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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Bubba Chandler, Andrew Painter, Quinn Mathews - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
Through the first two months of the season, we have seen several young pitchers take the mound and perform well at the MLB level. Milwaukee's Logan Henderson and Kansas City's Noah Cameron have both provided high fantasy value at times.
In this piece, we will look at three of the top pitching prospects in the sport and determine if they should be stashed. All three of these highly-touted prospects currently reside at the Triple-A level, but do they have a path to carry value in 2025 fantasy baseball?
So, let's dive in and see if these three prospects should be stashed or grabbed off the waiver wire and what their outlook is once they reach the majors.
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Bubba Chandler, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Current Level: Triple-A
Availability: 15% rostered
2025 MiLB stats: 51 1/3, 2.63 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 70 SO, 26 BB
He pairs it with a changeup that tunnels well off the fastball and has excellent fading action, sitting north of 90 mph. It averages 17 inches of arm-side fade with a late tumbling action. The slider could end up being a 70-grade pitch if he harnesses the command of it, as it sits anywhere from 87-90 with a strong gyro shape. Chandler has added a new curveball this year that sits around 83 mph with more depth than the slider.
Last season, the No. 2-ranked prospect in the sport looked sharp during his Triple-A debut, logging 39 1/3 innings to the tune of a 1.83 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. During this stretch, Chandler struck out 54 batters and allowed just 15 walks. This season has taken a slight step back but has continued to show elite strikeout upside, tallying 70 in just 51 1/3 innings.
Bubba Chandler is wasting his time in AAA pic.twitter.com/B4zAoomswb
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 31, 2025
-Written by Chris Clegg
Andrew Painter, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Current Level: Triple-A
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MiLB stats: 37 1/3 IP, 4.82 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 41 SO, 12 BB
Painter's last two starts don't give a ton of confidence that he is ready to be in the majors. It may not even be before the All-Star break before we see him, but that does not mean we are not reaching stash territory. The good news is, even in Painter's recent start, which was bad, he faced 24 batters, the most he has faced in a game since September 2022.
Building up innings and improving his command are the biggest hurdles at this point.
Painter's fastball has sat at 97 mph and touched 100 mph. The velocity is fully back, and Painter's fastball averages around 18 inches of IVB from a 6'6" release height. The command will only improve with the pitch, but it already looks like the plus offering it was before surgery.
Painter's cutter has been his most-used secondary pitch. It is around 90 mph with good spin and carry, and misses bats at an impressive clip for a cutter. The slider is around 86 mph with more depth and nine inches of sweep and plays well off the cutter.
The curveball has remained strong, sitting between 80-82 mph. It has shown depth and sweeping action, averaging negative three inches of IVB and 10 inches of sweeping action. Painter has thrown his changeup sparingly this year as a distant fifth pitch. It sits around 90 mph with carry and 12 inches of fading action.
Before reaching Triple-A this season, Painter continued to showcase his elite strikeout upside at Low-A, where he struck out 12 batters in 11 1/3 innings while allowing just one free pass. During his last full season of action (2022), Painter emerged as one of the top prospects in the sport.
Across 103 2/3 innings split between Low-A, High-A, and Double-A, the hard-throwing right-hander struck out an eye-catching 155 batters while holding a 1.58 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP.
Andrew Painter’s career minor league stats are insane 🤯.
33 GS | 133.0 IP | 90 H | 26 ER | 8 HR | 32 BB | 194 K | 1.76 ERA | 0.91 WHIP
Painter is only a few starts away from joining the Phillies!pic.twitter.com/V5m6iQQAlx
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) May 23, 2025
- Written by Chris Clegg
Quinn Mathews, SP, St. Louis Cardinals
Current Level: Triple-A
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MiLB stats: 23 IP, 3.52 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 24 SO, 18 BB
Remember him? Mathews was a popular name in this column during the opening month of the campaign, but suffered a shoulder injury. However, Mathews is back in action and remains on a trach to reach the majors this season.
In his most recent outing, Mathews tossed five innings of one-run ball (no earned runs) with five hits and no walks. In this start against Triple-A Indianapolis, he struck out six batters. This was a much-needed bounce-back for Mathews as he allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings in his first start since returning from the Triple-A IL.
Before the injury, Mathews had a rough start to the season, allowing seven runs in just 10 1/3 innings of work.
Last season, the left-hander was one of the most impressive pitchers in the minor leagues. He opened the season with Low-A but was able to reach Triple-A by the end of the campaign. Through 143 1/3 total innings, Mathews held a 2.76 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP.
Given his strong 2024 campaign, Mathews may only need a few more outings at Triple-A before earning the call to St. Louis. Currently, Andre Pallante holds the No. 5 spot in the rotation but has struggled over his last four starts, posting a 6,32 ERA with a 1.48 WHIP. Mathews would provide a much-needed spark, especially if they remain in the wild-card picture.
Quinn Mathews' final line:
5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Mathews' stuff looked the liveliest it’s been since returning back to the mound. His heater averaged 95 MPH w/ 17” vert. SL and CH both recorded 4 whiffs a piece. Also mixed in a 77 MPH CB. pic.twitter.com/CQIzjIKVpc
— Kareem (@KareemSSN) June 7, 2025
- Written by Andy Smith
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