Best Minor League Changeups & Splitters Per Stuff+ In 2025

Image credit:
Christian Oppor (Freek Bouw/Four Seam Images)

This week, weâ€ve been examining a variety of pitch types across the minor leagues, ranking the best fastballs and breaking balls according to Stuff+ grades.

Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at changeups and splitters. These pitch types donâ€t typically generate high Stuff+ scores, as they lack spin and are often designed to play off of another pitch. For example, the separation between the vertical plane on a fastball and changeup is often the secret sauce in the relationship between the two offerings.

Taking into consideration factors like velocity, vertical movement, horizontal movement, extension and release height, Stuff+ grades begin at an average of 100 and move up or down the scale to communicate whether a pitch has above- or below-average “stuff.â€Â The grading is specific to each pitch type, allowing us to directly compare changeups to other changeups, and so forth.Â

To be included in this exercise, pitches needed to be thrown a minimum number of times this season based on average usage rates for each pitch type. Scores are based on an internal variation of Stuff+ engineered by Dylan White.Â

Changeup Stuff+ Leaders (Min. 200 Pitches)Â

playerorghandgradeChristian OpporCHWL99Chris VeachNYYR98Jackson NezuhHOUR97Benny ThompsonLAAR97Craig YohoMILR96Ryan GallagherMINR95Aaron DavenportCLER92Ramon MarquezPHIR92Wesley MoorePHIL92Alan RangelPHIR91Ricky CastroMINR90Nico TellacheSEAL90Dasan HillMINL90Sean MatsonCLER90Nate GarkowTORR90Antwone KellyPITR89Jonah TongNYMR89Carson WhisenhuntSFGL89Luis GastelumSTLR89Adisyn CoffeyCHWR89

• White Sox lefthander Christian Oppor cracked the top 20 in our sliders ranking and leads all pitchers in Stuff+ scores for changeups. His change has 14-15 mph off velocity separation off his fastball and good vertical separation, too. Oppor also shows the ability to command the pitch, which translates to high whiffs and chase rates:

Strike%InZone%Miss%Chase%67.8%52.5%47.8%32.2%

• The best part of digging into minor league Stuff+ numbers is that you often stumble upon a sleeper or two youâ€re unfamiliar with. The Yankees’ Chris Veach is one such name. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina in 2024, he spent his entire professional debut with Low-A Tampa, where he made 43 appearances and struck out 75 over 57 innings while pitching to a 2.53 ERA. Veach is the rare changeup-first righthander. The pitch is almost a screwball, sitting 76-78 mph with 2,400-2,600 rpm—a rare trait for a changeup. The pitch has significant vertical separation and true sink, with 16-18 inches of armside run. Itâ€s a truly filthy pitch and a unique offering. Â

• Jackson Nezuh was a steady performer for the Astros’ Double-A affiliate this season, pitching to a 4.48 ERA with 71 strikeouts over 72.1 innings. His changeup is his best secondary pitch but, despite having splitter-like action, Nezuh struggled to command it this season, leading to a 47.2 percent strike rate. When it was in the zone, though, it missed bats and generated a fair rate of chase swings. The pitch shows vertical separation and a 13-14 mph difference off his fastball.Â

• Signed by the Angels as an undrafted free agent out of Troy, Benny Thompson looks like a potential find, as his entire arsenal grades highly per Stuff+. Thompson pitched to a 1.91 ERA over 61.1 innings as a reliever with Low-A Inland Empire this season, and his changeup was a big reason for that success. The pitch has plus vertical separation off his fastball and a 14 mph variance in velocity. His 58.2 percent miss rate against the pitch is excellent, showcasing its ability to miss bats. It will be interesting to follow how this pitch performs as Thompson moves to higher levels.Â

• Despite a lack of success in other areas, the Pirates have seemed to churn out talented pitching prospects lately. One of their top performers in the minors this season was Antwone Kelly. The 22-year-old righthander sits 96-98 mph with a fastball that touches 101, and he mixes in a firm changeup with good vertical separation off his heater. He does a fairly good job killing lift with the changeup, which generates around 14 inches of armside run on average. The pitch boasted a 38.9 percent whiff rate this season with above-average strike and in-zone rates. Â

• Before the aforementioned Chris Veach was spinning screwball-like changeups, Craig Yoho was the name most synonymous with the pitch style in the minors. While he struggled across eight MLB appearances this season, Yohoâ€s changeup continued to perform in the minors. Itâ€s actually remarkable how similar his change is to that of Veach. The biggest difference for Yoho is that he shows far better extension and a lower release height:

VeloSpinIVBHBVAAHAACraig Yoho77 mph2,343 rpm-317.7-8.02-0.8Chris Veach77.1 mph2,480 rpm2.717.2-8.470.87

• After a five-year college career with Oregon, Nico Tellache spent parts of three seasons in the Mexican League before he caught scouts’ attention in the LIDOM last winter. He signed with the Mariners in March 2025, and though he struggled in his affiliated professional debut, Tellache’s changeup graded out well in Stuff+ model.

