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Welcome back to our top starting pitcher fantasy baseball prospects to stash for Week 25 of the 2024 MLB season. Today, we'll be taking a look at top MLB pitching prospects, including a handful of pitchers who are looking quite sharp at Triple-A.
Several of the sport's top pitching prospects who have been recurring members of this column, such as Zebby Matthews, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Caden Dana, have begun to settle in at the major league level and are no longer "stash" options. As a result, we have a few new faces making this column for the first time.
As the baseball season progresses, top prospects can have the opportunity to replace an injured player and immediately become valuable in fantasy. Below are five pitching prospects worth stashing in redraft leagues in Week 25.
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Top Fantasy Baseball Prospect Stashes
Bubba Chandler - Pittsburgh Pirates (Currently At Triple-A, 2% rostered)
The top prospect in the Steel City showed off his incredible strikeout potential again in his latest start as he struck out eight across five innings. However, his control was a bit off as he served five free passes, a total he has not hit since May 17.
Overall, since the start of August, the southpaw has held a near-perfect 1.93 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, with an 11:43 BB:K ratio across his first 28 innings at Triple-A.
Bubba Chandler RHP @indyindians
2024 Triple-A Stats
3-0
28 IP
1.93 ERA
1.04 WHIP
36 K
11.57 K/9
32.1 K%
22.3 K-BB%#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/QwpWttxxJV— Pittsburgh Pirates Player Development Report (@PGHplayerDev) September 10, 2024
Before this, he posted a 3.70 ERA and 1.01 WHIP through 80 ⅓ innings at Double-A.
Chandler has proven to be more than capable of moving up to the major leagues. It is just a matter of when the Pirates organization deems their top prospect ready. The No. 40 prospect in baseball could significantly boost any fantasy team during the season's final weeks, should he get the call.
Brandon Sproat - New York Mets (Currently At Triple-A, 1% rostered)
After posting his best outing at Triple-A last week, Sproat took an unfortunate step backward on September 8, allowing five earned runs, seven hits, and three walks across four innings. In his previous outing, the Florida product looked to be turning the corner as he logged 5 ⅓ shutout frames with six punchouts.
After beginning the season at High-A, the former second-round pick has progressed through the minor leagues at an incredible rate. Still, it has hit a significant roadblock at Triple-A. Through 26 ⅔ innings at Triple-A Syracuse, the right-hander sits with a hefty 7.43 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP.
Before this, Sproat posted a stellar 2.05 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP across High-A and Double-A. With the Mets in the heat of the Wild Card race, a late-season promotion is still in the cards. However, it looked much more promising last week than it does now.
Nonetheless, given how quickly the 23-year-old progressed through the minor leagues, he could be just one more solid outing away from heading to Queens.
Yilber Diaz - Arizona Diamondbacks (Currently At Triple-A, 2% rostered)
The 24-year-old got a brief taste of the big leagues as he posted a modest 4.05 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and an 8:14 BB:K ratio across 20 innings.
Diaz has recently been on an innings limit at Triple-A Reno, which suggests the Diamondbacks may want to give him another look at the big leagues to prepare him for 2025. Diaz has not logged over four innings in his past two outings, with his most recent start lasting just two innings long.
Before this, the right-hander consistently pitched at least five innings, with several games in which he remained in until the seventh inning. Seeing that he is being limited down the stretch could point toward a potential late-season promotion.
AJ Smith-Shawver - Atlanta Braves (Currently At Triple-A, 3% rostered)
The No. 2 prospect in the Braves system looked strong in his most recent outing at Triple-A and should be in an excellent position to return to the majors very soon.
In this start, he logged seven innings (for the first time this season) and allowed four earned runs, three hits, and three walks while striking out a season-high 11 batters.
11th whiff for AJ Smith-Shawver comes on this 83 MPH changeup, his 6th K.
5IP 3H 0R 1BB 6K pic.twitter.com/dzjrc4K3vW
— Gaurav (@gvedak) August 22, 2024
Since August 17, Smith-Shawver has carried a 3.28 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 9:27 BB:K ratio. The 21-year-old has battled injuries this season, keeping him sidelined for most of May and June, lowering his chances of returning to the majors. Smith-Shawver tossed only 20 innings at Atlanta last season and just four innings this summer.
However, with the Braves in the NL Wild Card race, Smith-Shawver could be deployed as a sixth starter to save some wear and tear on the bullpen.
Jackson Jobe - Detroit Tigers (Currently At Triple-A, 10% rostered)
Rounding out this week’s column is (as always) the top pitching prospect in the sport. Jobe received very positive news this weekend as he got the call to Triple-A Toledo.
While I speculated that he could skip Triple-A outright (similar to what Drew Thorpe did earlier this summer), the Tigers would like to move slower with their budding ace.
In his recent outing at Double-A, Jobe dominated seven innings of one-run ball, serving up just three hits and two walks. He struck out eight.
Jackson Jobe (MLB's No. 7 prospect) twirls seven innings for the first time in his career!
The @tigers' top-ranked pitching prospect lowers his ERA to 1.95 for the Double-A @erie_seawolves, striking out eight in the process. pic.twitter.com/jOHdikIUs3
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 6, 2024
Since August 1, baseball's No. 7-ranked prospect has posted a stellar 2.55 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and a 17:31 BB:K ratio. Overall, through 73 ⅔ innings at Double-A, Jobe has posted a 1.95 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.
While a late-season promotion seems out of reach, he is still worth holding onto in deeper leagues for the outside chance the Tigers give him a start over the final weeks of the season. The former No. 3 overall pick remains a must-watch prospect. He should be a front-runner to start in the big leagues in 2025.
Kumar Rocker - Texas Rangers (Set To Be Promoted To The Major Leagues, 10% rostered)
I wanted to include a sixth option this week as the Rangers are set to promote one of their top pitching prospects to the major leagues on Thursday. Rocker has battled numerous injuries throughout his young career, including Tommy John surgery last summer. However, through his limited taste of the minors this season, he has flashed a high upside.
Through 19 2/3 innings at Double-A, Rocker held a 0.46 ERA and a 0.61 WHIP. Then in two starts at Triple-A, the former first-round pick posted a 1.80 ERA and a 0.50 WHIP.
Rocker will most likely be on a strict innings limit given his injury history but is still worth a flier given how dominant he has looked in the upper levels of the minor leagues.
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