Hot Pitching Prospects Who Deserve More Love

Chris Clegg breaks down 11 pitching prospects who should be getting more love.

Cover Photo with image of Justin Wrobleski by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images

Hello all, this article piggybacks a thread I put on X earlier this morning looking at 11 pitching prospects who have been hot and are underrated. This article will give you a detailed breakdown of each pitcher and what they bring to the table. Each arm should be rostered in a variety of league types, but I discuss that within the reports on each.

https://x.com/RotoClegg/status/1805620854249680975

Underrated Pitching Prospects

Kohl Drake, LHP, TEX, 23, A+

Drake received a well-deserved promotion to High-A this week, where I will be getting a live look at him. There has been more buzz as of recent, but you can still get on Drake as he is.. checks Fantrax.. 0.2% rostered. How he handles his promotion to High-A will be telling, but Drake has been rather dominant this year and has the stuff to continue performing as he moves up.

Drake has allowed just one earned run total over his last 33 innings, with 57 strikeouts and just seven walks. His 19 percent swinging strike rate is elite, and even if it ticks down against better hitters, in High-A, he has a nice floor there. His strike-throwing has improved this year and sits at 65.5 percent over those last 33 innings.

The fastball is solid, sitting in the 92-95 range with a lot of arm side runs. It comes from a tough arm slot from the left side and allows the pitch to play up as he gets good extension. Drake mixes both a slider and a curve, which miss most of the bats and he will throw a changeup on occasion. I will report back with a live look of him this week.

Brad Lord, RHP, WSH, 24, AAA

Lord has been dominant and continued to pitch well upon his promotion to Triple-A. The former 2022 18th-rounder out of South Florida has been relatively good all year, pitching 79.2 innings this year with a 1.47 ERA and a 1.1 WHIP. Having a 26 percent strikeout rate and an nine percent walk rate, Lord has an arsenal that looks legit.

Throwing from a low release height, Lord gets a ton of run on his fastball that bores in on right-handed batters sitting in the low 90s. He throws a low-to-mid 80s slider, a curve, and a change. It is a unique profile, but has worked. Will Triple-A hitters handle him better? We shall see, but so far so good.

Brandyn Garcia, LHP, SEA, 24, A+

Garcia has a 2.02 ERA on the year with a strikeout rate north of 30 percent and a walk rate under ten percent. He is dominating despite running a high .347 BABIP. Over his last eight starts, things have looked even better. Garcia has a 0.83 ERA in 43 innings and an impressive 18 percent swinging strike rate. The overall strike rate has also ticked up to above average, which is an encouraging sign.

The fastball sits in the mid-90s with a ton of armside run on it and has ticked up a bit from when he was at Texas A&M last season. The slider has also shown major improvements from his college days, getting a ton more sweep on the pitch and missing more bats. It is a pretty true two-pitch mix, but the fastball and slider combo work, but it will be worth watching if it continues to work as he moves up levels.

They rostered in 0.1 percent of Fantrax leagues; I would take a look and consider rostering him in deeper formats.

Jarlin Susana, RHP, WSH, 20, A

Susana is a ton to watch on the mound. Being in consistent at times, he always brings the heat with a fastball that routinely sits around triple-digits that he can blow by hitters. The changeup is in the 90-93 mph range and his sldier gets into the 90s often.

The overall line this year is not great as Susana has a 5.44 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP, but the bat missing has been there as he has a 32 percent strikeout rate. The walks are a little concerning as he as a 13.6 percent walk rate.

Things have looked better as of late, as Susana’s last four starts have been 20 innings with a 0.9 ERA with 32 strikeouts and nine walks. Still a little higher walk rate than you would like to see, but in the day and age where many pitchers are struggling to throw strikes, Susana finds himself around league average as far as strike rates go.

Jake Miller, LHP, DET, 22, A

Miller was an eight round pick in the 2022 draft as a young college arm out of Valparaiso. After some struggles and missed time in 2023, Miller has come out looking like a different arm in 2024. Yes, we probably need to see him pitch in High-A before getting too excited, but it is hard to argue with the performance to date.

After pitching in one-to-two-inning stints in April, Miller is now in the four-to-five-inning range and has been dominant. Since April 25, when Miller began going three innings per outing, he has a 1.50 ERA across 36 innings with 47 strikeouts and four walks.

He is throwing strikes at over a 70 percent clip and has a 17.5 percent swinging strike rate, which is pretty impressive. The fastball sits around 93 mph with a slider in the low-80s. Those two pitches are his most used offering, and both get whiffs. The changeup is his third pitch, but it might be his best, as he has a 26 percent swinging strike rate against this year. If Miller earns a promotion and gets the call, he may soar up the boards.

Logan Henderson, RHP, MIL, 22, AA

Henderson is probably the biggest name on the board, at least for Dynasty Dugout readers as we have been hyping him since early 2023. He jumped on radars in 2023 after being a fourth-round draft selection in 2021 out of McLennan Community College. Compiling 78.2 innings pitched in 18 starts, Henderson pitched to a 2.75 ERA with 106 strikeouts, good for a 35 percent strikeout rate while walking just 26(8.6%).

Henderson is smaller, but his fastball has taken huge steps forward from sitting 91 in 2023 to 92-95 now, and he has nice carrying action. His changeup plays well off the fastball with 11 mph of velocity separation, tumble, and fading action. Henderson’s slider has taken a step forward this year as well, but he is still relying heavily on the fastball and changeup.

