From sea to shining sea, while MLB spotlighted Rivalry Weekend, it was business as usual for dozens of minor-league clubs grinding through another slate of games. There’s something timeless about tracking prospects — whether for your dynasty roster or your favorite big-league team. While these players cut their teeth far from the major-league spotlight, they embody something every fan clings to: hope. It doesn’t matter how or when it happens — just like fans dream of championships, prospects dream of being the ones to deliver them.
In today’s game, pitching is baseball’s currency. No organization ever has enough of it. That’s why tools like PLV matter so much — they help us identify, track, and uncover the next wave of arms before they make their impact on the game.
Be sure to head over to the dynasty team page for all of the latest breakdowns and rankings to help take your team to the next level in 2025!
Want to find these numbers and much more? Visit the PL Pro Tools Hub, a page containing all the tools exclusive to PL Pro members for quick access.
Checking in on Some Big Name Prospects:
Brandon Sproat, 24, New York Mets
Season Stats: 8 GS/ 32.1 IP/5.85 ERA/18.6% K%/11.4% BB%/1.33 WHIP
Weekly Stats: 1 GS/ 4.1 IP/ 12.46 ERA/18.2% K%/13.6% BB%/1.62 WHIP
It felt like a rough week across the board for high-profile prospects — unless your name was Bubba Chandler. Some weeks are just like that, especially with the hitter-friendly environments scattered across Triple-A. But one arm whose stock took another clear step backward was Mets right-hander Brandon Sproat.
The 24-year-old entered 2025 as a possible “next man up” for a contending Mets squad. After blazing through the system in 2024 — jumping from High-A to Triple-A in just 24 games — Sproat looked like a fast-rising arm worth monitoring in dynasty circles. His struggles in Syracuse late last year were easy enough to write off as growing pains. But now, with those issues bleeding into 2025, the red flags are becoming harder to ignore.
MLB Pipeline agrees. In their recent update — which they framed as a “market correction” — Sproat plummeted from No. 40 to No. 68 overall, the biggest drop for any prospect in the update.
Unfortunately, his performance this past week backed that ranking slide. On May 14th against Lehigh Valley, Sproat gave up six earned runs on three home runs, walking three and striking out just four. Control once again came back to haunt him, an all-too-familiar theme this season. The underlying metrics aren’t much more encouraging. Opponents are barreling up his sweeper, slider, and changeup with regularity, and his four-seam fastball carries a rough .379 xwOBA — far from the kind of number that suggests a turnaround is imminent.
The Mets certainly won’t abandon the 56th overall pick from the 2023 draft, but fantasy managers should pump the brakes on stashing Sproat for now. Until he regains command and finds a reliable out pitch, his MLB debut should remain a “watch” rather than a “when.”
Take a look under the PLV hood:
Hurston Waldrep, 23, Atlanta Braves
Season Stats: 8 GS/34.1 IP/5.77 ERA/23.3% K%/14.5% BB%/1.69 WHIP
Weekly Stats: 1 GS/6.0 IP/3.00 ERA/26.1% K%/13.0% BB%/1.00 WHIP
On the flip side of Sproat’s struggles, right-hander Hurston Waldrep had a couple of good outings for a veteran-heavy Gwinnett Stripers squad. With big-league names like James McCann and even Ronald Acuña Jr. making appearances, it was Waldrep’s May 14th quality start that quietly stole the show.
The 23-year-old’s overall numbers are still recovering from a rough April, but the recent trend is promising. Across his last 11.1 innings, Waldrep has racked up 16 strikeouts — flashing the kind of bat-missing potential that made him a first-round pick in 2023.
Some of that resurgence may be tied to tweaks in his pitch mix. Waldrep’s signature splitter still has impressive movement, but command remains an issue — it’s not landing in the zone often enough to generate consistent whiffs. His four-seamer has looked sharper, though a .325 xwOBA against it suggests it’s still more functional than dominant. The slider has struggled to separate itself too, largely due to inconsistent command.
