Welcome to the 16th edition of The Stash List for pitchers!
Ground Rules
- The Stash List is for your redraft leagues and does not consider impact beyond 2023
- Only current minor league players who are expected to make an impact this season are included
- Players who have already made their MLB debuts can not have thrown more than 50 IP in MLB
- Upside, proximity, health, and opportunity are all weighed for each player
- The focus is on 12-team leagues with standard categories
- Rankings and rostership percentages will be updated weekly
Graduates
This section of the column highlights the pitchers that were on the previous week’s list but have since made their MLB debuts and are no longer considered stashes because they’re still on their team’s active roster. Yet again, we don’t have any to discuss. Second half promotions should start to ramp up around the trade deadline.
Top 10 Pitcher Prospects to Stash
1. Robert Gasser, MLW – ETA July (1)
Robert Gasser was ejected after hitting a batter on his first pitch of the game in his last start before the all-star break. It was a day after a massive brawl between the two teams and the umps had the quick hooks ready to go. Regardless, he’s the most Major-League ready of anyone on this list and it feels like he’s standing right on the threshold. He’ll be a viable streamer in good matchups for most leagues of at least 12 teams when he’s promoted.
2. Will Warren, NYY – ETA July (2)
Will Warren had a short and disappointing outing to start his second half, but he has a deep arsenal that will play against MLB hitters whenever he gets the chance. He’s a bit behind Gasser because his command hasn’t been as consistent and he’ll pitch a lot in Yankee stadium. The Yankees rotation is also a lot deeper now that Rodon is back.
3. Connor Phillips – ETA August (4)
Connor Phillips‘ second start in AAA was significantly better than his first, and since then he’s gotten a good long rest thanks to the all-star break. Look for him to come out and build on that second outing by keeping the walks in check and mixing his deep arsenal well. Phillips has a really good fastball that sits around 96-97 and his best secondary pitch is his curveball. He also features a developing slider, cutter, and changeup.
4. Gordon Graceffo, STL – ETA August (5)
Gordon Graceffo hasn’t been able to strike out hitters consistently since returning from his lengthy IL stint, and that could hold him back from making a significant impact in the Majors this year. It’s also part of a larger issue with Cardinals pitchers across all the upper levels. The other top prospects, Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy, have also had issues with maximizing their strikeout stuff recently. And at the MLB level, the Cardinals rotation carries an abysmal 20.8% strikeout rate, which ranks 25th in MLB. It’s hard to imagine that Graceffo bucks this trend, but he locates his pitches very well and he’s likely next in line for a promotion.
5. Ben Brown, CHC – ETA August (3)
Ben Brown has struggled mightily with maintaining any semblance of command in his recent handful of starts. The stuff is still good but it’s not good enough to overcome these issues right now. He’s still a good candidate to see MLB action later this year, especially if the Cubs deal starting pitchers at the trade deadline. He’s definitely more of a wait-and-see candidate than a stash candidate right now.
6. Mike Vasil, NYM – ETA August (7)
Mike Vasil has had an extended rest recently as well, and he definitely needed it after his rough start to AAA. He did appear in the Futures Game and he pitched pretty well, so hopefully that can help him turn the page and get back to the command that enabled him to succeed in AA.
7. Clayton Beeter, NYY – ETA August (6)
Clayton Beeter is in almost the exact same boat as Vasil. He was promoted for two starts right before the all-star break and struggled and then he went to the Futures game and pitched well. Beeter doesn’t have the track record of great command that Vasil does, however, which makes his rough patch a bit more worrisome.
8. Mason Black, SFG – ETA September (NR)
Mason Black put together a string of six starts in AA where he only allowed one run in 26.1 innings while striking out 38. That promptly earned him a promotion to AAA, and he made his debut at the level on Friday night. He absolutely shoved. The command could have been a bit better but the stuff looked almost unhittable.
The Statcast data backs up his performance as well, as he posted a fantastic 13.9% SwStr% and a 42% CSW. Even the walk rate looks much worse that it should be, as he throw 56% of his pitches in the zone which is about 10 percentage points higher than MLB average. The issue in walks likely came because of a lack of chases, but the stuff was so good that I expect that number to increase going forward. His fastballs sat in the mid-90s and his slider/cutter combo sat in the mid-80s. The best whiff pitch was by far the slider, and it looked incredible live on the broadcast.
9. Spencer Arrighetti, HOU – ETA September (8)
Spencer Arrighetti took a small step backward after his first two impressive AAA outings. The strikeout numbers were still great and the stuff looked good, so it’s likely not a sign of a larger issue. Houston has a very deep roster and will likely look to improve at the trade deadline, so opportunities could be hard to come by until much later in the season.
10. Landon Knack, LAD – ETA September (10)
Landon Knack is one of the more advanced players of the Dodgers pitching prospects. He turns 26 years old today and has been in the Dodgers’ organization since he was drafted in 2021 out of college. He spent a ton of time in AA and really honed his command this year before his promotion. He doesn’t bring a lot of velocity to the bump, but he throws his best pitch (his slider) almost as much as his fastball and in his most recent AAA start he posted an impressive 18.9% SwStr%.
The Watchlist
This section of The Stash List is aimed towards those of you who play in deep leagues (15+ teams or 375+ players rostered) where some of the guys on the list above might already be taken because of their higher pedigree. These players’ debuts will likely be a bit further out than the players listed above, but the purpose is to be ready to pounce on them as soon as it becomes clear that an opportunity might open up.
The players are listed in alphabetical order, and I don’t have the time to do write-ups for these guys, so I’d highly suggest checking out their FanGraphs pages and/or watching one of their starts. Also, shout out to @SpokaneWaUpdate on Twitter for inspiring this section of the article!
Andrew Painter fell off the stash list and the watch list this week because he was shut down again after experiencing discomfort in his elbow. It’s looking extremely likely that we won’t see him in 2023 like we originally hoped.