On Thursday, we looked at the top-performing hitters for the month of August. In today’s follow-up article, we’ll dig into 10 pitchers who wowed with their performance metrics over the minors leagues’ final full month of play.
We’ll be looking into each pitcher’s background and quality of their season overall before discussing what they did in August. Beyond just the results, we’ll examine how each player to crack the list achieved their results based on their arsenal quality, velocity, movement and command.
Daniel Eagen, RHP, Diamondbacks
A 2024 third-round pick out of Presbyterian, Eagen has enjoyed a strong professional debut by pitching well over 19 starts with High-A Hillsboro before seeing promotion to Double-A Amarillo a few weeks ago.
While Eagen has been consistently good throughout 2025, his August has been phenomenal. Over four starts, he has pitched to a 0.73 ERA, striking out 34 batters to six walks over 24.2 innings. After three strong starts to begin the month with High-A Hillsboro, Eagen was promoted to Amarillo and made his Double-A debut on Aug. 22, tossing 7.2 scoreless innings with two hits, a walk and eight strikeouts.
Eagen mixes four pitches led by a four-seam fastball with plus ride. The fastball sits 92-93 mph and touches 96 at peak, but it generates a fair amount of swing-and-miss. His primary secondary is a low-80s curveball that generates a high rate of whiffs. He’ll also mix in a harder slider in the 83-84 mph range and an occasional changeup. Eagen has at least average command of his arsenal with the ability to generate outs in a variety of ways, and he drives a higher groundball rate against his two breaking ball shapes.
Amarillo and the Texas League remain two of the more difficult environments for pitchers in all of professional baseball. If Eagen handles this challenge over the final starts of his season, he should enter the offseason with substantial helium.
Jarlin Susana, RHP, Nationals
Susana was acquired by the Nationals in the Juan Soto trade with the Padres back in 2022. One of the hardest throwers in baseball, he will sit upper 90s on two variations of his fastball while also mixing in a hard high-80s/low-90s slider.
Over five starts this month, Susana pitched to a 1.52 ERA across 23.2 innings. He showed improved command throughout August, walking only 10.1% of opposing hitters—a mark below his career average. Over those 23.2 innings, Susana racked up 44 strikeouts for an eye-popping 49.4% strikeout rate on the month.
Susana got a late start to his season as he worked his way back from a UCL sprain. He returned in late July and has been excellent since rejoining Double-A Harrisburg. Susana has dominated with his fastball and slider combination, but he will flash an above-average changeup. The offspeed is inconsistent and was only used about 6% of the time during August. He struggles to consistently land the pitch, making it an easy take more often than is ideal.
His fastball dominated this month, as he generated a 36% whiff rate with it. His slider was even better, boasting a 63% whiff rate over his four starts with Double-A Harrisburg. Susana is likely to debut with the Nationals at some point in 2026, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he pitches his way into the rotation out of camp.
Nationals’ RHP Jarlin Susana throws a 100-102 mph fastball. His 85-87 mph slider was better than his fastball today.
And then he broke out this. pic.twitter.com/BUKLo3YgM3
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) August 25, 2025
Robby Snelling, LHP, Marlins
It’s been an incredible bounceback season for Snelling. After an outstanding 2023 season in which he won BA’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award, Snelling struggled in 2024 and was traded by the Padres to the Marlins. He made some adjustments this past offseason and, as a result, has found the best version of himself to date.
Snelling has taken his performance to the next level with Triple-A Jacksonville since being promoted on July 10. Over four starts this month, he’s allowed just one earned run (0.38 ERA) while striking out 35 batters against six walks in 24 total innings. Thanks to his ability to efficiently navigate lineups, rarely issue free passes and generate swings and misses, Snelling hasn’t had a start shorter than six innings since July 20.
Snelling relied heavily on his plus curveball this month, as he threw it 33% of the time to generate a 51% whiff rate against a 43% swing rate. With his command of the pitch and his ability to manipulate its shape, he’s been able to consistently baffle opposing hitters with the higher-spin offering.
Snelling’s fastball also produced strong results throughout the month, with a 27% whiff rate on a 53% swing rate. He’ll also throw a changeup around 13% of the time that has shown improvement since joining the Marlins. While it isn’t the bat-missing pitch his fastball or curveball are, he uses it effectively and shows the ability to land it in the zone.
Snelling looks ready for a cup of coffee with the Marlins in September. It’s simply a matter of whether the team wants to start Snelling’s service clock this season.
