I up to date the Prime 100 Prospects record right this moment. This publish goes by means of the pitchers and why they stack the way in which they do. Right here’s a hyperlink on to the record, and right here’s a hyperlink to the publish with a little bit extra element concerning farm system and prospect stuff and the commerce deadline. It could be finest so that you can open a second tab and observe alongside, so listed here are the Prime 100 pitchers remoted away from the bats. Let’s get to it.
Painter Stays Prime Canine
Earlier than he was injured, Phillies righty Andrew Painter’s measurement, stuff high quality, repertoire depth, and command for a pitcher his measurement and age have been on a means totally different degree than the remainder of the pitchers you’ll examine on this publish. He has been throwing bullpens for a a few weeks and stays on the 60-day IL moderately than the Full Season IL, which leaves open the chance for Painer to pitch in a scoutable setting, just like the Arizona Fall League, this 12 months. I have a tendency to maneuver guys rehabbing from Tommy John surgical procedure to the again of their FV tier however not change their grade, which was the case on the offseason Prime 100 and stays so right here. Painter appeared like an installment within the Justin Verlander Cinematic Universe on the finish of 2022, so proficient the Phillies have been compelled to take the riskier line along with his UCL (PRP and rehab with the hope of a mid-2023 return) to provide themselves a shot at him becoming a member of their late- and postseason efforts. It ended up not panning out, so Painter could have basically missed two full seasons when he returns.
A few of that paragraph reads ominously like Forrest Whitley’s scouting reviews from just a few years in the past, and I’m anxious to see Painter pitch in any type of full-speed setting this calendar 12 months, if solely to substantiate he hasn’t gone Brady Aiken on us throughout his rehab. (Reside BP, one thing, something, please child!) The pitchers ranked beneath Painter who’ve an affordable likelihood to affix him within the prime tier between now and when he totally returns are Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (if his command all of the sudden clicks), White Sox lefty Noah Schultz (if one in every of his non-slider choices improves), A’s righty Luis Morales (who’s extremely gifted however tremendous uncooked for a 21-year-old), and Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki (who’d rank in entrance of Painter) if he ventures to MLB this offseason.
The 55 FV Tier
Consider this group as being near-ready mid-rotation starters on a superb workforce (Jobe, Dollander, Ryan, Sproat), or as having a ceiling above that however a flooring fairly a bit beneath (Misiorowski, Schultz), with the 2 multi-sport excessive schoolers (Smith-Shawver, Chandler) being the place we transition from one group to the opposite.
Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers
With the commencement of the 2 Pirates rookies, Jackson Jobe assumes his place as the highest wholesome pitching prospect in baseball. Jobe scrapped his curveball in 2023 and it pressured him to turn into a extra full pitcher. He started to lean on his changeup (which has turn into his finest secondary pitch), and although neither of his new breaking balls is dominant, Jobe’s really feel for finding them (particularly his cutter) has progressed in a short time. He has one of many higher combos of stuff and pitchability amongst younger hurlers in baseball. One more Jobe damage (an early-season hamstring pressure, much less critical than most of his others) will once more hold us from actually figuring out whether or not he can maintain this throughout a serious league starter’s workload. This, and since Detroit isn’t actually contending, means Jobe’s large league call-up timeline might be mid-to-late 2025 and never this 12 months.
Chase Dollander, Colorado Rockies
Dollander does (or initiatives to do) all the pieces effectively. He has plus fastball velocity and command, in addition to the angle/motion traits you need in an influence pitcher’s bat-missing heater. He additionally has a plus breaking ball, and his changeup is bettering regardless of restricted utilization. Colorado’s pretty deliberate promotion tempo has him monitoring like a 2026 debut, which is slower than it must be.
