Top 20 Prospect Pitchers for Redraft Leagues
Tim Kanak brings you his top 20 prospect pitchers to draft in 2026 redraft leagues
Check out Tim’s top 25 prospect hitters for redraft leagues here.
Hello friends, this article is a re-hash of my Top 150 prospect rankings but synthesized into a Top 20 of only pitchers for re-draft purposes. I don’t look at NFBC ADP data, so this entire ranking is coming from my own personal re-draft rankings tied to playing time. When talking about prospects in re-draft leagues, skill matters, but just as importantly as how good I think a player will be, we must figure out the following:
Is this player already on the roster, and do they have a starting role?
Has this player already debuted in the majors?
If not currently on the roster, is there a clear opening for an eventual promotion?
Is this player on the 40-man roster?
Pitchers have the reverse debut concerns as hitters, as they are generally better if the command isn’t out of whack in their first few starts before hitters can get a read on them and adjust.
How competitive will the team be? The more competitive the team, the more likely prospects are promoted more quickly.
I should also note, I’m not including Japanese or Korean players in these rankings - those guys aren’t prospects, they’re transfers from other leagues & countries. Just for kicks, I’ll put a little note in on where I think they should sit between other guys, but you aren’t getting a full write-up on them - calling them a prospect or rookie is just kind of cheating in my opinion.
The ranking explanations will vary from my Top 150 prospect rankings as they will explain these rankings for re-draft, though prime skills will not change from article to article. Enjoy!
NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level - rather than including time on roster.
***Note, Prematurely removed due to them being so close to graduation, or due to age and injuries bumping them from prospect status by the next time we see them (or because I just am sick of ranking some of these guys): SP Christian Scott (Mets), SP Luis Morales (Athletics), SP Jack Perkins (Athletics), SP Hurston Waldrep (Braves) and SP Troy Melton (Tigers)
1. SP Chase Burns (Reds)
MiLB:
MLB:
ETA: Debuted
Comp: Hunter Greene / Dylan Cease mash up
Prime Skills: Insane fastball / slider combo that could be one of the best in baseball. Burns just went on the IL with a flexor strain, but the Reds had already been talking about limiting the workload and it sounds like he avoided a serious injury and could be throwing again shortly, though word is he may not come back this season still as a precaution. The fastball / slider combo is downright dirty for Burns, by major league Stuff+ he has the fifth best fastball in baseball, a top 10 sinker (he’s only thrown 4, all above 100 mph) and the fourth best slider in baseball.
Arsenal Grades:
FA (97-102 mph): 70/70
SL (88-93 mph): 70/80
CH (89-92): 45/50
CU (82-84 mph): 40/40
Command: 50/55
Ranking Explanation: Chase Burns has the highest upside of anyone still considered a prospect, and if it wasn’t for Paul Skenes, we would be oohing and awing all over Burns’ elite K-BB% rate and JA ERA. As long as he can limit hard contact and homers, he’s going to be a top-tier starter for a very long time and will be in the rotation out of the gate for the Reds.
Prospect Rank: 3
2. SP Nolan McLean (Mets)
MiLB:
MLB:
ETA: Debuted
Comp: Tanner Bibee / Luis Severino mash
Prime Skills: McLean is focusing on pitching for the first year of his minor league career, and we are seeing an uptick in the effectiveness of his stuff. His arsenal includes a mediocre mid 90s fastball (that tops out at 98), a potential elite late breaking vertical sweeper with a unique hard cut at the tail end of the pitch with a sinker that sits in the mid 90s and had a 75% GB% in AAA along with an 88-90 mph cutter with slider break, an 85-88 mph changeup and a low 80s big hooking curve that is his best swing and miss pitch.
Arsenal Grades:
FA (94-98 mph): 55/65
ST (84-87 mph): 50/55
SI (93-97 mph): 60/65
FC (89-93 mph): 60/65
CU (79-82 mph): 65/70
CH (85-88 mph): 50/55
Command: 55/60
Ranking Explanation: McLean doesn’t have the elite fastball and slider combo of Burns, but McLean has a top-shelf kitchen sink repertoire of above-average to above-plus offerings across six different pitches. McLean has a better natural tendency than Burns to avoid significant hard hit damage at this point in time and has proven better durability to date at the pro level, so he might be a bit safer than Burns, while Burns for sure has much higher strikeout upside. Burns get the edge for the strikeout upside, but I wouldn’t ding anyone for leaning McLean for the higher floor and safety net.
