The Stash List Week 14: Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash in 2026
The Pitcher Edition of the Stash List highlights the 10 best pitching prospects likely to make an impact during the 2026 season. While prospects are often seen as valuable only in dynasty formats, knowing which ones hold value for the current season can give you an edge in redraft leagues. Several of these prospects have a 2026 ETA, and getting ahead of the curve on rostering them is crucial for roster management. Last year, we saw more pitching prospects make their debut than ever before, and 2026 is no exception. Keep reading to discover the top ten pitchers you should stash in your redraft leagues.
Ground Rules
- The Stash List is for redraft leagues and does not consider impact beyond 2026.
- Only current minor league players expected to make an impact this season are included.
- Upside, proximity, health, and opportunity are all considered 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.
Minor League Starting Pitcher Leaders in Strikeout Rate through June 25, 2026 (minimum 140 batters faced)
The Stash List
Graduates/Call-Ups
Several prospects joined the big league clubs over the last week:
- Yilber Díaz (ARI): Recalled to support a depleted Diamondbacks pitching staff, he got shelled without finishing an inning. He now owns a 94.50 ERA and 11.99 WHIP on the season, which are fun to type due to their rarity.
- Kohl Drake (ARI): Called up to serve in long relief, but then optioned without a single appearance. Drake had posted increasingly poor monthly stats until June, when he stopped allowing home runs. Even with the turn in his fortune, the results do not inspire confidence. Even considering that he is pitching in the offense-friendly Pacific Coast League, the walks are up, and the strikeouts are down. His velocity is still down a few ticks since a shoulder strain ended his season in late August. There is always the chance that the stuff plays up in the Major Leagues, but he should leave the fastball at the hotel. Batters are slugging .575 against the four-seamer with seven home runs this season.
- Jose Cabrera (ARI): Came out of nowhere to make his Major League debut after appearing in only three Triple-A games. The 6’3″ righty struck out three batters on ten whiffs across five innings last week. He flipped his 6-pitch mix around from what he had been doing in Reno by fading the 94 mph fastball to feature the cutter and sweeper. Track his progress as he is lined up for a Friday night start at Tampa Bay.
- Mitch Bratt (ARI): Became the fourth Diamondback prospect pitcher to be called up in the last week. The velocity was up two ticks for Bratt in his debut. He also had a bit more movement with the slurve-and-slider combination. He finished with three strikeouts on seven whiffs across three innings. Bratt had been injured and missed a month, so expect him to build up from 50-60 pitches for a few more appearances of his ballet/capoeira routine. He was optioned back to Triple-A already.
- Carson Palmquist (WSN): Had been building up as a long reliever in Triple-A. He earned his first start with the Nationals on Wednesday, going 3.1 innings with three strikeouts to one walk. The 6’3″ sidearmer gets 7.3 feet of extension and should see immediate gains now that he is no longer in the Pacific Coast League or playing in Coors Field. Although there isn’t much strikeout upside to his profile, his arm angle and great sinker could provoke a lot of ground balls.
- Julian Garcia (CIN): Made his Major League debut after being drafted over a decade ago. He was a standout pitcher in independent baseball for two seasons with the Kansas City Monarchs. The slider and sweeper combo each earned a 40% whiff rate at Triple-A. The four-seamer averages 18 inches of induced vertical break, which makes the pitch a little better given the low 90s velocity. The 31-year-old appears to be a long relief option for the Reds and has moderate strikeout appeal.
Top 10 Pitching Prospects to Stash
Kade Anderson (SEA): Continues to succeed in the same manner he has all season. First, he is throwing strikes. He is posting a 68% strike rate, which manifests in that astonishingly low 3.7% walk rate. He has only posted two games with a strike rate below 65%. The second layer of throwing strikes is to describe what kind of strikes. Well, Anderson sits in the top 5% of swinging strikes. In this area, he has only posted one game with a swinging strike rate below 15%. Finally, Anderson has leaned heavily on his breakers to put hitters away. To lefties, it’s a heavy dose of curveballs and sliders. Against righties, they receive a combination of four-seamers and changeups. Anderson is placing all of these pitches on the outside corner with the occasional fastball up high in the zone. The next step will be to see whether higher-level competition makes more contact or sits on his stuff, being on the edges of the zone.
Karson Milbrandt (MIA): The funk rolls on for Karson Milbrandt as he makes his case for a 2026 Major League debut. The 22-year-old is way ahead of schedule after three Triple-A starts, but still has a few skills to improve before being considered for a call-up this summer. The pristine control remains elusive as he has allowed at least three walks in each outing thus far, with a below-average 61% strike rate. Whether it is the new baseball at the higher level, his complex mechanics, or a different issue, Milbrandt will need to tidy up the delivery to reduce the free passes.