River Ryan, Los Angeles Dodgers & Brandon Sproat, New York Mets
I had Ryan stuffed up right here within the offseason. He started the season on the shelf however is again, seems wholesome, and simply made his large league debut. His breaking pitches are extra plentiful and nastier than Jobe’s and Dollander’s proper now, however his changeup and command are usually not nearly as good. I’ve thought of how each of these issues have late-arriving projections throughout Ryan’s prospect lifetime as a result of he was a two-way faculty man who centered on pitching fairly late and missed developmental reps through the pandemic interval. However he’s additionally 26 now and it’s possibly a little bit an excessive amount of to say he’ll enhance each his cambio and command at this level. He’s nonetheless going to be good, however that’s simply why I’ve him behind Jobe and Dollander. Sproat was a cross-bodied, lower-slot man in faculty, however he’s rather less cross-bodied now and is throwing from extra of a three-quarters slot, giving his fastball rise/run form moderately than the sink/tail of his faculty days. He’s getting comfy finding his fastball to the elements of the zone the place its new motion performs finest, and this could theoretically assist it miss extra bats than his faculty model did. He’s saved throwing onerous amid the modifications and has been residing within the upper-90s with out incident for a number of years now. The supply tweaks have added depth to Sproat’s breaking pitches, too, however value him some changeup tail. Particularly if he can hold throwing strikes the way in which he has since his promotion to Double-A, Sproat goes to have a number of plus pitches and starter-quality command.
AJ Smith-Shawver, Atlanta Braves & Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh Pirates
There are a lot of similarities right here. Each are tremendous athletic, well-built, large time faculty soccer recruits who’ve skilled fast and significant progress as pitchers since deciding to signal (every of their changeups, particularly). Smith-Shawver has been robbed of reps by damage and his command remains to be not nice, particularly for a man who’s already on the 40-man roster. Chandler’s slider nonetheless backs up on him too usually and will get crushed. These two every have stuff to work on, however they’re precisely the varieties of athletes who I’d need to wager on making changes and enhancements over the lengthy haul, partly as a result of they’ve already proven the aptitude for it. The hole between what they’re now and what I believe they’ll be at peak is wider than Ryan/Sproat however not as broad as…
Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee Brewers & Noah Schultz, White Sox
Each of those guys have “freak issue.” They’re flawed in a profound means (Miz’s management, Schultz’s fastball playability) however their uncommon measurement and features of their stuff (particularly Schultz’s slider) are in a special stratosphere than the remainder of the minors. These are the pitching variations of Oneil Cruz, if you’ll. Schultz is attempting to work with a cutter to maintain hitters off his fastball, but it surely and his changeup nonetheless aren’t good. His fastball is surrendering in-zone contact at an roughly 90% clip although it’s 95-97 mph. That’s scary and bizarre. The truth that Schultz has been this dominant by means of Double-A regardless of basically being a one-pitch man is fairly unimaginable. He’s additionally a 6-foot-9, 21-year-old who’s throwing a whole lot of strikes. There’s monumental ceiling there however he’s removed from being totally shaped. Misiorowski’s fastball form offers his lack of command some room to breathe as a result of it misses bats within the zone, however we’re nonetheless ready on his management to degree up above reliever high quality. There are causes to hope he’ll enhance: He was a junior faculty draftee who hasn’t been topic to professional dev for very lengthy, and tremendous long-limbed athletes like this have a tendency to get really feel for his or her our bodies a little bit later than their friends. If it doesn’t he’s going to be an elite late-game weapon, and I’d nonetheless need that man ranked proper round right here.
The 50 FV Tier
That is the place you’re going to need to observe together with the record once more as I’ll be referencing it for the ultimate few paragraphs. Keep in mind there are full scouting reviews there (I’ve up to date lots of them) if you’d like extra player-to-player scouting element.
