The Stash: Injured Pitcherista!

I fought the law and the law won. And that law is the law of starting pitcher attrition. To make up for losing starters to season-ending injuries and the regression monster, turn to IL stashes.

This article won’t be for all of you, or at least the advice won’t be universally applicable. For those of you with limited IL room, or limited IL slots, this may not be as actionable today. But for most of these pitchers, you can likely hold off a few weeks before others in your league are ready to pull the trigger. 

But if you do have room to hold onto a player with a little upside, you are unlikely to be outbid in FAAB at this point. That would be the biggest value add of bringing on these pitchers now — not having to outbid opposing managers once more news is out. 

I will run through a handful of pitchers worth considering, sticking to blurbs unless a pitcher excites me to the point of digging in a bit deeper. I will focus on players who are rostered in less than half of CBS and Yahoo leagues (sorry Kris Bubic and Logan Henderson). 

Lost in the Supermarket

This group is so young that they get, well, lost in the supermarket. 

Mick Abel: The flamethrowing righty had us all excited during drafts, when he came into Spring Training hucking 99 mph heaters past opposing hitters. After an up-and-down start to the season, elbow inflammation sent him to the IL.

Back on rehab assignment last Wednesday, he struck out five and reportedly averaged 96.3 mph with his four-seamer, up nearly two miles per hour from his season average. He is still stretching back out, as he failed to reach 50 pitches in this AAA outing. But the Twins need rotation help, so he’ll be back after another turn or two, barring any setbacks. Prioritize Abel in leagues where he’s available. 

Hurston Waldrep*: Waldrep graduated from IL stash to NA stash status on Friday, when the Braves activated him from the IL before optioning him to AAA, hence the asterisk. The 2023 first round pick had loose bodies in his elbow in Spring Training and has been recovering from that surgery, completing a pair of two-inning rehab outings at the rookie complex level over the last few weeks. The Braves can use his help, as the Georgia native had a 2.88 ERA and 40% quality start rate in his 56.1 innings last season. 

DJ Herz: Does anyone else remember this guy? He came onto the scene hot in 2024, debuting with the Nationals. Over 19 starts, the lefty had a 10.76 K/9 and 4.16 ERA, which was backed up by a FIP, xFIP, and xERA that were all well under 4.00. 

Does no one remember this guy? The next coming of Mackenzie Gore, or hopefully something a bit better! If you need refresh, he struck out 13 Marlins in the third start of his career.

Then, he struck out 10 without a walk against the Mets in his sixth career start!

Herz has had two rehab outings at the rookie level complex as he comes back from April 2025 Tommy John surgery, where he hasn’t allowed a hit in five innings, punching out eight. If he makes another two or three rehab starts to stretch out at AA and AAA and can maintain that 93.5 mph average fastball velocity he exhibited as a rookie in 2024, he’ll become a hot FAAB commodity. So add him now! 

And if you’re on CBS, he’s listed as “Davidjohn” as opposed to DJ. So that’s fun. 

Noah Schultz: The results were uneven, to put it generously, but Schultz is likely to go back on rehab assignment from his knee tendinitis at some point in June, at which point, his FAAB price will certainly increase. The White Sox are neck and neck with the Guardians at this point, and giving Schultz competitive innings this summer can only help his development. If you need to see the upside, look at the first four starts of his season. For the downside, peep the next four prior to the injury. 

Jackson Jobe: Jobe is a dart throw at this point. Rehabbing from Tommy John surgery for a struggling, through now fully Skuballed, Tigers team, the 23-year-old has been working through bullpens and reportedly could face hitters in live batting practice in June, setting him up to make it back this season. An August return could be in the cards for the 2021 first round pick.  

AJ Smith-Shawver: Rehabbing from Tommy John he underwent in June last season, you can safely wait on Smith-Shawver, but if you have the room, you could add him for cheap today. The right-hander is working through bullpens now, and as is the argument for Waldrep, the Braves will want to leverage all of these young arms as their team looks to rebound from a disappointing 2025. Just don’t expect him back until August. 

The Magnificent Seven Veterans

Here are seven veteran starting pitchers you may be considering for a stash. We’ll run through them quickly. 

Dean Kremer: The Orioles righty is reportedly getting through bullpens and into the rehab start phase, making him a worthy stash in the few weeks ahead of what could be an early-July return. Racking up a career-high 171.2 innings in the majors last season, the 30-year-old may be more than an innings eater.

In his two starts this season, Kremer had 16 punchouts in 11 innings, helping him to a 2.34 xFIP. It’s too early to say if that can stick, but strikeouts are at least partially a function of intent, particularly for a guy who has historically been more of a pitch-to-contact arm. And he will certainly be locked into the rotation for the struggling O’s.

Kremer will be a priority for me in any league with IL slots, and particularly 12- and 15-teamers where he’s available. 

Bailey Ober: I’m not a fan of slow-throwing righties who haven’t really shown any ability to keep the ball in the yard (1.77 HR/9 since 2025). 

Luis Severino: Being shut down through June should actually help his full-season ERA, since he got to skip the first go around at Las Vegas Ballpark. But he’ll eventually have to pitch in Sutter Health Park this summer, if his shoulder heals up by August. He’ll be a streamer on the road, where had a 3.02 ERA last season, and a hard bench in Sacramento, where his ERA doubled to 6.01. 

Jameson Taillon: His hamstring is still barking, so he would be an August add at best. And his 2.66 HR/9 didn’t make his 5.19 ERA, or 5.35 xERA, look particularly fluky.

Cristian Javier: Javier has been on rehab assignment in June, but also has just 81 innings in the majors over the last three seasons. He can’t be a priority at this point. Just check in and see how his rehab starts are looking, but he feels like a Severino-type arm without the strikeouts at this point. Or maybe Taillon without the potential stretches of good control? Skip him. 

Joe Musgrove: The most recent news on Musgrove is that he is playing catch. Maybe he’ll pitch in September for the Padres. At least there’s a chance he’s good when he returns, but we have no way of knowing at this point, as he’s returning from Tommy John while battling bone spurs. Maybe the Skubal-Scope help him out?

Lance McCullers Jr.: Like his teammate Javier, I’m not really sure he’s good anymore. And unlike Javier, he isn’t rehabbing yet, though the dubious throwing progression has begun. You can and should leave him on the wire. 

Train in Vain

I don’t think these pitchers will actually make it back to make an impact any time soon. Spencer Schwellenbach, Corbin Burnes, and Justin Steele, while their upside is certainly higher than any other pitcher referenced in this piece, do not seem particularly likely to even be newsworthy in the next month, so they can be deprioritized for competitive teams that need a boost sooner rather than later.