10 More Minor League Pitchers With Intriguing Arsenals To Target In 2025

Upper Levels

Tink Hence, RHP, Cardinals

• Four-seam (50%): 52
• Slider (26%): 59
• Changeup (14%): 64
• Curveball (10%): 56
• Ball%: 37%

Exactly half of the time he pitches, the 30th-ranked prospect in our Top 100 chooses his 94 mph four-seam fastball. The offering gets average whiffs and above average chases, leading it to be graded as a 52. Hence shows a deep and excellent arsenal, as every other pitch in his repertoire is above average or plus, supporting why he’s so highly ranked. Although only 22-years old, Hence did have some arm woes and his fastball velocity did take a step back in 2024. His somewhat-high ball rate, which correlates to a near double-digit walk rate, jeopardizes his potential ace status. The Cardinals have eschewed sending him to the AFL this year in order to rest him up for 2025.

Brandon Sproat, RHP, Mets

• Four-seam (50%): 56
• Slider (25%): 51
• Changeup (17%): 52
• Curveball (7%): 54
• Ball%: 34%

Our Mets 2024 Minor League Player of the Year shows a solid four-pitch mix where two pitches are average and two are above average. His primary pitch is his 96 mph four-seam fastball, which has nearly a foot of arm-side run and no trouble being located in the zone. With his solid command, Sproat’s arsenal grades out as one of the better ones in the upper minors.

David Sandlin, RHP, Red Sox

• Four-seam (40%): 54
• Slider (29%): 52
• Sweeper (14%): 57
• Splitter (12%): 52
• Ball%: 35%

Like Sproat, Sandlin shows a four-pitch mix where each pitch is average or better. His 96 mph four-seam fastball, which has kissed 100 mph, has a 110 Stuff+ on our model. His 86 mph slider and 84 mph sweeper—which have two distinct shapes—combine for over 40% whiffs, while his splitter gets above average whiffs and chases to help neutralize the platoon advantage. With a 35% ball rate, the former Royal has the ingredients for more, but unless he adds length to his outings—in 2024, he averaged fewer than four innings per appearance—he may be destined as an up-and-down starter.

Lower Levels

Matt Wilkinson, LHP, Guardians

• Four-seam (61%): 62
• Slider (23%): 56
• Changeup (15%): 51
• Ball%: 37%

The southpaw affectionately known as “Tugboat” sailed through Low-A despite a four-seam fastball that averaged less than 90 mph. After being promoted to High-A Lake County, his combination of a low release height, big extension and plus flatness continued to elicit a whiff rate that was one standard deviation higher than other fastballs at the level. He also had a 71% strike rate and 58% CSW% on the four-seam fastball. His secondary offerings grade out as above-average and average, as they each get more than 40% whiffs, as well. Wilkinson should be pitching in Double-A in early 2025 where we’ll see if his unique look and traits will also play in the upper levels. The lefthander was one of the great stories of 2024. 

Thomas White, LHP, Marlins

• Four-seam (57%): 53
• Slurve (27%): 53
• Changeup (16%): 60
• Ball%: 36%

Prior to the season, there was some debate as to which high school pitcher drafted by the Marlins in 2023 was the organization’s number one prospect: White or Noble Meyer. We have White ahead of Meyer, and looking at the pitching arsenal, it’s easy to understand why. His three-pitch mix from the left side—and I’m bucketing his slider and curveball together because they have very similar shapes and velocities—consists of two above-average pitches and a plus changeup. His four-seam fastball sits 95 mph and, thanks to his above average extension, elicits both above-average chases and whiffs. White’s changeup has 10 mph of velocity separation and nearly 10 inches of vertical separation from his fastball and gets 45% whiffs. His slider/curveball sits 80 to 82 mph with over a foot of horizontal movement and a CSW% of over 50%. With this arsenal, as long as he can command it better than his current 64% strike rate, he has SP2 or SP3 upside.