River Ryan (LAD): The Los Angeles Dodgers have the luxury to build volume with their prospect pitchers with a nine-game lead atop the Western Division. They already operate with a six-man rotation with the expectation that frontline starters, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, will return this summer, and another supporting arm in Landon Knack starting up his rehab assignment. These riches allow the organization to bide their time with River Ryan, who himself is coming back from a major arm injury. Ryan may justify their prudence in not rushing him up to the Major Leagues by having a few clunkers after appearing like an ace for two months.
Ty Johnson (TB): Nine strikeouts from Ty Johnson represented a high-water mark for him since September 2025. The slider and fastball combination racked up 21 whiffs, one of his highest career totals. However, the six earned runs were the most he has given up since early on in his professional career (May 2024). The three home runs were the most he has ever allowed. Each of these contradictory occurrences makes for a difficult time quickly assessing this outing as a poor start.
Jaxon Wiggins (CHC): The Chicago Cubs have put together a hodgepodge of a starting rotation after suffering from numerous long-term injuries that are stretching their organizational depth. Thank goodness for the return of Jaxon Wiggins, who can enter the dialogue as either support out of the bullpen or in a starting role. The 6’6″ righty has been on the shelf due to a right elbow strain this season and missed around two months with shoulder soreness in 2025. Those health issues, combined with inconsistent command, may limit Wiggins to shorter stints until he becomes a more reliable pitcher.
Carlos Lagrange (NYY): As announced, the Yankees are slowly chipping away at the structure of Carlos Lagrange, the starting pitcher, as they seek to bring him to the Major Leagues as a reliever this season. The question is whether they are doing so with a chisel to reveal new layers or casting new parts to add to the original mold. Lagrange, standing 6’7″ tall and almost 250 pounds, already appears as a nearly complete classical sculpture. Yet, as impressive as the stuff shows up on a data report, the game log is saying that he is not quite ready for opening night.
Jack Wenninger (NYM): It was another start where the results did not match the stuff for Jack Wenninger. He mostly breezed through three innings before running into bad fortune in the fourth inning. Up until that point, he had allowed two hits, one walk, and posted three strikeouts. Then he put on three straight baserunners before Dylan Moore capitalized with an opposite-field grand slam on a high slider. He was shortly removed from the game after 3.2 innings of work. The final line included four runs on five hits and three walks alongside four strikeouts on eleven whiffs.
Tyson Hardin (MIL): The Brewers organization has not been shy about rolling Tyson Hardin out deep into a game. He has the highest pitch count per appearance (~84 pitches/game) of anyone on this list, and he established that rate by the end of April. This converted reliever has a lot of miles left on his “arm-ometer” after barely falling short of 100 innings in 2025. As he continues to build up to a Major League promotion, we still wait for him to put together the newly demonstrated whiff stuff and the historical displays of strong control.
Owen Murphy (ATL): As an 18-year-old, Owen Murphy was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft with the expectation of being a front-line starter. A 2024 Tommy John surgery only delayed those hopes. In 2026, Murphy is prepared to deliver on that hype and has been surging over the last month. He recently set a career high with 21 swinging strikes in a game in which he racked up ten strikeouts. He followed up that start with another solid six innings with six strikeouts on eleven whiffs.
Brody Hopkins (TB): In last week’s stash article, Martin painted an accurate picture of Brody Hopkins by writing, “Every time I start to get excited about Brody Hopkins figuring things out, he doesn’t.” Now, not only do we have to question his skills, but we also have to consider what role he will play with Tampa Bay, because things did not go well when he appeared as a follower earlier this week. Hopkins is at a low point in terms of value and trustworthiness. He sits along with pitchers who have major control issues to be observed from afar, such as Quinn Mathews, Miguel Ullola, Hagen Smith, and Joe Boyle, among others.
On The Bubble
Here are the next several pitchers that were in consideration for inclusion on this week’s list:
- Khristian Curtis (PIT)
- Daniel Eagen (ARI)
- Anthony Eyanson (BOS)
- Michael Forret (TBR)
- Nestor German (BAL)
- Quinn Mathews (STL)
- Tanner McDougal (CHW)
- Ethan Pecko (HOU)
- Hurston Waldrep (ATL) (No longer qualifies as a prospect, but is making his way back in Triple-A Gwinnett from elbow inflammation. The splitter looks sharp with a 60% whiff rate and five strikeouts.)
- Carson Whisenhunt (SFG)
- Brandon White (MIA)
- Joe Whitman (SFG)
- Matt Wilkinson (SFG)
Pitcher Stash List
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Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Bsky/Twitter)
