales owns a top 10 fastball velocity in Statcast-tracked leagues. His 98 mph four-seamer rises with 18 inches of vertical break, but doesn’t earn many whiffs. He uses a casual delivery with a 3/4 arm angle that gets average extension. From that high slot, most of his pitches have vertical action with none of his pitches really moving much horizontally. The 86 mph changeup has more of a diving action, while the cutter is just a harder version of his slider. The fact that so many of his pitches are straight may be at the root of some of the damage he has allowed. Yet, the most relevant thing for a pitcher who only threw 14 innings in 2025 is to finish this season healthy.

I was hoping to be more excited about the underlying aspects of Perales’ game, but they aren’t popping off the screen quite yet. He was graded as having three plus-pitches in the preseason, so we anticipate growth as he continues building up in 2026. He did a step forward with the command in his latest start, but it is also apparent that he may not be a big-time strikeout pitcher in the short term. It will be important to see progress from the well-regarded slider, as well. That pitch has been absent at times and may help him unlock more swings and misses.

 

9.  Brycen Mautz, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals

2026 AAA Stat line: 40.1 IP | 2.90 ERA | 24.2 K% | 13.5 BB%

2025 MLB Stat line: 114.2 IP | 2.98 ERA | 28.6 K% | 7.1 BB%

 

It’s fun to see the variety of ways that pitchers can throw the ball sixty feet and six inches to home plate. Trey Yesavage made the over-the-top delivery a popular one with his success in 2025, but that method isn’t for everyone. In reality, the sidearm is probably the one that the average fan likes to duplicate the most. Yet it is also an angle that typically puts the ball in a hitter’s wheelhouse because of its flat nature. Well, Brycen Mautz is doing the best he can with his 20-degree arm angle to give hitters many parts of the plate to think about.

As one of the league leaders in horizontal break, Mautz’s arm angle plays up the movement on his pitches. It’s his sinker that moves the most, with over 18 inches of break from a five-foot release height. He only uses the two-seamer as a putaway pitch against lefties, so he balances that out with a far-moving changeup to righties. Unfortunately, the 93 mph four-seamer is well below-average and gets smacked around at times despite its two-plane movement. His best overall pitch is probably the gyro slider, which earns both whiffs and induces poor contact. With the potential for strong horizontal movement on his pitches, one would expect batted ball data that describes a groundball pitcher. However, it appears that Triple-A hitters are getting a bit more loft on his pitches and not whiffing as much as they did in lower levels.

Mautz has been over 100 innings each of the last three seasons, so it is a bit curious that the Cardinals appear to have him on an innings limit at the start of this season. He may be shooting himself in the foot by posting the highest walk rate of his professional career, wasting a lot of pitches early in the game. In his most recent start, Mautz threw 61% of his 80 pitches for strikes, allowing two walks. Over his four innings of work, he gave up one earned run on four hits, while striking out five batters. Although it was only five whiffs in the game, Mautz did generate a more interesting 28% called strike and whiff rate. In conclusion, it was a mediocre outing that displays the ceiling of a pitcher who lacks better-than-average velocity and is getting hit around.

Even with all of the negative tone in the write-up thus far, Mautz has a path to the Major Leagues with the Cardinals. He is likely competing with Hunter Dobbins, who is also on the 40-man roster. If Mautz can utilize the slider more frequently, then perhaps he can start getting more balls on the ground and go a little deeper in the game.

 

10.  Karson Milbrandt, RHP, Miami Marlins

2026 AAA Stat line: 36.1 IP | 1.24 ERA | 37.0 K% | 8.7 BB%

2025 MLB Stat line: 90.0 IP | 3.00 ERA | 29.0 K% | 12.3 BB%

 

Funk is fun. Funk is lively. Funk makes people move. And funk on the mound could be the secret ingredient to the success of Karson Milbrandt. His delivery is awkward-looking, with limbs moving in coordination as if he were counting his steps on the dance floor. In his full windup, he kicks his leg out while bringing his arms over his head like he was wielding a samurai sword. With his glove to his chest, the ball is drawn out of the glove and is reared back to initiate the release from a 3/4 slot. You can count “1, 2, 3, 4” with Karson while watching the video below.

As much as one may snicker at the elaborate windup, he has punched through the noise to post great stats so far in 2026. In his second go-around at the Double-A level, he has increased his swinging strike rate, strikeout rate, strike rate, and groundball rate, while lowering his average against, walk rate, and contact rate. All career bests. Milbrandt got some time in the Arizona Fall League, where we saw that his fastball velocity was up to 98 mph, while utilizing a curveball and cutter to great effect. The slider is his best graded secondary, a pitch that he may be using as both a sweeper and as a harder gyro version. With a variety of weapons and solid velocity, Milbrandt is rising quickly up the lists with his performance and the stuff to back it up.

Marlins prospect pitchers had a painful week, with both Thomas White and Robby Snelling going down with injuries. Snelling is out for a longer period of time now that he is having Tommy John surgery. Milbrandt’s ascendance, along with poor results from the pitchers in the upper levels of the organization, means that he has a better shot than ever to be on the promotion radar.

 

On The Bubble

Here are the next several pitchers that were in consideration for inclusion on this week’s list: Anthony Eyanson BOS, Nestor German BAL, Ty Johnson TBR, JR Ritchie ATL, Eduardo Rivera BOS, Hagen Smith CHW, Josh Stephan TEX, Sean Sullivan COL (See chart at the start of the article), Carson Whisenhunt SFG, Thomas White MIA (The control has been so poor that he has fallen off the list for the moment despite reports of an imminent promotion and the injured list status), and Jaxon Wiggins CHC.

 

Pitcher Stash List

 

Stash List Key
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Upside Stash
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire Featured Image by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Bsky/Twitter)

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