Control has always been the biggest concern with Waldrep, and unfortunately, that part of his game hasn’t taken a leap forward. He continues to issue too many free passes, which is starting to cap the once-exciting ceiling. The Braves may still envision him as a starter, but the profile is increasingly drifting toward a high-octane, late-inning role.
Waldrep’s prospect stock took a big hit after a pair of rough MLB outings last season, but a full campaign in Triple-A could help rebuild his foundation. The tools are still intriguing, especially in dynasty formats, but he’ll need to rein in the walks before he earns another shot in Atlanta.
Take a look under the PLV hood:
Carson Whisenhunt, 24, San Francisco Giants
Season Stats: 8 GS/44.0 IP/3.48 ERA/26.6% K%/3.4% BB%/1.09 WHIP
Weekly Stats: 1 GS/7.0 IP/0.00 ERA/37.5% K%/0.0% BB%/0.43 WHIP
Fantasy sports and empathy don’t often share the same sentence, but if we’re going to be quick to criticize prospects, we should be just as quick to spotlight their positives. That’s exactly how I feel about left-handed pitcher Carson Whisenhunt right now.
When I last checked in on the Giants lefty in late April, El Paso had just lit him up for seven runs in three innings. But since then? He’s been on an absolute heater. In 28 May innings, Whisenhunt has allowed just four earned runs, all on solo homers. Over his last two starts alone, he’s given up only five hits while striking out 14.
As usual, his success lives and dies with the changeup — and right now, it’s thriving. The pitch boasts a 49.1% whiff rate in May, an absurd number that highlights just how dominant it can be when he’s in rhythm. The sinker still isn’t consistent enough to anchor his arsenal, but if hitters keep chasing the cambio, he’ll keep leaning into it.
Whisenhunt has turned a corner. And for those who saw the early bumps in the road, this run deserves just as much attention.
Take a look under the PLV hood:
Weekly Four-Seam Standouts
Cristian Mena, 22, Arizona Diamondbacks
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 132 Fan 4+ on May 15, 2025, start
Season Stats: 7 GS/35.0IP/4.89 ERA/27.0% K%/8.8% BB%/1.34 WHIP
As someone who’s long focused on one team, joining the Pitcher List crew has been a refreshing outlet — it’s forced me to look beyond Kansas City and get a better read on all 30 franchises. Across the league, there are plenty of prospects every dynasty manager should track, but the next wave of MLB contributors is likely to include names that aren’t exactly headliners just yet.
Right-handed pitcher Cristian Mena might be one of those names.
When I tuned into his May 15th start, the 22-year-old looked every bit like a future fantasy riser. He already has a solid MLB outing under his belt this season, but the Diamondbacks can’t afford developmental slip-ups in a competitive NL West. Thankfully, Triple-A Reno gives Mena space to grow, and his performance is giving fantasy managers reason to take notice.
Once a raw project in the Chicago White Sox system, Mena has made strides, particularly with his fastball. He’s known for his pair of breaking balls, but it was hard to ignore the four-seamer touching 98 mph in this outing. He primarily uses it against lefties, mixing it into his usual repertoire, and the results were electric. With an underrated 6.9 feet of extension from his 6’2” frame, Mena’s fastball plays up, and it absolutely popped in terms of pitch tunneling on May 15th.
The result? Seven strikeouts, just two hits allowed, and 5.1 innings of shutout work. Mena may not be a household name yet, but if this outing is any indication, that could change in 2025.
Andrew Painter, 22, Philadelphia Phillies
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 123 Fan4+ in May 15, 2025, start
Season Stats: 6 GS/19.1 IP/3.26 ERA/25.3% K%/7.6% BB%/1.14 WHIP
Unlike Cristian Mena, right-handed pitcher Andrew Painter is already a household name among prospect hounds. The towering Phillies righty looked like his old self during Arizona Fall League action last year, making a strong return after missing both the 2023 and 2024 seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Philadelphia wisely eased him back into competition, starting with four outings at Low-A before placing him back on a more traditional development path at Triple-A.