Since returning from injury to full-season ball, Henderson has a 1.19 ERA across 22.2 innings pitched with 29 strikeouts and four walks. He throws strikes at an elite 69 percent mark and has a 16 percent swinging strike rate. Henderson has all the makings of a top 100 prospect.

Ian Seymour, LHP, TB, 25, AA

Unfortunately, injuries have eaten up most of Seymour’s career to this point, but the former 2020 second-rounder looks healthy and is off to a great start in 2024. Through 77.2 innings, Seymour has a 1.97 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP, one of the lowest in the minors. His 30 percent strikeout rate and 5.8 walk rate are both among the best in Double-A right now, and his 16.5 percent swinging strike rate ranks very well.

The changeup is the bread and butter here, as Seymour misses plenty of bats with its separation from the fastball and arm speed. It gets a nice fade and depth, which is a large reason why he can miss bats. The fastball does not overpower hitters but features a slider and an occasional cutter.

Seymour has a violent delivery, which leads to some concerns about whether he will be a reliever in the long term. He is throwing strikes at a solid rate of 65 percent this year. Don’t be shocked when we see Seymour in Triple-A soon and potentially pitching in Tampa at some point in 2024, even if it is out of the bullpen.

Justin Wrobleski, LHP, LAD, 23, AAA

A great scouting find by the Dodgers landed them Wrobleski in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma State. Despite pitching just 21 innings in 2022, scouts saw enough that they liked to predict a breakout in 2023, which is precisely what happened. Wrobleski fired 102.1 innings at High-A Great Lakes, posting a 2.90 ERA with 109 strikeouts to 35 walks.

By season’s end, Wrobleski had seen his fastball tick up and was sitting 95-97, topping out at 99 with a nice ride. The velocity has held since then. His slider sits in the mid-80s but reaches the upper 80s at times with a two-plane break from a hard-to-pick-up release point. He will mix in a low-80s curveball with sweeping action but much more depth the slider, making it hard for hitters to pick up on which breaking ball he is throwing. 

When Wrobleski’s changeup is on, it is a solid pitch that shows a nice fade and depth. He will also mix a cutter on occasion, giving him five pitches. The athleticism on the mound stands out, and Wrobleski is quick to the plate with the fastball jumping on hitters quickly. 

Over his last seven starts, Wrobleski has thrown 39 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 38 strikeouts and ten walks. He has seen his strike rate tick up significantly and over this span is sitting at 69 percent which is elite. With how he is pitching, I would not be shocked if we saw Wrobleski in the Majors soon.

Jackson Ferris, LHP, LAD, 20, A+

Ferris was involved in the Dodgers-Cubs trade that sent Michael Busch to Chicago and Ferris and Zyhir Hope to Los Angeles. Ferris was selected in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Cubs, who were able to pay over slot, first-round caliber money.

From an arsenal standpoint, Ferris features a tough arm slot to pick up from his 6’4” frame, and his 93-95 mph fastball plays up due to the deception in the delivery. Ferris’s hammer curve sits in the mid-70s, changing hitters' eye level significantly. 

Ferris added a new slider this year, which sits in the low-80s with sweeping action, making it a distinct pitch from the curve while also having a decent changeup that he should throw more often. 

After his most recent start on Sunday, in which Ferris struck out eight batters over six scoreless innings, he has a 2.56 ERA over his last 31.2 innings. Over that span, he has 42 strikeouts and 13 walks. The strike-throwing on the year is still slightly below average, and his swinging strike rate is around average, but things have been improving recently.

There is still a lot of work to be done in his development, but Ferris has plenty of upside, and you have to love him in the Dodgers development system.

Austin Peterson, RHP, CLE, 24, AA

It feels like every week we discuss Peterson at the Dynasty Dugout but he is still rostered in just one percent of leagues on Fantrax. The fastball has ticked up to 92-93 range, and he shows a firm changeup in the upper-80s. The slider sits in the low 80s, but has nice bat missing ability.

He has consistently pitched deep into games, averaging over six innings per start, and has a 2.44 ERA in 85 innings to this point. Peterson has impressively struck out 87 while allowing just six walks. His overall strike rate on the year sits north of 70 percent to pair with a 33 percent CSW.

Over his last six starts, Peterson has averaged 6.7 innings per start and has a 1.11 ERA with 45 strikeouts and just three walks.

Owen Wild, RHP, TB, 21, A+

Wild continues to dominate despite not having an overpowering profile, with the fastball sitting 90-91 mph, but it comes with a very flat VAA and 20 inches of IVB, making it a bit of an outlier profile. His slider sits in the low-to-mid 80s with a changeup in the upper-80s. It could use a little more separation from the fastball but it is a solid offering.

Wild is far from wild on the mound, walking just 5.9 percent of hitters backed by a 69 percent strike rate. His 17.2 percent swinging strike rate is way up from the 14 percent mark he posted in Single-A, and between both levels, he has a 2.85 ERA in 66.1 innings with 78 strikeouts.

Mavis Graves, LHP, PHI, 20, A

Graves has been dominating in Single-A with the Phillies after being a sixth-round selection in 2022. After pitching 34 mediocre innings on the complex in 2023, he has only taken hitters to their grave in 2024. Through 53 innings, Graves has a 2.55 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has struck out nearly 36 percent of batters while walking less than 10 percent.

With a fastball sitting in the 91-93 range regularly, Graves tops out around 95 mph. His changeup actually plays pretty well off the fastball showing ride and nice, late drop. It sits around 83 mph, which is a similar spot to his slider. The curveball sits in the upper 70s with nice two-plane break.

Graves has been picking up steam recently among prospects circles but is still just two percent rostered on Fantrax.