May’s hottest pitching prospects — one for each organization

At the end of April, we named the hottest hitter in each farm system to celebrate the prospect bats off to terrific starts. But pitching can take a little longer to evaluate given the distance between starts and early-season innings caps/pitch counts, among other issues.

Now that we’re closing in on the end of the second month of the 2025 Minor League season, it’s time to give the arms their due.

These are the hottest MiLB pitchers in each organization over the last 30 days, including five of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects and two of the top 11 overall.

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Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP (No. 2/MLB No. 71)
The transition from the warm Florida State League to the much cooler Northwest League hasn’t slowed down Toronto’s 2024 first-rounder yet. Yesavage ended his spell at Single-A Dunedin with double-digit strikeouts in three of his last five starts and has fanned 19 over eight frames in his first two outings with High-A Vancouver. He’s allowed two earned runs on three hits and six walks in that span. The 6-foot-4 right-hander leads the Minors with 74 punchouts on the season.

Orioles: Nestor German, RHP (No. 11)
That’s three in a row for the Orioles’ right-hander, having made it on our “best prospect find” story, as well as last week’s look at most pleasant surprise for each team. Over the last month, German has posted a 3.47 ERA and 1.20 WHIP, a span that included a promotion to Double-A, where he’s had one very good and one not-so-good start as he gets his bearings at the higher level.

Rays: Ty Johnson, RHP (No. 20)
Acquired from the Cubs as part of last year’s Isaac Paredes deal, Johnson is settling into his second organization in his first move to Double-A. He’s fanned 15 over nine scoreless innings in his two most recent starts for Montgomery, and his most recent five-frame performance on Saturday marked his longest outing of the young season. Utilizing a plus fastball and above-average slider, Johnson owns a 3.62 ERA over nine appearances (three starts), and his 38.5 percent K rate is third-best in the Southern League (min. 25 IP) behind Top 100 talents Chase Burns (42.5) and Hagen Smith (39.3).

Red Sox: Yordanny Monegro, RHP (No. 23)
Monegro continues to find success as a starter who relies heavily on an 85-88 mph slider/cutter, posting a 1.62 ERA with a 27/3 K/BB ratio over 16 2/3 innings in his last four outings. Signed for just $35,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2020, he backs up his slider/cutter with a 92-96 mph fastball and has fashioned a 2.05 ERA while striking out 43.9 percent of the hitters he has faced in Double-A this year.

Yankees: Griffin Herring, LHP (No. 25)
The Yankees loaded up on Southeastern Conference pitchers in the 2024 Draft and most are performing well this spring, including Herring, who signed for a well-over-slot $797,500 in the sixth round out of Louisiana State. He has logged a 2.11 ERA with a 30/6 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings during his last four starts, and he leads the Single-A Florida State league in strikeouts (58 in 44 2/3 innings) and opponent average (.153), while ranking second in ERA (1.21) and WHIP (0.90). His best pitch is a sweeping mid-80s slider that he complements with a low-90s fastball.

Guardians: Austin Peterson, RHP (No. 29)
A deceptive 6-foot-6 right-hander, Peterson creates good extension to help his low-90s fastball play up and he gets chases with all of his secondary pitches: low-80s slider, upper-70s curveball, mid-80s changeup. He has compiled a 1.40 ERA with a 20/5 K/BB ratio over 25 2/3 innings in his last five starts — and that actually made his overall stats slightly worse. The 2022 ninth-rounder from Connecticut tops the Double-A Eastern League with a 1.18 ERA and ranks second in K/BB ratio (5.29) and WHIP (0.79).

Royals: David Shields, LHP (No. 8)
Kansas City tends to play it slow with their high-school arms, and it was no different with its 2024 second-rounder, who opened the season in the Arizona Complex League. The 18-year-old southpaw lasted only one start there though before being pushed out to Single-A Columbia, and he’s rewarded that confidence with an 0.69 ERA and 0.54 WHIP over his first three starts since his May 14 debut with the Fireflies. Even more eye-popping, he’s struck out 22 and walked only one over 17 frames between both stops.

Tigers: RJ Petit, RHP (No. 28)
Pitching out of the Double-A Erie bullpen, Petit hasn’t allowed a run since April 25, a stretch of seven appearances. He has fanned 16 and scattered three hits and two walks over that stretch of 12 1/3 innings. The 6-foot-8 right-hander has typically thrived off his 83-85 mph gyro slider, and that’s been no different in 2025 with a whiff rate of 49 percent in tracked pitches, per Synergy. At 25 years old, he should be pushing for Triple-A Toledo sometime soon.

Twins: Connor Prielipp, LHP (No. 5)
Prielipp’s stuff is undeniable and the Twins are hoping he can stay healthy all year for the first time. His workload is being monitored very closely — he’s yet to go more than four innings in any outing, and he’s only hit that level once — and he’s currently shut down on the development list for a planned skipped start. But the stuff plays in Double-A, with a 10.6 K/9 rate over the last 30 days, while walking only 2.3 per nine.