The following half dozen pitchers or so are those who really feel able to becoming a member of the 55 FV tier inside a 12 months. Marlins 19-year-old Excessive-A righty Noble Meyer makes opposing righties extremely uncomfortable. He isn’t throwing all that onerous, however his fastball seems prefer it explodes on hitters anyway, they usually don’t see his slider out of hand. Meyer’s arm motion remains to be so, so lengthy, and it makes me rather less inclined to undertaking on his changeup, however his construct and mechanical fluidity are fairly typical of an All-Star-type starter, and he’s been a a lot better strike-thrower than the opposite pitchers within the Prime 100 who’re round 20 years outdated with extraordinarily high-ceilings (Dylan Lesko, Luis Morales). Freshly drafted White Sox lefty Hagen Smith will transfer up if he can enhance his changeup, and Reds righty Chase Burns will climb if he can enhance his fastball’s playability despite its aircraft. Giants large league debutant Hayden Birdsong and Burns are fairly comparable in the way in which their stuff operates (vertically oriented type of assault, a number of good breaking balls, large velo that performs down as a consequence of pitch aircraft). Burns has higher arm power whereas Birdsong (who remains to be getting a really feel for his physique) has confirmed he may be efficient towards a giant league lineup. You could possibly flip these guys for those who wished.
The following couple of fellows have some mixture of command and fastball playability points (the Cardinals’ Tink Therefore, the Cubs’ Cade Horton, the Braves’ Hurston Waldrep) that they offset with nice secondary stuff. Horton and Waldrep (who rehabbed along with his fastball within the 93-96 mph vary a pair days in the past) have additionally been coping with short-term accidents. Therefore (as a consequence of a scarcity of measurement), Horton, and Waldrep (violent supply, “spherical down” fastball aircraft) all have a good quantity of aid threat but additionally have a shot to develop three plus pitches if they’ll overcome their fastball’s suboptimal traits. For those who wished to rely any of the 50s I’ve talked about up to now among the many 55s I wouldn’t name you loopy.
The following a number of pitchers (the Twins’ David Festa, the Yankees’ Will Warren, the Cardinals’ Quinn Mathews, the Yankees’ Chase Hampton, the White Sox’ Drew Thorpe, the Reds’ Rhett Lowder, the White Sox’ Jairo Iriarte) are all plug-and-play no. 4 starters who’re proximate to the massive leagues. Warren might take a flip within the Yankees rotation tomorrow and be good. He has six high quality pitches and his sinker will wash away the occasional stroll by producing loads of double play grounders. I’m shopping for that the lefty Mathews’ uptick in velocity (averaged 91 final 12 months, sitting 93-96 in 2024) is for actual. He’s not being ridden as onerous as he was at Stanford and his decrease physique has gotten a lot stronger. Hampton has begun to pitch in precise video games for the primary time since he was shut down with a UCL sprain early within the 12 months. Whereas he doesn’t fairly have the identical fastball velocity he did (91-93 up to now) its motion will assist it play even when it hangs out on this vary, and he instructions 4 distinct pitches. He’s wholesome and strikes up from the very, very again of the record with the opposite injured guys. White Sox righties Thorpe and Iriarte and Reds righty Lowder (who has regressed) have much less efficient fastball motion however do sufficient different stuff effectively to slot in this bucket, too.
It’s at this level within the record after we begin entering into guys who’ve fairly critical aid threat. Orioles debutant Chayce McDermott, Rangers first-year righty Alejandro Rosario, Phillies water-treading righty Mick Abel, A’s supernova Cuban Luis Morales, and changeup monsters Dylan Lesko of the Padres, and Carson Whisenhunt of the Giants are all of that ilk. Morales, Lesko, and Rosario are those with big variance and an opportunity to wind up means increased on the record between now and once they debut within the majors. The cement is dryer on the opposite guys who seem like they’ll both be flawed-but-effective fourth starters or buck nasty relievers.
Lastly, the subsequent couple of fellows have stuff that’s proper on the perimeter of what I’m in search of on this FV tier (Astros righty Jake Bloss, Orioles lefty Cade Povich, Marlins righty Max Meyer) adopted by our injured associates (Ricky Tiedemann, Cade Cavalli, Tekoah Roby, and Kyle Damage). Roby (this record iteration’s Reese Olson-type) not too long ago returned from damage, however he has been dinged so regularly (and is long-relievery sufficient from a command standpoint) that I’ll most likely depart him again right here in perpetuity. Damage simply had Tommy John so we could not see him till 2026, and I’ll most likely wrestle with that through the offseason and resolve whether or not to maneuver him out of right here totally. He’s nasty, although.
