Top 5 rookie pitcher chases in 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball

Last week we ran through the top hitter chases in 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball, and while the top end chases for hitters are indeed top tier, the class lacked a touch of depth. It wasn’t immensely difficult to narrow it down to a top five list.

That is not the case for the pitcher list, however. There is top flight pitching talent up and down this check list and a few guys had to be left off this list that could be potential superstars somewhere down the line.

Honorable Mentions

Jonah Tong and Payton Tolle

I’ll start with the two that would be ranked sixth and seventh here. Both of these players debuted last season, and while both struggled, there is no reason to give up on either of these guys yet. 

If anything, their early career struggles might make it a good time to get some stock in both these guys, getting ahead of the turnaround that should come for both of them. 

Tong really struggled in a limited sample, and as a Mets fan myself, it was pretty clear he just wasn’t ready to come up just yet, especially in the middle of a playoff race with a ton of pressure to save the season. He posted an ERA of 7.71 in just 18.2 innings pitched, most of which is ballooned from a really rough outing against the Texas Rangers where he gave up six runs while only recording two outs. 

The one positive for Tong is that he did still strike out 22 batters in those 18.2 innings, showing a little bit of the potential. He’s only 22 years old, turning 23 in June, so he has plenty of time and there is no cause for concern for him. He just needs a little bit more time in the oven and should be starting the season at AAA.

Payton Tolle’s story is about the same as Tong’s. He had an ERA of 6.06 in 16.1 innings pitched, and while he didn’t have the same true blow up start like Tong did, he just really struggled to find his footing. He got moved to a relief role down the stretch, which didn’t go too much better for him. He is also only 23 years old, and like Tong as well, he struck out 19 batters in those 16.1 innings, also showing the potential that the Red Sox are looking for. 

Like Tong, Tolle is a hold but there is a lot of upside to like with both these pitchers, and in weaker years of pitcher chases, these two, even with these results, they would still find themselves as the top chases in a rookie pitcher class.

Bubba Chandler

The second overall prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates, only behind potential future superstar Konnor Griffin, Chandler also debuted toward the end of 2025 and had more success than Tong and Tolle. In 31.1 innings, Chandler struck out 31 batters to an ERA of 4.02 but that doesn’t really tell the full story. With a WHIP of 0.926 and a FIP of 2.66, there are a lot of signs that Chandler performed better than even the respectable 4.04 ERA would indicate. 

Chandler has the perk of not having to be a true ace right away as well, considering he will be pitching behind Paul Skenes, though the need for Chandler to perform has increased with Jared Jones potentially missing the full season for the Pirates. Chandler doesn’t turn 24 until September, and with a fast ball that can touch triple digits and an already developed change-up and curveball to go with the heater, Chandler should serve as a key contributor for a Pirates team that has put together a pretty decent off-season and could contend for a playoff spot if things go well. 

Chase Burns

Chase Burns, for better or worse, showed you everything about him in the 2025 season. In 43.1 innings, he had a WHIP of 1.315, which is pretty bad, and an ERA of 4.57, though the 2.66 FIP suggests it isn’t as bad as it seems. 

But, maybe most importantly, he showed you insane swing-and-miss stuff, punching 67 tickets in those 43.1 innings, giving him a K/9 of 13.9, which would have been easily the best in MLB if he was able to keep it up for a full sample size. 

Burns, like Chandler, has the benefit of not needing to be the best starter on his staff, as Hunter Greene, who is a very good comparison for Burns, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, and Brady Singer are all very capable Major League arms. The Reds do not have to rush Burns, but collectors might wish they would. 

Cam Schlittler

Schlittler is the first of the three who debuted last season to excellent results. The recently-turned 25 year old pitched 73 innings across 14 starts last season to the tune of a 2.96 ERA and 84 strikeouts. While his WHIP was a bit high at 1.219, thanks to a pretty high BB% of 10.2, Schlittler still showed ace-level stuff on a Yankee team that does have some pitching insulation for him in Carlos Rodon, Max Fried, and this season, potentially Gerrit Cole, who missed all of last season. 

Schlittler being a Yankee prospect will increase his collectability, as they are one of the teams that collectors swarm to when it comes to potentially great young players and the hype is deserved for Schlittler. That is amplified when a player like him shows up in the playoffs too, which Schlittler did, giving up only two runs across his 14.1 playoff innings. If he can refine a secondary pitch and improve his walk rate, Schlittler has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in baseball. 

Jacob Misiorowski

Misiorowski, better known as Miz, took the baseball world by storm last June, making the all-star team with only 25.2 innings of experience under his belt. The numbers tailed off for Misiorowski as the season but he flashed upside that very few guys have. Everything under the hood looks good for Misiorowski, even given the regression. The BB% is concerning, similar to Schlittler, but he is already one of the hardest throwers in the league, forcing hitters to swing and miss a ton. 

His off-speed pitch is also more developed than Schlittler, showing a Major League caliber secondary pitch, though an off-speed pitch when you throw 137 MPH plays a little differently than a regular human pitcher. 

Misiorowski should also earn bonus points for collectors by being a Brewers pitcher, as they consistently churn out big league aces such as Freddy Peralta, Corbin Burnes, and Brandon Woodruff. Miz has something those guys all don’t have though, which is that truly elite fastball, giving him the potential to be better than any of those guys, which is high marks.

Nolan McLean

Call this bias, and maybe it is, but Nolan McLean can do something with a baseball that very few others can, and that is spin it. Despite “only” throwing 95 MPH on average, the spin that McLean is able to put on the ball makes it appear much faster coming at a hitter, and his breaking ball spins with 3,400 RPM, making it among the highest-spin curves in baseball. 

McLean almost single handedly saved the Mets season, and had they made the playoffs, it realistically would have been him who was responsible on the pitching end. He was the only Mets starter who could reliably get outs down the stretch, which is a lot to ask of a guy making his Major League debut, and that is part of what separates him from the rest of the guys on this list. Everyone else had some kind of help, McLean had no insulation and still pitched to an ERA of 2.06 in eight starts, striking out 57 batters in 48 innings. 

McLean got Rookie of the Year votes without even losing his rookie eligibility last season, and he also gets the New York team buff for collectors. The man dubbed “Cowboy Ohtani” might not get to hit throughout his career, but he will make a lot of hitters look silly with weak contact ground balls or swings and misses as long as he can keep spinning the ball like he did last season.