White Sox: Grant Taylor, RHP (No. 7)
Since the White Sox moved Taylor to the bullpen in mid-May, Double-A hitters have gone 1-for-14 with nine strikeouts against him. He has a 1.38 ERA with a 15/2 K/BB ratio in 13 innings over the last month and an overall 1.27 ERA with 28 whiffs in 21 1/3 frames. A 2023 second-rounder from Louisiana State, he features some of the best stuff in the system with a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and touches 101, a low-90s cutter and an upper-80s slider.

Angels: Chris Cortez, RHP (No. 8)
Many thought Cortez had the stuff and delivery to start, but maybe not the command. And no one would have been surprised to see him shortened up, especially after his dominant postseason run out of Texas A&M’s bullpen last year, before the Angels took him in the second round in the Draft. We’ll have to see about the strike-throwing long-term, but the stuff is playing as a starter, with a 2.00 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over his last five starts. He’s also held High-A Northwest League hitters to a .204 batting average against in that span.

Astros: Miguel Ullola, RHP (No. 4)
After getting rocked for 10 runs in 10 innings in April, Ullola has been on a roll with a 1.00 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 18 Triple-A innings. The Astros’ best pitching prospect, he signed for $75,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2021 and has developed an explosive mid-90s fastball with carry and a sharp mid-80s slider.

A’s: Gage Jump, LHP (No. 13)
He’s been as good as any lefty prospect in the game, and yes, we know he’s under-ranked. (We’ll be looking to add him to the Top 10 LHP Prospects list when we have the opportunity.) In the last month, all the 2024 draftee has done is post a miniscule 0.84 ERA and 0.66 WHIP while moving seamlessly from High-A to Double-A. He has an absurd 7.4 K/BB ratio during this time span, while hitters have managed a measly .147 BAA.

Rangers: David Davalillo, RHP (No. 29)
After leading the Minors with a 1.88 ERA last year, Davalillo is doing so again with a 0.92 mark, as well as ranking first with a 0.71 WHIP. He has allowed just two runs with a 29/2 K/BB ratio in his last 23 innings in High-A, continuing to confound hitters with his low-80s splitter. Signed for just $10,000 out of Venezuela in 2022, he comes from a big baseball family that includes a grandfather (Pompeyo) and great-uncle (Vic) who played in the big leagues, a father (David) who made it to Double-A and a younger brother (Gabriel) who turned pro with the Angels for $2 million in January.

Braves: JR Ritchie, RHP (No. 6)
When the Braves took Ritchie No. 35 overall in 2022 and went a little over slot to sign him, they hoped the Pacific Northwest prepster could develop into a future big league starter. Tommy John surgery in 2023 slowed him, but he started putting that behind him last year and has continued to throw well in 2025. Still only 21, he recently got bumped to Double-A and he’s made two solid starts there after tossing 20 1/3 innings with just one unearned run allowed over three starts in High-A to earn the callup. That included a nine-inning, one-hit shutout in his final start with Rome and he has a combined 1.16 ERA and 0.74 WHIP in the last month.

Marlins: Josh Ekness, RHP (No. 27)
A 12th-round pick out of Houston in 2023, Ekness has thrived since becoming a full-time reliever in pro ball. He has a 1.93 ERA and has struck out 12 of the 37 Double-A hitters he has encountered in May — but he was even better in the season’s opening month, with a spotless 0.00 ERA and whiffs against 13 of 29 batters faced. He works with an upper-90s fastball and a lively mid-80s slider.

Mets: Jonah Tong, RHP (No. 4)
Tong has been one of the most K-heavy pitchers in all of the Minors, and that’s certainly been true of his last 30 days with Double-A Binghamton. Over that time, the 6-foot-1 righty — known for his riding fastball and Tim Lincecum-esque delivery — has fanned 45 batters in 24 2/3 innings, posting a 1.09 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in that span. His 42.7 percent K rate is tops in Double-A; no other qualifiers has a strikeout percentage above 32. Tong will join our Top 100 at the next graduation.

Nationals: Travis Sykora, RHP (No. 1/MLB No. 62)
Offseason hip surgery delayed Sykora’s start to the season, but he’s certainly pitching like someone who hasn’t skipped a beat. Since making his first rehab start in the Florida Complex League on May 3, the 21-year-old has fanned 32 of the 51 batters he’s faced across five starts, including nine of 13 in his High-A Wilmington debut on Sunday. He’s allowed just one earned run on three hits and four walks in 15 frames. Of course, the South Atlantic League will present more of a challenge as the sample expands, but Sykora’s fastball-slider-splitter mix has been too downright dominant as he eases into 2025.

Phillies: Mick Abel, RHP (No. 8)
Is he finally figuring things out? A former first-rounder who has spent considerable time on our Top 100 in the past, Abel’s struggles with command had dented his prospect status. But he’s been pitching well all year, and particularly over the last month, with a combined 1.20 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. Yes, that includes his six innings of shutout ball during his spot-start MLB debut earlier this month. The 3.6 BB/9 rate over his last five starts is particularly encouraging (5.0 BB/9 career rate at all levels), while continuing to miss lots of bats (11.4 K/9).