Painter hasn’t been flawless, but through his first two Triple-A starts, that signature 70-grade fastball looks as live as ever.
Earlier this season, his four-seamer touched triple digits, though it’s now averaging in the 96–97 mph range. Given that he hasn’t handled a full-season workload since 2022, all eyes are on whether that velocity holds up deeper into the summer. Still, the fastball remains a weapon — especially when paired with 17.3 inches of induced vertical break.
That said, Triple-A hitters haven’t been overmatched by it just yet. The pitch’s .352 xwOBA suggests it’s getting hit harder than managers would like. Fortunately, Painter isn’t a one-pitch arm. He’s got four additional swing-and-miss offerings, and his changeup, in particular, has been effective at neutralizing left-handed hitters.
Painter still has time to fully settle in, and if the stuff continues to sharpen, he will be back knocking on the Phillies’ big-league door soon
Peyton Stumbo, 22, Pittsburgh Pirates
Weekly Four-Seam Grade: 105 Fan4+ in May 14, 2025, start
Season Stats: 7 G (6 GS)/24.0IP/6.00 ERA/25.2% K%/2.8% BB%/1.42 WHIP
If you really want to get into the weeds, Pirates right-hander Peyton Stumbo might be more your speed. Drafted out of Nevada in the 20th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Stumbo spent his pro debut season at the complex before getting his first true test in 2024 with Low-A Bradenton. So far, he’s excelling in the areas he can control.
Stumbo’s standout trait is his command—he rarely hands out free passes and does an excellent job attacking the top of the zone with his fastball to set up his secondary pitches. His curveball and changeup still need polish, but for a pitcher outside any organizational Top 30 list, his underlying metrics on the four-seam fastball are worth watching.
In his May 14 start, Stumbo’s fastball logged 18.8 inches of induced vertical break and 12.5 inches of arm-side run — strong marks that help his heater play up despite modest velocity. Paired with a sharp curveball, he’s generating a healthy amount of swings and misses. That said, he still needs to miss more bats overall; he allowed seven hits and three earned runs in that May 14th outing, showing that command alone won’t always carry him.
Still, Stumbo is trending in the right direction. He may not be a name to stash just yet, but he stands out from his Low-A peers, and that’s reason enough to circle back on him in 2026.
Welcome to the Bigs
Carson Palmquist, 24, Colorado Rockies
Minor League Season Stats: 6 GS/1.24 ERA/0.86 WHIP/30.6% K%/12.0% BB%
Major League Debut Pitching Line: 4.0 IP/3 ER/1.00 WHIP/5 K/0 BB/77 P
Carson Palmquist made his MLB debut for the Colorado Rockies on May 16 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, stepping into the spotlight as the club’s No. 9 prospect. Called up from Triple-A Albuquerque, where he posted a 3.82 ERA and 45 strikeouts over 35.1 innings, the 24-year-old left-hander flashed some reasons for long-term intrigue, even if the surface results were shaky.
Palmquist allowed five runs on six hits and a walk over four innings, failing to record a strikeout. But the outing wasn’t without positives for fantasy managers keeping tabs on deep-league stashes.
His sinker, the workhorse of his arsenal, was hit hard by Arizona’s lineup — no surprise given Coors-adjacent pitch-to-contact concerns. However, his sweeper quietly stole the show. The pitch held opponents to a .241 xwOBA and notched an 18.8% whiff rate, showcasing swing-and-miss potential that didn’t show up in the box score.
Palmquist also boasts 7.5 inches of extension, ranking among the best in the majors, which should help his otherwise average pitch grades play up. That kind of extension adds deception and gives him more margin for error as he adjusts to big-league hitters.
He’s not a priority add in redraft formats just yet, but in deeper dynasty or NL-only leagues, Palmquist is worth monitoring. If the Rockies give him a longer leash, especially outside of Coors, there’s a path to value as a backend starter for the struggling franchise.
Other pitchers that made their MLB debuts this past week:
Brayden Fisher, 24, Toronto Blue Jays
