Below you will find a list of five fantasy baseball prospects you need to stash now, plus five more prospects to keep tabs on for the time being.
Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash Now
No one is hotter than Nick Kurtz right now. The 2024 first-round pick is hitting .410 with five homers in just under 40 at-bats in Triple-A. Ten of his 16 hits are already of the extra-base variety. His approach is advanced, with no crazy strikeout risk.
Below you will find a list of five fantasy baseball prospects you need to stash now, plus five more prospects to keep tabs on for the time being.
Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash Now
No one is hotter than Nick Kurtz right now. The 2024 first-round pick is hitting .410 with five homers in just under 40 at-bats in Triple-A. Ten of his 16 hits are already of the extra-base variety. His approach is advanced, with no crazy strikeout risk.
The number one thing holding Kurtz back is being blocked at the Major League level. Tyler Soderstrom is as hot a bat in the Majors as there is at first base, and they have Brent Rooker at designated hitter. Kurtz is a first base/designated hitter type of guy, so unless they move Soderstrom or Rooker, or we see an injury, it’s hard to figure out what Kurtz’s timeline is. Whatever it is, he will be a must-pickup off the waiver wire once he is called up.
Bubba Chandler didn’t make the Opening Day roster. We see now that they want to build his pitch count up. He went 52 pitches in his first start. His command wasn’t there, but he got his whiffs and strikeouts. In start number two, he got up to 60 pitches, going four innings, walking two and striking out eight.
Based on the team building his pitch count up, I would imagine his next start is right at or around 70 pitches. I expect they want one more start after that, which would push 75 pitches. That creates a timeline of around two weeks where we could see Chandler receive a call up to the Majors. He will be a must-add off the waiver wire once he’s up.
Zebby Matthews’ Major League debut last year was not great. He followed that up by having a great spring, but it wasn’t enough for a rotation spot. Early indications in Triple-A are that he is carrying over his dominance.
Through two starts, Matthews has pitched 10 innings, recording a 1.80 ERA, 13 strikeouts and just one walk. The Twins have another option in David Festa, who could get the look, but Matthews should be up first, and it looks like it could happen very soon.
The less heralded piece of the Garrett Crochet trade has been hot in Triple-A. Chase Meidroth is a smaller infielder but has already launched three home runs. He’s hitting just under .300 with a .472 on-base percentage (OBP) to along with a pair of stolen bases. What is interesting here is that the White Sox used Brooks Baldwin, who has been their Major League shortstop, in left field the other day.
This could be a precursor to Meidroth getting to the bigs. He doesn’t scream must-pickup, but he has a chance to be a sneaky deeper league add with that power/speed combo. Deeper 12-team and 15-team leagues should take a look at Meidroth if you need middle infield help and didn’t get Kyren Paris.
Editor’s Note: Chase Meidroth was called up by the White Sox on Thursday and will make his debut against the Red Sox this weekend.
What Roman Anthony has done in Triple-A could justify not putting him on this list at all. Through seven games, he’s hitting just .167 with a 34.4% strikeout rate. Regardless of the slow start, he is the top prospect in the Minors, so when the call happens, we have to run to the wire to pick him up.
Anthony only has four hits, but three of those are extra-base hits (two being home runs). He also has a near .400 OBP, walking eight times in seven games. It’s too early to have a great understanding of what the Red Sox will do, but we should look to stash and hold him over the next few weeks just in case.
Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Keep an Eye On
J.T. Ginn has been lights out early on and could jump into the A’s rotation very soon. He may be only a streamer, but keep an eye out.
Chandler Simpson is hitting over .300 and is the fastest man in the Minors. The Rays have had some injuries and have not called him up yet, but I think it could happen within the next month.
Marcelo Mayer was almost in the top five, but it feels locked to an injury. His bat is doing OK, but it feels like Trevor Story has to go down for Mayer to be up soon.
This is the first and only Double-A guy, but Jac Caglianone is hitting absolute tanks right now. The Royals could decide to be aggressive soon to supercharge the offense. Even if he is just the designated hitter, you’ll want his power once he’s called up.
Ian Seymour has 15 strikeouts in 10 innings with just one walk. He has also recorded a 0.90 ERA. Seymour should be next up in the Rays’ rotation if needed.
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