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Eric Cross discusses six notable pitching prospects who could debut early in 2025 that you should be monitoring and targeting for 2025 fantasy baseball.
We're down to the final week of the 2024 MLB regular season, so why not have some fun and look ahead to the 2025 season to see what top prospects could be up early in the season that we should be targeting or monitoring for fantasy purposes.
This article is an extension of the weekly Top 25 Prospects to Stash article that I wrote weekly here on RotoBaller detailing the prospects worthy of stashing in redraft leagues or ones to keep an eye on. Hopefully, that article was useful to many of you who read it each week, helping to decide who to stash or not stash and when they could be up throughout the season.
With that article series done for the season, I figured I'd get a jumpstart on that article for 2025. I already did a hitter version of this a few days ago and will be diving into some notable pitching prospects today that should be up early in 2025 or maybe even break camp in their respective team's rotations. Maybe this can also help with any potential keeper conundrums you might be having.
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Top Pitching Prospects Who Should Debut Early in 2025
1. Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers
While the 2024 season wasn't as dominant as the 2023 season was for Jackson Jobe, he remains my No. 1 overall pitching prospect and should debut early in 2025. In 91.2 innings this season, Jobe posted a 2.36 ERA and 1.12 WHIP but saw his walk rate rise from 2.3% to 12% and his strikeout rate drop from 32.6% to 25.6% this season.
Even with the walk and strikeout rates taking a step back, I'm not worried about either mark moving forward. Jobe has shown above-average or better command in the minors and his walk rate was ticking down over the final two months of the season.
Given his upside and proximity to Detroit, Jobe should be on every fantasy manager's radar in 2025 drafts. If he's not in the Opening Day rotation, expect Jobe to be up by the end of May.
2. Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies
Remember him? Back in 2022, Andrew Painter had one of the best seasons for a pitching prospect that I can remember. In 22 starts across three levels, Painter posted a stellar 1.56 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 6.2% walk rate, and a 38.7% strikeout rate. All of that as a 19-year-old who made it up to Double-A for his final five starts of the season.
That dominant showing had Painter in the running for a rotation spot with the Phillies during 2023 spring training until he started feeling soreness in his pitching elbow, leading to Tommy John surgery.
Andrew Painter, Sword. 🧑🎨⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ZfctREnwid
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 1, 2023
It's impossible to know how Painter will look when he's fully back pitching in game action, but the early reports have been promising Painter is the most talented pitcher in the minors when fully healthy and one of the few that I'd throw the "Ace upside" tag on.
If he looks good in spring training, it wouldn't fully shock me to see the Phillies put him in the rotation to open the season. If not, his stay in Triple-A likely won't be for very long.
3. Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh Pirates
The 2025 season is going to be an exciting one for pitching prospect debuts, as three of my Top-5 pitching prospects will likely debut early in the season. Bubba Chandler is the latest exciting pitching prospect to come through the Pittsburgh organization, following Jared Jones and Paul Skenes, who debuted early in 2024.
While those two were excelling in the Majors, Chandler was excelling in the minors, posting a 3.08 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 8.6% walk rate, and a 30.9% strikeout rate over 119.2 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
If you read my prospects to stash weekly article this season, you'll remember me wondering if Pittsburgh was going to give Chandler some MLB time down the stretch.
That didn't happen, but Chandler is Major League ready with the upside of a No. 2 starter thanks to three above-average or plus offerings and decent command and control. It wouldn't shock me if he broke camp in Pittsburgh's rotation to open the 2025 season.
4. Quinn Mathews, St. Louis Cardinals
Without question, one of the biggest pitching prospect risers of the 2024 season was St. Louis left-hander Quinn Mathews. In 26 starts across four levels, Mathews recorded an exceptional 2.76 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 8.6% walk rate, and a 35.4% strikeout rate. In fact, Mathews' 202 strikeouts led the minors by a solid margin, finishing 28 ahead of Cleveland's Matt "Tug Boat" Wilkinson.
Quinn Mathews becomes the 2nd MiLB pitcher since 2012 to notch 200 K's in one season!
The @Cardinals' top LHP prospect has a 12.8 K/9 rate across four levels. pic.twitter.com/xzLSghzsPK
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 20, 2024
While there was some speculation that Mathews would get the call in September, that never came to fruition. However, Mathews has little to nothing left to prove in the minors, and the St. Louis rotation could use a jolt in 2025. Mathews' bat-missing ability would make him immediately fantasy-relevant, and I'd say the chances of him breaking camp in St. Louis' rotation are above 50%.
5. Brandon Sproat, New York Mets
Don't let Brandon Sproat's Triple-A numbers distract you from the fact that he's one of the top pitching prospects in the game that could/should debut very early in the 2025 season for the New York Mets. Even with his Triple-A struggles (7.53 ERA in seven starts), Sproat still finished 2024 with a 3.40 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 9.1% walk rate, and a 28.3% strikeout rate.
While Kodai Senga will be back in 2025, the Mets could lose one, two, or all three of Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Jose Quintana to free agency, so there's a decent opportunity for Sproat to capture a rotation spot with a strong spring training.
6. Tink Hence, St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals haven't been pushing Hence during his minor league career, so he's more of a June ETA in my eyes, but a strong spring could push that ETA up a month or two. Hence is one of the 10 best pitching prospects in the game and finished 2024 with a 2.71 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 25.9% K-BB rate in 20 Double-A starts.
His skills have always been good, but Hence was inconsistent with his velocity and command, two areas which have improved here in 2024. Hence also improved his strikeout rate by 9.5% and allowed only five home runs in 79.2 innings. I'd expect the Cardinals to baby him a bit during his rookie season, but I also expect him to pitch more Major League innings than Minor League innings.
More That Could Be Up Early: Cade Horton, CHC | Jacob Misiorowski, MIL | Thomas Harrington, PIT | Matt Wilkinson, CLE | Jonah Tong, NYM
If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.
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