Brewers: Jacob Misiorowski, RHP (No. 4/MLB No. 72)
Logan Henderson would be here if his most recent dominance wasn’t so MLB-heavy, but Misiorowski is a great option in his own right. The 6-foot-7 righty continues to flash triple-digit heat, along with his impressive breakers and improving changeup, to great effect with a 1.14 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 42 strikeouts over 31 2/3 innings for Triple-A Nashville in the last 30 days. Most notably, he’s walked only nine over that six-start span, quieting some of the concerns that he was destined for the bullpen.

Cardinals: Michael McGreevy, RHP (No. 10)
Expected to be part of the Cardinals’ rotation discussion this season, McGreevy has made only one MLB appearance, a 5 2/3-inning scoreless relief outing against the Mets on May 4. Back with Triple-A Memphis since then, he’s certainly pitching like a guy who wants to be back in The Show. McGreevy has a 1.69 ERA with 20 strikeouts and only three walks over his last three starts (16 innings) with the Redbirds while relying primarily on his sinker, sweeper, four-seam and cutter.

Cubs: Jaxon Wiggins, RHP (No. 10)
Wiggins earned a promotion to Double-A in mid-May and has added some polish to his high-octane stuff (mid-90s fastball, mid-80s slider and changeup) this year. A 2023 supplemental second-rounder out of Arkansas, he has logged a 3.50 ERA with a 22/6 K/BB ratio in his last four starts (18 innings). He has posted an overall 2.36 ERA with a .177 opponent average and 44 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A.

Pirates: Bubba Chandler, RHP (No. 1/MLB No. 2)
By his usual standards, the last month was relatively pedestrian for Chandler, especially with an elevated walk rate. But he still posted a 3.09 ERA over his last five starts, striking out 13.1 per nine. He might have been more hittable than in April, but he still held International League opponents to a .685 OPS.

Reds: Chase Burns, RHP (No. 1/MLB No. 11)
The move to Double-A for the 2024 No. 2 overall pick in the Draft has not been a difficult one. Burns has a 1.86 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in six starts over this time period, with an absolutely ridiculous 45/3 K/BB ratio over his 29 innings of work. For those of you who like ratios per nine innings, that’s 14 K/9 and 0.93 BB per nine, while Southern League hitters have a .204/.226/.330 line against him.

D-backs: Cristian Mena, RHP (No. 13)
As with McGreevy above, Mena put up zeros over 3 2/3 innings in his MLB season debut on May 9 and is pushing for a return with continued dominance at Triple-A Reno. The 22-year-old hasn’t allowed an earned run in either of his last two starts with the Aces, striking out 13 and walking one over 10 1/3 innings in that span. His curveball and sweeper are driving the success; each registered whiff rates above 45 percent over those two starts.

Dodgers: Patrick Copen, RHP (No. 29)
Copen lost the vision in his right eye when a line drive struck him in the face last August, but he has returned to dominate High-A hitters this spring, including compiling a 2.57 ERA with 45 strikeouts in his last 28 innings over five starts in High-A. A 2023 seventh-rounder from Marshall, he owns some of the best stuff in the Dodgers’ system: a mid-90s four-seamer with quality metrics, a mid-80s slider and a low-90s cutter. He ranks second in the Minors with 73 strikeouts and a .140 opponent average, as well as fourth with a 39.7 percent K rate.

Giants: Carson Whisenhunt, LHP (No. 2)
Whisenhunt has one of the best changeups in the Minors and it has helped him record a 2.14 ERA with a 30/7 K/BB ratio in his most recent 33 2/3 innings over five Triple-A starts. Just like he did a year ago, the 2022 second-rounder from East Carolina ranks second in the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts (54 in 56 2/3 innings) and his 3.34 ERA places third.

Padres: Tyson Neighbors, RHP (No. 15)
The Kansas State product was drafted in the fourth round last year as a straight reliever, and his Wildcats dominance has transferred directly to pro ball. Over the last 30 days, Neighbors owns an 0.87 ERA and 0.41 WHIP, while striking out 17 and walking only one in 10 1/3 innings for High-A Fort Wayne. He’s fanned 33 batters in 18 frames on the season overall. His mid-90s fastball, mid-80s slider, 89-91 mph cutter and low-80s curveball are all whiff-heavy options, and given San Diego’s aggressive nature, it’s possible Neighbors sees The Show at some point this summer.

Rockies: Sean Sullivan, LHP (No. 9)
Sullivan was a little behind this year after getting a hip labrum issue fixed, but he’s back to confounding hitters at Double-A. Including one stop in the Arizona Complex League and one in Single-A for rehab, the crafty lefty has a 1.27 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 21 1/3 innings of work. It wasn’t until his fourth start that he allowed an earned run (all three of his earned runs this year came in that outing), and he rebounded with 5 2/3 shutout frames in his most recent start.