Bubba Chandler Among Triple-A Pitchers Performing Well in Early Going

After taking a look at some hitting prospects who are excelling early on in Triple-A, let's do the same for pitchers.

Again, we'll focus on players age 25 or below. Those are the guys who are often among team's top-30 prospects, and on the verge of being called up to the big leagues.

This article is mostly meant for dynasty/keeper league fantasy owners, but is also beneficial to deep-league managers, and in some cases, standard league owners.

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Most Innings Pitched

Kansas City's Noah Cameron is among the Triple-A leaders in innings pitched. He's logged 16 1/3 innings so far. Los Angeles Dodgers' Justin Jarvis is at 16 innings, as is Philadelphia's Mick Abel, Tampa Bay's Joe Rock and Chicago Cubs' Connor Noland.

Cameron is the team's No. 5 prospect and has a 2025 ETA. In his three starts, Cameron has a 2-0 record and 1.65 earned run average. He's got 18 strikeouts, while allowing nine hits and a home run. He's allowed just a .161 average against him.

Cameron isn't likely to continue those numbers all season, but he's showing that he's ready for a new challenge, which is the big leagues. He also pitched in Triple-A last season, so he's got enough seasoning there to be ready for a big league call up whenever the team decides it's necessary.

Cameron is a name to keep tabs on for all fantasy owners, not just deeper leagues and dynasty/keeper leagues. He'll begin as a deep-league fantasy asset, but could work his way into standard leagues in a hurry with some nice outings.

Jarvis isn't a top-30 prospect of the Dodgers, which isn't all that surprising considering LA has a loaded farm system and Jarvis has a career 4.52 ERA in his minor league career.

Jarvis has a 1-0 record and a 3.38 ERA across his 16 innings so far. He's allowed six runs on eight hits - he's also walked a whopping 14 batters, but also has 14 strikeouts.

You can see from that high walk total why Jarvis isn't a highly-regarded pitching prospect. The Dodgers have plenty of pitching talent, so it was going to be hard for Jarvis to reach the big leagues anyways. A change of scenery could afford him an opportunity though, so don't write off Jarvis just yet.

Abel is the Phillies' No. 8 prospect and has a 2025 ETA. The former first-round pick hasn't lived up to expectations, but teams also give those high draft picks plenty of opportunities.

Abel has a 1-2 record, but a 3.94 ERA across three starts so far. He's struck out 18 batters over his 16 innings, while also allowing 16 hits and six walks. He needs to lower that WHIP a bit before he's likely to get a call up.

Philly's rotation is stacked, and a change of scenery could do Abel well. That might be his best chance to reach the big leagues, unless Philly is dealing with a number of injuries at some point this season.

Rock is the Rays' No. 22 prospect this season. He's got a 2025 ETA. Across three starts, Rock is 0-1, but with a 3.38 ERA. He's allowed six runs on 14 hits and four walks, while punching out 16 batters.

Rock has a career 4.55 ERA in the minor leagues, so that's why he's not all that highly regarded as a prospect. The lefty has good strikeout numbers, and can eat innings pretty well too, which should afford him a crack at the big leagues at some point.

Tampa Bay does a good job at developing pitchers, so I'd pay a little closer attention to Rock than I would most other team's No. 22-ranked prospects. A late-season call up seems likely, and it could happen earlier if there's injuries in the MLB rotation, or the team sells at the trade deadline.

Noland is not a top-30 prospect of the Cubs. The 25-year-old has a 2-0 record and 1.69 ERA across three starts so far, so he definitely is catching some people's eyes.

He's allowed three runs on eight hits and five walks, while punching out 13. Noland has a career 3.63 ERA in the minor leagues, which is definitely a good mark.

Chicago is already dealing with injuries in its rotation, and another injury or two, or some struggles, could give a guy like Noland a crack at the big leagues. He'd have to pitch pretty well to maintain a big league spot, but I'd definitely keep an eye on him.

ERA Leaders

Among qualified pitchers, Houston's A.J. Blubaugh, Kansas City's Luinder Avila, Milwaukee's Carlos Rodriguez and Pittsburgh's Bubba Chandler have ERAs under 3 so far.

Blubaugh is the No. 10 prospect for the Astros, and he has a 2025 ETA. He's made three appearances this season, covering 13 innings.

Blubaugh has a 1.38 ERA and 1-1 record, along with 15 baserunners allowed and a whopping 21 punchouts already. He has a sub-4.00 ERA for his career, but allows a few too many baserunners.

He's still a highly-regarded prospect, and should get a chance to make his MLB debut at some point in 2025. Blubaugh is a pitcher to grab in some deeper dynasty/keeper leagues now, and he will be a decent addition if/when he gets called up.

Avila is the team's No. 19 prospect and has a 2025 ETA. He's worked 15 innings across three starts so far - he has a 4.20 ERA, has allowed 18 baserunners and has punched out 20.

He's got a 4.47 ERA for his minor league career, so there's some fine tuning he needs to do to urge the big league team to call him up. He's blocked by some other good pitching prospects, so a trade might be his best route to the big leagues in 2025.

Rodriguez is the Brewers' No. 22 prospect, and already made his MLB debut in 2024. He made three starts, posting an 0-3 record and 7.30 ERA across 12 1/3 innings.

In three AAA starts this season, Rodriguez has a 2-0 record and 0.61 ERA. He's allowed just 13 baserunners, while striking out 18 batters.

Rodriguez is showing that he has advanced past being a minor league pitcher early on, meaning he's ready to be called up whenever. The big league team has already dealt with a number of injuries, so to see him not be called up yet probably means the team wants to season him a bit more before giving him another go at things.

Rodriguez should get a chance to pitch in the MLB again in 2025, but he'll have to pitch better there to hang on to his roster spot. He might need a change of scenery to be given a true chance at sticking in the big leagues.

Chandler is the top prospect for the Pirates, so to see him excelling early in the Triple-A season is a big thing for his fantasy owners. He should debut this season, and is probably ready for a call up now.

In three starts, Chandler doesn't have a win or loss, but sports a great 1.69 ERA across 10 2/3 innings. He's allowed more walks (5) than hits (4), while striking out 18 batters.

Chandler needs to lower his walks, but he's been nearly unhittable early on. Pittsburgh has developed some good, young pitchers of late, and Chandler could be the next in line for big things at the big league level. Keep a very close eye on him, as a call up is likely coming sooner rather than later.