By now, you’ve probably heard that Jonah Tong will debut for the Mets Friday. So why isn’t he the top prospect to stash?

Well, he is, obviously. I’ve moved him up to 47th in my rest-of-season starting pitcher rankings and think he’ll be a smashing success right away. He paced all minor league pitchers with a 1.43 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 14.2 K/9, and while you don’t see many evaluators claiming he’s the game’s top pitching prospect, I wouldn’t blink at any one that did. He manages to get tremendous carry on his fastball despite an over-the-top delivery, making for a one-of-a-kind look that gives hitters fits. He’s made big strides with his secondaries this year. He’s barely eclipsed last year’s innings total, giving him plenty of runway to finish out the year. Everything about him looks great.

It’s just that calling him the top prospect to stash would be academic at this point. He’s already “arrived” except in the most technical sense.

Plus, excluding him frees up a spot for some other prospect to stash.

FIVE ON THE VERGE

(Here are the prospects most worth stashing in redraft leagues.)

2024 minors: .318 BA (85 AB), 2 HR, 6 SB, .899 OPS, 14 BB, 23 K
2025 minors: .313 BA (259 AB), 11 HR, 20 SB, .967 OPS, 36 BB, 70 K
2025 majors: 0 for 19, 3 BB, 9 K

At this point, it’s reasonable to wonder what the Diamondbacks are planning with Lawlar. It seemed obvious that he’d step in for the departed Eugenio Suarez at third base once he was healthy enough to do so, being sidelined by a hamstring injury at the time of the trade. He’s not sidelined anymore, though, having returned to action at Triple-A two weeks ago. That’s plenty long enough for what effectively amounts to a rehab assignment, yet the Diamondbacks — who are fully out of the playoff race at this point, it’s worth noting — haven’t moved to promote him yet. 

What I’m insinuating is that they may have looked at how close Lawlar is to exhausting rookie eligibility and decided that preserving that is more important than giving him some run at the end of a lost season. By my count, he’s spent 41 days on the active roster between 2023 and 2025, leaving him with just four more to give.

So why is he still my top prospect to stash? Well, it’s only a theory. The Diamondbacks were willing to forfeit Lawlar’s rookie eligibility back in May if only things had gone better for him then, and because his first two big league stints went so poorly, giving him a chance to settle in with lower stakes is probably more valuable than any hypothetical draft picks he could earn them with his performance next year. He’s overdue for an honest opportunity, and I still believe he’ll get it sooner than later.

2024 minors: 4-10, 5.15 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 115 1/3 IP, 45 BB, 115 K
2025 minors: 6-7, 2.73 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 112 IP, 32 BB, 136 K

Snelling’s numbers at Triple-A Jacksonville keep getting better and better. With his latest effort of six shutout innings, he now has a 1.13 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 11.6 K/9 in seven starts at the minor leagues’ highest level. Shoring up his control and picking up an extra 1.5 mph on his fastball have put him back in the discussion for best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball after a disappointing 2024 took him out of it, and he’s still a few innings shy of last year’s total, making a shutdown unlikely. I thought when the Marlins cut Cal Quantrill loose that they might be clearing the way for Snelling. They turned to Ryan Gusto instead, but there’s another opening with Janson Junk hitting the IL due to nerve irritation in his elbow. Stay tuned!

2024 minors: .295 BA (105 AB), 2 HR, 2 SB, .805 OPS, 16 BB, 15 K
2025 minors: .314 BA (354 AB), 16 HR, 21 SB, .951 OPS, 62 BB, 62 K

At last report over a week ago, the Cardinals were looking to give some of their other young infielders some run and, thus, were not looking to promote Wetherholt even with third baseman Nolan Arenado (strained shoulder) and second baseman Brendan Donovan (strained groin) sidelined by injury. But really, what more do they need to see from Nolan Gorman, who’s accumulated nearly 1,500 plate appearances in the majors already? What upside could they honestly believe Thomas Saggese has? Wetherholt was their first-round pick in 2024, drafted seventh overall, and has plowed through the minors as effortlessly as Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone did. He’s at his absolute hottest right now, too, batting .545 (12 for 22) over his past five games. It’s just implausible to me that the Cardinals wouldn’t give him a trial run here, knowing that his rookie eligibility will remain intact for next year. Surely, they’ll want him on the team at the start of 2026, and he’s likely to perform better if he has some familiarity.

2024 minors: .279 BA (280 AB), 8 HR, 10 SB, .845 OPS, 50 BB, 57 K
2025 minors: .309 BA (424 AB), 20 HR, 17 SB, .913 OPS, 46 BB, 76 K

Stewart becomes the latest addition to my Five on the Verge with the removal of Jonah Tong, and this is as much about him meeting the Reds’ needs as forcing the issue with his performance. Few would have predicted at the start of the year that the 21-year-old would be in this position by season’s end, but particularly with his move up to Triple-A in mid-July, he’s provided little reason to doubt his readiness. There, he’s slashed .315/.401/.654, homering 10 times in just 35 games. His 92.7 mph average exit velocity and 113.7 mph max exit velocity both rank in the top 10 percent at Triple-A, which is comparable to Gunnar Henderson in the majors, and yet he’s striking out at just a 16.3 percent rate, which is comparable to Jose Altuve.