• Jonah Tong, BA’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year, cracked the leaderboard with his reworked changeup. This comes as no surprise, as Tongâ€s changeup generated phenomenal results in the minors this season, as evidenced by a 50.8 percent whiff rate and 31.9 percent chase rate. Tong has a 10+ mph difference in velocity off his fastball and above-average vertical separation. These traits help the recently-debuted major leaguer drive whiffs and create deception.

• Over the last few seasons, the Cardinals’ Luis Gastelum has lingered outside the teamâ€s Top 30 prospects list despite a plus-or-better changeup. In 2025, his changeup generated a 54 percent whiff rate to go with a ridiculous 42.7 percent chase rate. Heâ€s in the zone with the pitch with regularity, helping to drive a 90 percent strike rate. In general, Gastelum’s command of the pitch drives his arsenal. Heâ€s a changeup-first pitcher who has three fringe-average pitches outside his changeup.  Â

Splitter Stuff+ Leaders (Min. 100 pitches)Â

playerorghandstuff+Edgar IseaARIR98Wilber DotelPITR94Michael KnorrHOUR92Patrick HalliganHOUR92Antonio FloridoDETR91Luis Martinez-GomezCHCR91Yunior TurOAKR90Ryan LongBALR89Ryan MincklerWSNR89Trey YesavageTORR89Pedro Da Costa LemosSEAR89Indigo DiazNYYR89Luke SinnardATLR89Travis SykoraWSNR88Davison PalermoCOLR88Joshua CorniellyNYMR87Carson JacobsCHWR87Nestor GermanBALR87Cody AdcockCINR87Landon HarperATLR87

• Signed out of Venezuela in September 2018, Edgar Isea tops our splitter list by a fairly wide margin. The 23-year-old righthander has serious swing-and-miss stuff. A two-pitch, relief-only prospect, he sits at 96-98 mph on a fastball that topped out at 102.8 mph in 2025. He generates above-average ride and armside run on his fastball, which sets up perfectly against his splitter. The splitter sits 83-85 mph and shows serious sink and late tumble. Isea generated whiffs at a rate of 59.5 percent in 2025, though command is an issue, as he really struggles to throw strikes. As such, he posted an extremely high walk rate of 22.9 percent. If Isea can learn to find the zone consistently, he has the stuff to handle high-leverage innings.Â

• In addition to Antwone Kelly, the Pirates boast a second breakout among our offspeed Stuff+ leaders in his Double-A Altoona teammate Wilber Dotel. The 23-year-old righthander’s splitter shows a 12-13 mph velocity difference off his fastball to go with plus vertical separation. Despite the good traits and Stuff+ numbers, his 31.4 percent whiff rate and 31.9 percent chase rate are just average.

• Trey Yesavage played in every level of full-season affiliated baseball in 2025 and is about to make his playoff debut for the Blue Jays. No matter what level of competition he was facing this season, Yesavage generated whiffs against his splitter. Toronto’s top pitching prospect generated a 59 percent whiff rate against the pitch, which shows a steep plane separation off his fastball. Itâ€s a plus pitch that could soon be used to get valuable postseason outs for the Blue Jays.Â

• Luis Martinez-Gomez of the Cubs has one of the more unique splitters on the list. The pitch is almost a cut-splitter with limited armside run but negative vertical break. Itâ€s a nasty combination of traits to go with a 13-plus mph velo difference and steep plane separation off his fastball. Martinez-Gomez boasted a 47.8 percent whiff rate against his splitter in 2025 to go with a 29.5 percent chase rate.Â

• Luke Sinnard, the Braves’ third-round pick in 2024 out of Indiana, enjoyed a strong professional debut, pitching to a 2.86 ERA over 16 starts with a 28.3 percent strikeout rate and 8.9 percent walk rate across both levels of A-ball. Primarily mixing a four-seam fastball, slider and splitter, he misses bats with all three. However, the splitter is Sinnard’s best bat-missing pitch, as it generated whiffs 45.2 percent of the time in 2025.Â

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