It's finally here. The fantasy baseball season has begun and all MLB rosters are final. Over the past week, we've learned a lot about how teams approach timelines for all of their top prospects. Rotation battles were won by some promising young guns and five of the top eight guns in thefirst versionfrom this list are currently on the major league rosters.
This first weekly version of The Stash List for pitchers features a handful of big climbers who have seen their prospects improve dramatically in Spring Training. Prioritize the top five in your early season waivers, and be ready to strike when the doors open a little ahead for the rest of the guys on this list.
I'll be providing an update on how these guys are doing and who's making MLB teams every Saturday this season, so sit back, relax and buckle up.
Basic rules
- The Stash List is for youthe formulator herecompetitions and does not take into account the impact after 2023
- Only current minor league players expected to make an impact this season are included
- Advantage, proximity, health and odds are all weighed up for each player
- The focus is on competitions with 12 teams and standard categories
- Rankings and ownership percentages are updated weekly
Top 10 pitching prospects to stall
1.Grayson Rodriguez, BAL
OfBaltimore Oriolesshocked pretty much everyone when they were assignedGrayson Rodriguezto AAA before the start of this season. I wrote in this first article that GrayRod had the safest spot in the opening day rotation of anyone on the list, but I was absolutely wrong about that.
He struggled tremendously during his few Spring Training starts, even though Eno Sarris' Pitching+ model registered him at a 119.5 Stuff+ in the starts where Statcast was available. He struggled to hit his venues consistently and had a 9.9% run percentage in his 15.1 innings. It's definitely an improvement over what we've seen before as he has a career progression rate of less than 8% in both AA and AAA.
I'm still confident that Rodriguez will have a significant impact on the major league roster soon this season, and this could be a step in tax management as well as on his performance.
2.Brandon Pfaadt, ARI
Brandon Pfaadtdazzled in his three Spring Training starts this year. Given what he was able to accomplish in the Pacific Coast League last season, he should have established himself as the next man for the Diamondbacks. He passes Drey Jameson in the pecking order, whose command failed him in the spring. It definitely seems possible that the Diamondbacks could take one from Zach Davies or Madison Bumgarner if they look unviable after about a month.
3.Gavin Steen, KICK
Gavin Steen is another Leapfrog player catching up with his counterpart Bobby Miller both because of his great spring performance and because of his health. Miller was recently closed withshoulder painand Stone is the opening day starter for the Oklahoma City Dodgers. In four Spring Training appearances, Stone pitched 6.2 innings, gave up no runs and struckout 14 batters.
4.DL-Hal, BAL
DL-Hal didn't get much out of the pen during Spring Training, so while he saw some time finishing in the Majors last season, he'll start in AAA this year with Grayson Rodriguez. Hall boasts some of the best strikeouts in the Minor Leagues (he managed to strike out seven batters in his four ST innings), but his pitching repertoire and approach are very similar to Matt Brash's, so we may see a similar season for him this year. . I wouldn't count on Hall making double digits for the O's, but he could be a real weapon from the pen and might be good for some key starting spots.
5. Tanner Bibee, CLE
It came as a bit of a surprise when Bibee was assigned to AAA before the start of the season just becauseGavin Williamswas assigned to AA. I assumedWilliamswas ahead of Bibee in the organization due to the Williams advantage. It's extremely impressive for Bibee, as he was drafted 133 picks behind Williams in the 2021 Amateur Draft. Key to his success last year was his minuscule walk percentages, combined with above-average strikeout percentages. While he wasn't drafted with the missile arm Williams has, he's worked on adding speed and now he's arguably the more complete pitcher at this point in their early career.
6.Kyle Harrison, SFG
I have said Kyle Harrison on theOn the farmpodcast as my choice to be the prospect that most disappoints us in the coming season. I don't doubt the impressiveness of his performance or his long-term prospects, but this 21-year-old pitcher already has high expectations that may prove difficult to meet in 2023. It is expected that he will see time in the major league rotation, which is why he is on this list. However, I'm tired of the 11.2% run percentage he managed in 84 AA innings last year. He'll be a high variance streamer once promoted, so be prepared for some short forays with ugly proportions.
7.Taj Bradley, TBR
Taj Bradley has a 2.61 ERA in 310.2 IP in the Minor Leagues. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he's managed to improve his running pace after each of his four promotions to higher tiers. He finished last season with 59 solid innings at AAA, but saw his strikeout percentage drop nearly 10 percentage points. Thanks to his good innings run last year and his experience in the higher levels of the minors, he has the qualities to move up to the Bigs quickly if he can get that K percentage back above 24% early on.
8.Luis Ortiz, PIT
Luis Ortiz made a brief Major League-debut last season and showed some extremely impressive pitches. He has a lot of work to do to take advantage of that offer, but he's on a team with a plethora of opportunities. He's another high variance game, but he doesn't have the prestige that Harrison has. That should also make it cheaper to buy in season.
9.Gavin Williams, CLE
Gavin Williams is a first-round fireballer who ends up in one of the top pitching development organizations. It's a fantastic setup, but at this point it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer than expected to see him in the MLB rotation after his assignment at AA. This could be an example of the team doing everything they can to keep their young stallion healthy for as long as possible. After putting up a 1.96 ERA and 11.7 K/9 in 115 innings last season, it's hard to imagine them keeping an eye on him for very long.
10.Bobby Miller, KICK
Bobby Miller appeared to be the favorite of the Dodgers' MiLB pitchers to potentially crack the April rotation. With theTony Gonsolininjury, the 5th rotation spot opened up and ifMichael Grovehad failed, Miller would have waited for his chance. However, Miller is sidelined this season due to shoulder pain. While it's unclear how serious the injury is at this point, we can safely assume it will set his timeline back quite a bit, regardless of the status of the MLB rotation.
Honorable Mention:Andrew Schilder. We have yet to get a clear timeline for when he could be back on a professional mound, but it seems unlikely that he will move out of prospect status this season. I'm in the camp that will be hesitant to invest a bunch of FAAB dollars into reformulation leagues when its time comes. He will be among the elite, but in his time.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)