Gage Stanifer, RHP, Blue Jays
We’ve been writing about Stanifer’s breakout all season as part of the Blue Jays’ pitching development renaissance, and now the righthander from Indiana seems to be putting the final touches on a great season. Stanifer began the season working in a piggyback role behind Trey Yesavage with Low-A Dunedin before seeing promotion to High-A Vancouver. There, he was used in a more traditional starter’s role and has taken to it with success.
Over the course of August, Stanifer showed no signs of fatigue despite blowing past his previous innings high. He made five starts this month, allowing six earned runs over 27 innings, striking out 34 and issuing only 10 walks. His best start came on Aug. 19 when he tossed six scoreless innings against High-A Tri-City while striking out eight and allowing only one hit and two walks.
Stanifer features a powerful pitch mix led by a high-ride, four-seam fastball in the mid 90s. The pitch helped him to dominate throughout August, as it boasted a 31% whiff rate on a 52% swing rate to go with a 29% chase rate. While the fastball is a plus pitch, Stanifer also features two secondaries in a changeup and slider that generate whiffs at an average rate. It’s Stanifer’s ability to mix and match each pitch to keep hitters off balance that drives his success.
Stanifer will likely begin 2026 with Double-A New Hampshire. Should he continue to mix and match his pitches to keep hitters off balance, he has a chance to debut with the Blue Jays sometime next season.
Jonah Tong, RHP, Mets
Tong will make his major league debut with the Mets Friday against the Marlins. While this is a big moment for the 22-year-old, his stellar season has been building to this point.
The frontrunner for BA’s 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award, Tong has dominated opposing batters the entire year with his plus fastball and changeup combination. While his control is fringe, his command is average or better, as he shows the ability to locate his pitches to the intended zones consistently and rarely misses over the heart of the plate.
In what may well have been his final month as a minor leaguer, Tong allowed one run over 21.2 innings while striking out 33 batters to five walks. He dialed things up even more after promotion to Triple-A in the middle of the month. Over two starts with Syracuse, Tong threw 11.2 scoreless innings, striking out 17 batters to three walks and eight total hits.
Tong’s ability to ride his four-seam fastball and play his parachuting changeup off it has kept hitters consistently off balance. In August, that combination accounted for 89% of Tong’s pitch usage—and for good reason. Opposing hitters whiffed at a rate of 40% against the fastball in August on a 52% swing rate. His changeup was even better with a 46% whiff rate on a 47% swing rate.
While you can take issue with Tong not throwing his slider or curveball more… why would he? He’s dominated with his fastball and changep, allowing him to pocket his slider and curve for when needed. While his slider has been inconsistent this year, it will still flash as an above-average pitch and could be a larger part of his arsenal going forward.
Brody Hopkins, RHP, Rays
Acquired by the Rays in the Randy Arozarena deal at the 2024 trade deadline, Hopkins is a former two-way player in college who has found success on the mound as a professional. An outstanding athlete with a deep repertoire of pitches and premium stuff, he is one of the higher-upside pitching prospects in the game, as he’s still learning to harness and command his big stuff.
Throughout 2025, Hopkins has been a rock-solid performer in Double-A Montgomery’s rotation. In August, he made four starts, allowing two earned runs across 21 innings. He struck out 28 batters to 10 walks while holding opposing hitters to a .145 batting average. While his below-average control leads to a higher rate of walks, Hopkins consistently straddles the line of being effectively wild.
Hopkins mixes five pitches in a four-seam fastball, cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. In August, his best pitch was the slider, which held opposing batters hitless with a 48% whiff rate overall. His fastball did a fair amount of heavy lifting, as well, as it was thrown 56% of the time and generated a 24% whiff rate and 33% chase rate. While he uses the fastball a great deal, it remains effective due to its blend of velocity, movement and command.
Hopkins will likely spend a majority of 2026 with Triple-A Durham but could debut late next season.
Jaron DeBerry, RHP, Brewers
Promoted to Double-A Wisconsin to begin August, DeBerry has kicked his breakout season into hyperspeed this month. One of the more underrated pitching prospects in baseball, DeBerry has a variety of good traits that could portend future success—something that was very much on display in his first month with Biloxi.
A 2024 third-round pick out of Dallas Baptist, he was viewed as an extreme money-saver at the time, signing for just $25,000. Since then, DeBerry has proven this to be one of the best draft values in recent memory, especially as he looks likely to be headed to the major leagues by the end of 2026.
