The Stash 6/24: Ranking The Top 10 Pitching Prospects To Stash

If you have a spot open, I would stash Blake Snell. He has been lights out for the Durham Bulls and with Erasmo Ramirez struggling; he could be called up shortly. Snell has a 2.66 ERA through 44 innings while striking out 61 and only allowing 15 walks. If anyone that is current in the minors should be stashed, it is Snell.

Every weekend, I will be posting about the minor leaguers you should be stashing on your team. This list will be arranged by impact for this year only. Players that will be called up sooner will be ahead of players with more talent who might only be called up late in the year. Prospects are a great way to stay ahead of everyone else rather you are in a dynasty league or a 10-team league. With the minor league season going, we can start seeing some movement with this list. With more and more games to evaluate, new players will jump onto the list, while others could fall off entirely.

1) Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox AAA, ETA: August

Every month this year, Lucas Giolito has seen an improvement in his ERA, WHIP, and BAA. It is an easy accomplishment when you start the year off with an ERA north of 6.00. He has made adjustments and is improving. He is using his legs more when he pitches and we are starting to see much better results. He has more strikeouts in his four starts in June than his six starts in May. He still is not looking like a future Ace though, but he is worth buying a lotto ticket on and stashing.

2) Chance Adams, New York Yankees AAA, ETA: July

Well he is not in ESPN’s player pool so you cannot actually stash him but the Yankees could turn to him with CC Sabathia on the DL. They deployed Luis Cessa in the first spot start and he did not impress going four earned through 4 innings. He pitches again today vs the Rangers and if he does not do well, Chance Adams could be considered for the next start. The Yankees are prepping Adams for his call up as the pitching coaches have urged him to work on his secondary pitches more, specifically his changeup. You would expect a prospect working on his fourth best pitch to be racked a bit but the results? One hit and two walks through six inning with eight strikeouts. I have the #1 waiver spot in two leagues and will be using it on Adams when he is added to the pool.

3) Reynaldo Lopez, Chicago White Sox AAA, ETA: August

Reynaldo Lopez returned to the mound last Sunday after attending to a personal matter. He pitched 5.1 Innings and allowed three earned while striking out three. Reynaldo is showing much more control lately allowing three or fewer walks in nine of his last ten starts. On the negative side, he only has four strikeouts in his last 12.1 IP. Something else to take into account is his home and away splits. Charlotte has one of the most hitter friendly parks in the minors. He has seven away starts pitching 36 innings with 21 walks and 29 strikeouts to go with a 5.25 ERA. At Home, he has six starts going 35.1 innings with nine walks, 35 strikeouts and a 2.55 ERA. He is better than his numbers show so when he gets the call, buy buy buy.

4) Andrew Moore, Seattle Mariners AAA, ETA: July

The Mariners called Andrew Moore up this week. He was then sent back to Tacoma when they activated Felix Hernandez from the DL. He pitched seven innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs while striking out four and walking none. He is someone to add in leagues that have K/BB and he could be a very good streaming option in standard formats. I think his stint in AAA will be brief and he should be back up when the Mariners need another start. Here is Nick Pollack’s take on Andrew Moore:

Should I be running to the wire to get him? Here’s the low-down: He’s a finesse arm that can be sneaky with command to elevate with his heater well and miss some bats with his Slider. His minor league numbers dictate a low walk total and about a 6.50 – 7.00 K/9. That’s not something I want to bank on as I only like to make Three-Fists Compromises with pitchers who have a good track record of keeping their ERA/WHIP low in the majors. If I’m chasing a new arm, I want it to be a proper lottery ticket that can make a huge impact for my team and not with a ceiling of a Top 50 arm.

5) Luke Weaver, St. Louis Cardinals AAA, ETA: August

The Cardinals are 33-39 and are five games back from first. The cardinals could make some moves to position themselves for 2018. They could look to deal from their starting pitching, specifically Lance Lynn who owns a 3.33 ERA through 14 starts. The cardinals could make the move with Weaver and Flaherty both pitching well in AAA. Weaver has a 2.16 ERA this year through ten starts with 54 strikeouts and only 11 walks. He is not going to be a huge strikeout guy but with his control and the NL Central, he has a nice floor. I expect an ERA around 3.50 and 7.0 K/9. In leagues with K/BB, he is more valuable.

6) Yohander Mendez, Texas Rangers AA, ETA: July

Mendez was roughed up on June 15th allowing 6 earned in six innings. He has responded well after that outing going seven innings, striking out seven while allowing only three hits with zero walks. He only needed 87 pitches, 58 for strikes, through the seven innings. The Roughriders pitching coach had this to say:

“That’s just repeatability of his mechanics and we tweaked a few things here and there with his mechanics, He’s able to repeat better and better each outing and it shows when he’s around the strike zone. And he did a good job with that again.”

He is ready for a call up. The Rangers could use him with Cashner, AJ Griffin, Martin Perez, and Cole Hamels on the DL. He has a low ceiling but he could be a solid streaming option vs weaker teams.

7) Drew Steckenrider, Miami Marlins AAA, ETA: July

Marlins should be sellers at the trade deadline and could move a number of players including Yelich and Ozuna. Plenty of teams will be looking for relief pitching which makes Drew Steckenrider a call up option in July. He has an elite fastball that touches 97 and a slider he mixes in. He is currently in AAA, after a brief MLB stint, and is tearing it up with 39 strikeouts in 29.1 Innings. He also has a 1.53 ERA, a BAA of .131 and a 0.72 whip.

8) Steven Brault, Pittsburgh Pirates AAA, ETA: July

For nearing a month, the Pirates bloggers have been asking for Steven Brault. He has been pitching exceptional in AAA and has a 1.29 ERA in 48.2 innings the last two months. In his three starts in June, he has 19 strikeouts to two walks. He is ready. Make the move Neil Huntington, MAKE THE MOVE. Fantasy wise; do not waste a spot until he is called. He could be good, but he is not a future stud. I expect him to be in the 70-80 range of the pitcher list rest of season when he is called up but could peak in the 60s.

9) Lucas Sims, Atlanta Braves AAA, ETA: August

The Gwinnett Braves are in one of the more pitcher friendly leagues in the International League. At home, he has a 2.83 ERA, on the road its 6.23. He will see a number of pitcher friendly parks in the NL East, along with only one team above .500. The circumstances are going to be favorable for Sims even if his stuff is not as polished as the others on this list.

10) Jose De Leon, Tampa Bay Rays AAA, On the DL

Nothing new to report. He is currently on the DL and there has not been much of an update. If he were healthy, I would probably rank him after Reynaldo Lopez.