Yoniel Curet, RHP, Rays

• Four-seam (67%): 57
• Slider (20%): 50
• Changeup (7%): 55
• Cutter (7%): 58
• Ball%: 37%

The 21-year old Rays righthander finished the season with five starts for Double-A Montgomery, but he threw nearly 100 innings with High-A Bowling Green, so I’ll write him up in this section. Although the first thing you notice with his arsenal is that he has no pitch graded below a 50, Curet really relies on his 95 mph four-seam fastball, throwing it literally two-thirds of the time. With big extension from a low slot and over a foot of tail, he gets 30% whiffs, so it makes sense to lean on it so much. Funnily enough, he threw it even more often when he reached Double-A and got even more whiffs. It’s hard to envision major league success in a rotation when one pitch makes up over 65% of an arsenal—and especially with a double digit walk rate—when you consider that the only qualified starter in MLB to throw a four-seam fastball more than 61% of the time was Luis Castillo of the Mariners. Still, the results don’t lie: Curet has an arsenal that elicits whiffs and chases at an above-average rate.

Great But With Injury-Related Caveats

Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Pirates

• Four-Seam (52%): 49
• Curveball (20%): 57
• Cutter (17%): 60
• Slider (8%): 60
• Ball% 32%

After missing the entire 2022 season with Tommy John surgery, Ashcraft returned in 2023 under a managed workload and showed a fastball that sat 95 mph and a walk rate that was around six percent, which soundly answered any concerns about post-TJ velocity or command. In 2024, averaging around five innings per appearance, Ashcraft’s fastball has touched 98 mph. His three breaking pitches grade as above average, plus, and plus, and his walk rate has fallen to a microscopic four percent. This led to a promotion to Triple-A where, because he was already on the 40-man roster, all signs seemed to point to him being a significant part of the Pirates rotation plans in 2025. Unfortunately, that future is currently in limbo, as Ashcraft once again returned to the injured list with a forearm injury, missing all of September. Keep an eye on his spring performance.

Connor Prielipp, LHP, Twins

• Four-seam (50%): 58
• Slider (32%): 66
• Changeup (18%): 68
• Ball%: 33%

Last July, the second round draft pick of 2022 for the Twins underwent surgery to repair his UCL. It’s only been 336 pitches, over 17.1 innings in High-A, but what Prielipp showed was quite interesting: a four-seam fastball that averages 95 mph, an 87-mph slider which got over 50% whiffs and a changeup with 16 inches of fade and over 60% whiffs. Small sample size caveats apply—and we’ll see how much it regresses over a full season—but in his quest to return to full health, the results have been extremely encouraging for the Twins.

Sleepers

Jose Gonzalez, RHP, Rangers

• Slider (37%): 55
• Four-seam (24%): 53
• Cutter (15%): 57
• Two-seam (12%): 45
• Changeup/Splitter (13%): 57
• Ball% 32%

Another Rangers pitcher who took a step forward, both in terms of stuff and performance—we mentioned Alejandro Rosario and Kohl Drake in last week’s article—Gonzalez finds himself on this list of fascinating arsenals. From a results perspective, the just-turned-23-year old righthander has four above-average pitches and a ball rate suggesting above average command. Meanwhile from a Stuff+, our internal model gives his five-pitch mix a 106 overall even though his four-seam fastball averages only 92 mph. The Venezuelan is a Top 400 fantasy prospect, but RoboScout would not be shocked if he took a big step forward in 2025.

Trey Gibson, RHP, Orioles

• Four-seam (38%): 58
• Slider (24%): 56
• Curveball (17%): 54
• Cutter (14%): 50
• Changeup (8%): 44
• Ball%: 37%

Gibson is an interesting pitcher for the Orioles. He threw 55.2 innings for Low-A Delmarva with a 13.1 K/9, earning a call-up to High-A Aberdeen where he threw 36.1 innings with a 9.2 K/9 and a 4.21 ERA. Across the two levels, he had a walk rate of 10%, which shouldn’t be too unexpected from his relatively high 37% ball rate. Although he needs to harness the command, the arsenal is quite intriguing. The 22-year old righthander has a seven-foot extension, which leads to a plus whiff rate on his 94 mph four seam fastball. His slider and curveball have distinct shapes—his 85 mph slider has over a foot of sweep while his 81 mph curveball has big downer action—and both get over 40% whiffs. He also throws a 90 mph cutter that grades out as average and a 90 mph changeup which is his lowest rated pitch, currently below average. With three above average pitches with one bordering on plus, if he can consistently keep the walk rate in the single digits, he might be able to pitch in a major league rotation. Not bad for someone not in our Top 30.