In August, DeBerry made four starts, allowing five earned runs while striking out 26 batters to five walks across 24 innings. He went five or more innings in all four appearances and went six or more in three of them. His most impressive outing came on Aug. 23 when he threw seven scoreless against Double-A Chattanooga with nine strikeouts, no walks and four hits. DeBerry doesn’t generate a high number of whiffs, but he does consistently set hitters up by moving the ball around the zone with six different shapes, leading to lots of looking strikes.
DeBerry’s arsenal, while lacking power, has a variety of interesting shapes. He generates high spin rates on a trio of breaking balls. His primary pitch is a high-80s cutter that might be more of a cut-fastball than cutter. The pitch sits at 88 mph with spin rates in the 2700-2800 rpm range.
He’ll mix in a low-launch, four-seam fastball that plays above its low-90s velocity and could be an above-average or better pitch if he adds a few ticks of velocity in the future. DeBerry additionally mixes a slider, curveball, sinker and changeup, giving him a deep bag of tricks to keep hitters guessing.
Jaron DeBerry spun a fantastic Double-A debut, completing 6 innings (career-high), striking out 4, and not allowing an earned run 💪#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/tZhIfIDKf2
— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) August 7, 2025
Owen Murphy, RHP, Braves
Murphy looked like a breakout candidate for the Braves early in 2024, but he unfortunately sustained an elbow injury and had Tommy John surgery. Murphy returned to action in late July in the Florida Complex League before joining High-A Rome to begin August. Throughout the month, Murphy has shown no ill effects coming off the surgery while reminding South Atlantic hitters what they are up against when he’s on the bump.
Over four August starts with Rome, Murphy allowed just one earned run across 19 total innings. He went just 3.1 innings in his initial return, but in the three starts after, he tossed five or more innings. In total, he struck out 23 batters to two walks, showing the sparkling control and command that Murphy is known for. His best start of the month came on Aug. 16 against Bowling Green when he threw 5.1 scoreless innings with one hit and one walk while striking out four.
With advanced command and an ability to dominate with a fastball/slider combination, Murphy is likely to be assigned to Double-A Columbus to begin next season without an outside shot at an MLB debut in 2026.
Michael Forret, RHP, Orioles
After years spent producing top positional prospects but little in the way of major league pitching, the Orioles now have a deep group of talented pitchers performing beyond their pedigree. The group is led by Forret, a 2023 14th-round pick, and former undrafted free agent Trey Gibson. The former was promoted to Double-A Chesapeake earlier this month and has been extremely impressive in his first two starts, so much so, in fact, that you can make a case that Forret was actually the best pitcher in August at any level of the game.
Over four starts this month, Forret didn’t allow a single run over 19.2 innings. He struck out 23 while walking four and allowing seven hits. Opposing batters hit .108 against him, and he allowed free passes just 5.7% of the time.
Forret will mix six different pitch shapes, led by a four-seam fastball with a lower launch, a cut-slider, two different changeup variations, a sinker and a cutter. Forret’s ability to change eye levels and work east-to-west to keep hitters unsure of what is coming out of his hand next has him at the forefront of a talented group of starters working their way through the upper-minors for the Orioles.
Parker Smith, RHP, Astros
Drafted by the Astros in the fourth round in 2024 out of Rice, Smith’s professional career got off to a slow start. A back injury meant he got a late start to this season, but he’s performed well with Low-A Fayetteville in his professional debut.
In August, Smith found another level, as he made five strong starts to finish with a 4-1 record and 1.75 ERA while striking out 27 batters to six walks across 25.2 innings. He held opposing batters to a .209 batting average with a 6.1% walk rate.
Smith pitched into the sixth inning in three straight appearances to end the month. His best start was his most recent, as he went 5.2 scoreless on Aug. 26, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out seven
Smith mixes four pitches effectively and knows how to command his arsenal and change speeds. His primary offerings are a trio of pitches in his four-seam fastball, slider and changeup. His two-seam fastball sits 91-93 mph with heavy armside run from a low slot. His lower arm action results in all of his pitches playing up, which, in turn, allows him to effectively play the east-west game. His slider is a sweeper with a heavy horizontal break that plays perfectly off his fastball. He mixes in a changeup at a similar rate to his slider, and the pitch features heavy armside run and above-average vertical separation off his fastball.
With an interesting arsenal, Smith looks like a name to monitor next year, as a fully-healthy offseason could result in serious gains.
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