So what’s the hold-up? Ostensibly, the Reds have no place to play him, but Ke’Bryan Hayes is providing nothing offensively at third base while Matt McLain is providing next to nothing at second. There’s also no dedicated DH. Stewart could factor at any or all of those three spots, and if the Reds hope to stay in the playoff race, they may need him to.

2024 minors: .313 BA (457 AB), 9 HR, 42 SB, .804 OPS, 32 BB, 93 K
2025 minors: .331 BA (423 AB), 6 HR, 42 SB, .854 OPS, 55 BB, 90 K

Crawford homered in back-to-back games before having that streak snapped with a measly couple of singles Wednesday. That’s out of character for him — the home runs, I mean — but not beyond his capabilities. The 21-year-old hits the ball plenty hard enough to put it in the bleachers but shows no interest in doing so, instead implementing a slash-and-burn style wherein the plurality of his batted balls are in the dirt to the opposite field. It’s led to a .331 batting average in the minors this year, including .351 in August, and should have him at the precipice of the majors. The Phillies have been getting nothing out of the left field spot all year, and now is the perfect time to audition a player who could wreak havoc with his speed, as is so handy in the playoffs. You can expect Crawford to have a significant impact in two of the five hitting categories if he indeed gets the call.

FIVE ON THE PERIPHERY

(Here are some other prospects doing something of note.)

2024 minors: .261 BA (395 AB), 11 HR, 23 SB, .812 OPS, 56 BB, 100 K
2025 minors: .251 BA (386 AB), 12 HR, 50 SB, .786 OPS, 64 BB, 112 K

A consensus top 30 prospect coming into the year, Miller struggled to adapt to Double-A at first, amplifying an existing concern about his projection outpacing his production. Exactly when would we see him perform up to his capabilities? August, apparently. The 21-year-old is slashing .348/.454/.629 for the month, having connected for four of his 12 home runs. His most eye-catching stat is his 50 steals, though in the long run, power figures to be a bigger part of his game than speed. He’s still growing into it, clearly, but his recent surge should alleviate concerns about stalled development and keep him among the top 50 prospects in baseball, if not still the top 30.

2024 minors: .180 BA (100 AB), 1 HR, 4 2B, .518 OPS, 4 BB, 34 K
2025 minors: .281 BA (310 AB), 11 HR, 16 2B, .843 OPS, 49 BB, 97 K

WhileMiller’s stock held fairly steady throughout his struggles, Condon’s has fallen off a cliff since the Rockies selected him third overall one short year ago. Power was supposed to be his carrying tool, propelling him to a record 37 home runs during his final college season, but it had gone missing during his first calendar year as a pro. A wrist injury this spring may have contributed to its disappearance, but in any case, it’s back now. Of his 12 home runs as a professional, six have come in his past 14 games, and while Double-A doesn’t offer all the fancy data to contextualize these things, you can see that his latest one wasn’t a cheapie:

There are still plenty of questions to answer here about contact rates and defensive utility, but Condon is back on a positive trajectory, at least.

2024 minors: .218 BA (78 AB), 0 HR, 0 SB, .640 OPS, 15 BB, 14 K
2025 minors: .283 BA (399 AB), 17 HR, 14 SB, .889 OPS, 52 BB, 101 K

Reimer would be more widely celebrated as a prospect if he hadn’t missed most of 2024 with a hamstring injury. He was a surprise standout the year prior, reaching base at a near .400 clip as a 19-year-old in A-ball and improving his swing mechanics to generate more power. That power has come through in a big way this year and has been especially loud over his past 12 games at Triple-A, during which he has hit .511 (23 for 45) with five home runs. His drive to improve should push him to the absolute limits of his physical projection in a way that’s reminiscent of another corner infield prospect now knocking on the door to the majors, Sal Stewart.

2025 minors: .282 BA (355 AB), 10 HR, 27 SB, .869 OPS, 71 BB, 93 K

Whether because of the similar consonant sounds in their first and last names or because they both spend so much of their time at third base, I’m constantly mixing up Jacob Reimer and Caleb Bonemer. The latter is two years younger but only one level behind, having recently moved up to High-A with a surge that’s seen him hit .411 (30 for 73) with three homers in his past 20 games. Like Reimer, Bonemer stands out mainly for his on-base skills, albeit with easier power. Unlike Reimer, third base is more Bonemer’s fallback option than his best-case outcome defensively. Some scouts give him a chance of sticking at shortstop. 

Andrew Pinckney, OF, Nationals

2024 minors: .258 BA (520 AB), 8 HR, 27 SB, .691 OPS, 43 BB, 167 K
2025 minors: .260 BA (411 AB), 20 HR, 29 SB, .769 OPS, 36 BB, 136 K

At 24, Pinckney is a bit old for a prospect, but he’s long had impressive tools that he’s finally begun to actualize at Triple-A. This is especially true since the start of July, during which he has hit .299 (50 for 167) with 11 home runs and 10 steals. His strikeout rate during that time is still 30 percent, and that remains his biggest hurdle to big league success, but seeing as he’s impacted a ball 116.6 mph this year, putting him in the 99th percentile for max exit velocity, while rating in the 88th percentile for sprint speed, there’s something to work with here.

In a perpetually rebuilding organization like the Nationals, which has only two outfield spots accounted for long-term (James Wood and Dylan Crews), Pinckney could get some run. Fun fact: I just learned today that he attended my high school, which has so far seen only one major leaguer (Dwight Smith Jr.).