Fantasy Baseball Prospects: Kumar Rocker, Jackson Jobe, Quinn Mathews

My overall prospect rankings are already out on FantasyPros, but if you want to know who I think will provide the most positive impact for your fantasy teams for re-draft, this is the article for you! The fScores do a pretty solid job at navigating expected playing time for rookies, as I adjust with averages of my expectations against the player’s past durability, the player’s expected level to start the season and average playing time as projected by Steamer – so the fScores will be our primary guide to 2025 effectiveness.

These prospect rankings are based on FANTASY value, not on real life value. Considering such, hitters generally weigh a bit heavier for me due to the injury risk and higher volatility of prospect pitchers. Proximity to the majors is also prominent in the equation, though these rankings are taking a longer-term / dynasty look on these guys (think of it more as a 5 year plan).

If you are curious about the fScore ratings you can check out my fScore rankings and information on the fScores by following THIS LINK. My Top 150 Prospect Rankings are in the works, but will be out by the end of January.

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

Fantasy Baseball Prospects

Full Top 150 Prospect Rankings:

Kumar Rocker (SP – Rangers)

2024 CPX/AA/AAA: 36 2/3 IP | 36 K-BB%, 22 SwStr%, 36.9 CSW% | 1.96 ERA, 0.79 WHIP
2024 MLB: 11 2/3 IP | 14.5 K-BB%, 13.3 SwStr%, 28 CSW% | 3.86 ERA, 1.54 WHIP
Age: 25
ETA: Opening Day (debuted in 2024)
fScores: 114 fStuff, 104 fControl, 154 fERA
Comp: Hunter Greene with a better slider (12/6) / worse fastball
Prime Skills: Big boy with a dominant fastball / slider combo. He throws 97-99 with one of the best hard vertical sliders you will see. There’s a below average changeup in there too he has to throw in order to mix things up. I have Rocker ranked as a top 60 starter for 2025, which is aggressive and will depend on the workload, but the fScores love him and he was amazing in his small 2024 sample size.
Ranking Explanation: The results in the minors were ridiculous, while there is some hesitancy in the stuff plus models (72 Stuff+ on the fastball and only 90 Stuff+) in his small major league sample size. I think this stabilizes some and there is a middle ground, but the minor league numbers in 2024 were insane and I’m betting he gets a good run with the Rangers in 2025. Currently I’m expecting him to break camp, especially after there are rumors Jon Gray could move to the pen to close after Kirby Yates signed with the Dodgers along with the news Cody Bradford could end up in relief to start the season.
Top 150 Rank: 34
fScore Re-Draft Rank: #58 SP
NFBC ADP: 307.69

Jackson Jobe (SP – Tigers)

2024 AA: 91 2/3 IP | 13.6 K-BB% 12.3 SwStr%, 30.5 CSW% | 2.36 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
2024 MLB: 4 IP | 6.3 K-BB%, 4.2 SwStr%, 25 CSW% | 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP
Age: 22
ETA: Opening Day (debuted in 2024)
fScores: 100 fStuff, 99 fControl, 110 fERA
Comp: George Kirby
Prime Skills: Excellent command of his pitches for a guy his age and has a ton of spin on his pitches. The fastball is riding as an above average pitch, but it allows him to use his elite slider to get Ks. The walk rate is higher this year, but I think it’s an aberration and wouldn’t be too concerned – there seems to be a bit of a pitch mix issue in why his killer stuff has not played as well as it should.
Ranking Explanation: A large part of Jobe’s appeal when he was moving up my rankings was his excellent command and the plus four pitch mix, but he was not generating strikeouts at the level he should have and had some walk issues at the higher levels of the minors. He is more of a lock to break camp than Campbell at #2, but I’ll always go with the hitter and there’s a possibility Jobe needs more development to sharpen his pitch-mix. I expect the stuff to play better in 2025 and will ignore the lower fScores, and of course we love the new curve as well, but the big thing will be if the command bounces back after a down 2024.
Top 150 Rank: 11
fScore Re-Draft Rank: #94 SP
NFBC ADP: 284.6

Quinn Mathews (SP – Cardinals)

2024 A/A+/AA/AAA: 143 1/3 IP | 26.8 K-BB%, 16.1 SwStr%, 32.9 CSW% | 2.76 ERA, 0.98 WHIP
Age: 24
ETA: Early 2025
fScores: 107 fStuff, 97 fControl, 133 fERA
Comp: Cole Ragans light
Prime Skills: Mathews is a big college lefty with a ridiculous fastball / slider combo with a big fastball sitting between 95-97 MPH with some elite rise to it and the slider is a swing and miss machine paired with that fastball. He has elite command of these pitches and has shown himself in college to be a workhorse. He also has a curve and a 60/65 grade change up he didn’t even need when I saw him in A ball.
Ranking Explanation: Mathews had a bit of a decline in velocity in AAA from when I saw him live earlier in the season, but this is likely just some natural wear from the workload increase, not to mention trying to pitch around the weird AAA oddities like ABS. Mathews actually scored higher in my fScores than Jobe as he was getting better results, but some of that has to do with his maturity as a pitcher and mixing pitches well. He should spend a large part of 2025 in the big league rotation for the Cardinals, but I doubt he breaks camp sans some trades or injuries prior to the season starting. It seems the Cardinals love him, but the Cardinals are also acting super cheap right now and are more likely to try to get another year of him than pump him toward a RoY birth – though it’s entirely possible he still ends up with more innings than Jobe as he’s likely to stick through the end once he is promoted.
Top 150 Rank: 23
fScore Re-Draft Rank: #67 SP
NFBC ADP: 525.71

MLB Hunter Greene Jon Gray Kirby Yates Cody Bradford George Kirby Cole Ragans

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