Prospect Rank: 8
3. SP Trey Yesavage (Blue Jays)
MiLB:
MLB:
ETA: Debuted
Comp: Righty Clayton Kershaw light w/ a splitter
Prime Skills: Big righty with a super over-the-top trebuchet-like delivery that throws a solid fastball, slider, cutter, and changeup combo. Yesavage has an above-average 13.2 SwStr% on the fastball with a ridiculous 12.1” of vertical break (not including gravity), but his most impressive pitch is the slider (also sometimes labeled a cutter due to its tight break), which has a 29.2 SwStr% on the season in the minors and a 16.2 SwStr% in the majors. The splitter had an insane 34.1% SwStr% in the minors and 31.7 SwStr% in the majors and is located well for an infamously tough pitch to command.
Arsenal Grades:
FA (93-97 mph): 55/60
SL (86-89 mph): 55/60
FS (82-86 mph): 70/70
CU (79-81), death ball: 45/50
Command: 40/50
Ranking Explanation: Yesavage doesn’t have the same elite strikeout upside as Burns since he relies more on an up and down approach with the killer splitter, while Burns has a ridiculous fastball / slider 1-2 punch and he also doesn’t have the command and wide arsenal of McLean, but that doesn’t make him chopped liver. He proved in the playoffs and in his elite minor league season he has the stuff to be a top 30-40 major league starter from the jump in 2026.
Prospect Rank: 18
4. SP Bubba Chandler (Pirates)
MiLB:
MLB:
ETA: Debuted
Comp: Luis Gil with a Zach Wheeler slider
Prime Skills: Big fastball and slider guy, known as a dual sport athlete who is not finally focusing on baseball rather than football. A lot of upside here as he has never been focused only on baseball until a couple years ago; he had committed to Clemson to play QB. He throws 98-102 MPH with between 18-22” of vertical break, a 12/6 vertical slider and a sick change up with nice fade that tunnels well and against his other two pitches, but he needs to improve the command of the offspeed pitch. He throws from a 1-2 o’clock over the top arm angle with a smooth action and quick, whippy arm action.
Arsenal Grades:
FA (97-102 mph) w/ high rise: 65/70
SL (86-90 mph) vertical hard slider: 50/60
CH (88-93 mph): 55/65
CU (81-85 mph): 30/40
Command: 40/50
Ranking Explanation: Chandler may have proved in his MLB debut that the second-half minor struggles might have been due to boredom or frustration at the lack of promotion after a completely dominant run through May in his first eleven starts, where he netted a 24.4 K-BB% and 2.40 JA ERA in AAA. He could end up as a very good top-of-the-rotation starter as long as he keeps the command in check, but there are more concerns thanks to his volatility than Yesavage.
Previous Rank: 35
5. SP Connelly Early (Red Sox)
MiLB:
MLB:
ETA: Debuted
Comp: Christopher Sanchez w/ more pitches
Prime Skills: Early is a kitchen sink guy with good velocity and a near ¾ arm-slot from the left side with plus command, a killer sinker / sweeper combo and six total pitches with a newly developing sweeper, which is nasty against the curve and slider. He can paint with his fastball, which is an excellent setup pitch, while the sinker adds a few inches of additional horizontal movement to keep hitters off balance, and the changeup almost plays like a gyro slider as it falls off the plate vertically and the curve has two plane classic slider / slurve like break at high velocity.
Arsenal Grades:
FA (93-97 mph): 55/60
CH (83-85 mph): 50/55
SI (93-97 mph): 60/60
ST (83-85 mph): 60/70
CU (80-83 mph): 55/55
SL (83-87 mph): 40/40
Command: 55/60
Ranking Explanation: Early is insanely underrated because he translated up every single level as smoothly as butter thanks to a wide arsenal and potentially plus command. Early throws a ton of strikes and has at least four plus pitches, maybe five to draw from. He will open the year in the rotation, and I expect we will get a top 50 starter.
Prospect Rank: 58
***Tatsuya Imai would rank here if he qualified***
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