This article is part of our Farm Futures series.
This is Part II of a spin-off of the Rookie Tiers article I write that usually debuts in the baseball magazine. Part I covered the hitting prospect tiers for 2022. With NFBC leagues up and running, I wanted to get these articles out sooner than ever before. With this being for the website and not the magazine, I was able to include essentially every pitcher (94 total) who I think has a decent enough chance of pitching in the majors this season. In the bigger tiers, I found it useful to break up the players by team, so that you can see who each guy might be competing with and compare players in the same organization. I also tried to note any relevant injuries or surgeries these guys dealt with recently that affect how I value them for the 2022 season. Please let me know in the comments if you think I left anyone out — chances are I left them out on purpose or they are no longer prospect eligible, but I'm sure there is at least one or two guys who I accidentally omitted.
Universal Appeal
These are the three pitching prospects who I believe should be rostered in essentially all mixed leagues for 2022. That's not to say that you should target all three at ADP, but they shouldn't go undrafted. Through five completed NFBC drafts, Baz (124), Ashby (242) and Ryan (206) are all going inside the top 250. While
This is Part II of a spin-off of the Rookie Tiers article I write that usually debuts in the baseball magazine. Part I covered the hitting prospect tiers for 2022. With NFBC leagues up and running, I wanted to get these articles out sooner than ever before. With this being for the website and not the magazine, I was able to include essentially every pitcher (94 total) who I think has a decent enough chance of pitching in the majors this season. In the bigger tiers, I found it useful to break up the players by team, so that you can see who each guy might be competing with and compare players in the same organization. I also tried to note any relevant injuries or surgeries these guys dealt with recently that affect how I value them for the 2022 season. Please let me know in the comments if you think I left anyone out — chances are I left them out on purpose or they are no longer prospect eligible, but I'm sure there is at least one or two guys who I accidentally omitted.
Universal Appeal
These are the three pitching prospects who I believe should be rostered in essentially all mixed leagues for 2022. That's not to say that you should target all three at ADP, but they shouldn't go undrafted. Through five completed NFBC drafts, Baz (124), Ashby (242) and Ryan (206) are all going inside the top 250. While Baz and Ryan were used as traditional starters for their full stints in the majors, Ashby got his feet wet in a hybrid role, which is typical of how the Brewers like to develop young pitchers. Most Brewers observers and analysts I've spoken to believe the team will go with a six-man rotation next season with the flexibility to go to a five-man rotation if one of the six gets injured. As long as his fastball command gains hold, I think Ashby's 2022 will be very similar to Freddy Peralta's 2021 from an innings and productivity standpoint.
Priority Follows During Spring Training
ANGELS
YANKEES
REDS
Nick Lodolo (returned from shoulder soreness at end of '21 season)
MARLINS
Sixto Sanchez (shoulder surgery)
PIRATES
CLEVELAND
RANGERS
These are the most notable pitching prospects who I think could earn rotation spots and shoot up draft boards in spring training. Detmers, Gil, Sanchez, Cabrera and Contreras have made their big-league debuts already. It's been reported that Greene and Lodolo will be competing for rotation spots in camp, and Morris and Winn have little left to prove at Triple-A, so they could be options for their clubs if a spot is available.
FAAB Monsters
I don't expect any of these four to be given a legitimate shot to break spring training with their big-league clubs, and therefore I wouldn't use a roster spot on them in mixed leagues with seven-man benches. However, if and when they do get the call, I expect it to cost a pretty penny in FAAB to add them. They all have name value and big-time stuff, so there will be a lot of hype surrounding their big-league debuts. If they stay healthy — odds are at least one of them suffers a serious injury before reaching the majors — they're on track to debut in the first half of the season.
Depth Options Of Varying Quality
ATLANTA
Tucker Davidson (returned from forearm injury in '21 playoffs)
YANKEES
MARINERS
Emerson Hancock (shoulder injury)
CLEVELAND
DIAMONDBACKS
DODGERS
RED SOX
TWINS
Josh Winder (shoulder injury)
Jhoan Duran (elbow injury)
RAYS
ASTROS
ANGELS
CARDINALS
GIANTS
PIRATES
Miguel Yajure (back injury)
Cody Bolton (knee surgery)
MARLINS
ROYALS
ATHLETICS
Daulton Jefferies (elbow injury)
PADRES
RANGERS
ORIOLES
DL Hall (elbow injury)
METS
BREWERS
REDS
CUBS
NATIONALS
TIGERS
ROCKIES
PHILLIES
Some of these guys are borderline top 100 prospects for dynasty, and some of them are nowhere near the top 400, but all of them have a chance to pitch in big-league rotations this season. The highly-ranked guys could also be FAAB monsters when they get the call, but I'm expecting more lead time on those guys than the four in the tier above.
Long Shots
These are the four best pitching prospects who I don't expect to debut in 2022. However, just the fact that they are so good means there's a chance we see them. I don't think Alek Manoah is the comparison here, because he was a college pitcher who got a lot of development in when nobody was watching during the pandemic. However, we have seen cases like the late Jose Fernandez, where extremely special talents get pushed much more aggressively than we expect.
