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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Brandon Sproat, Hunter Barco, Chase DeLauter - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
Through the first half of the 2025 regular season, fantasy managers have seen many top prospects make an immediate impact. First baseman Nick Kurtz, right-hander pitcher Logan Henderson, and left-handed pitcher Noah Cameron are some of the names who were viewed as must-start players for a period of time.
In this piece, we will look at two pitchers and a hitter who are dominating at Triple-A and nearing their eventual MLB debut.
Should those players be left on the waiver wire, or should fantasy managers add them before their breakout? Let's dive in!
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Brandon Sproat, SP, New York Mets
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MLB stats: 68 IP, 5.43 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 49 SO, 35 BB
Sproat is intriguing because the Mets have had so many rotation injuries this year. Currently, the team is using Blade Tidwell as the fifth starter, but his three starts have been unimpressive (10.13 ERA, 2.44 WHIP, and a 12% K%). The team may consider making a change.
Sproat is a pitcher whom the organization has drafted twice, and Sproat rewarded that faith by advancing rapidly through the minors to Triple-A in his first season last year. Reality this year has hit him, and Sproat is adjusting to the Triple-A level.
The numbers have not been as good as the 2024 season. Yet, Sproat is rated as the top prospect in the Mets system, with a high-velocity fastball that he seems to currently have trouble locating. Sproat has the tools and is maybe a tweak away from being a middle-of-the-rotation guy before too long in New York.
Even though he has struggled at times, he is beginning to turn the corner and could be finding his footing at the right time with Griffin Canning (Achilles) hitting the IL and Sean Manea (elbow) facing setbacks during his rehab assignment.
Brandon Sproat was superb today!
6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K
78 pitches, 51 strikes pic.twitter.com/mG5HACnzug— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) June 28, 2025
-Written by Mike Carter
Hunter Barco, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 1% rostered
2025 MILB stats: 57 1/3 IP, 2.04 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 74 SO, 25 BB
At this point, it would not be surprising if Hunter Barco made a start in a Pirates uniform before Bubba Chandler did. Returning from a shoulder injury in May, Barco has dominated and really looked the part in his last two starts. On Sunday, Barco allowed just one hit and struck out seven across six innings. The only damage came on a Darion Blanco homer.
In 57.1 innings this year, Barco has an impressive 2.04 ERA to pair with a 1.05 WHIP. He also has struck out 32 percent of batters faced while walking just shy of 11 percent. It would be easy to look at the walk rate and be concerned, but those numbers were inflated in the midst of the shoulder injury and coming back from it. In his first five starts of the year, Barco walked just four total hitters, and over his last two starts, Barco has walked just one.
MLB Pipeline Updated their Top 100 list and now has Konnor Griffin in the Top 15.
He jumps over 20 spots and lands at #13
Bubba Chandler is also at #5
And
Hunter Barco is at #80— Kody Duncan (@KodyDuncanPGH) July 2, 2025
The fastball works around 95 mph and tops north of 97 mph, and the mid-80s slider was sharp. The splitter sits in the mid-to-upper 80s with devastating late movement and throws a more traditional changeup with depth and fading action. Barco throws two slider variations that sit in the low-to-mid 80s, with one having a shorter horizontal movement and one that plays more as a sweeper.
- Written by Chris Clegg
Chase DeLauter, OF, Cleveland Guardians
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 1% rostered
2025 AAA stats: 28 G, .298/.403/.500, 7 2B, 4 HR, 19 SO, 19 BB
DeLauter was a feature last week in the article, but it is time for him to get the call. He has built up to playing nearly every day, and he won't stop hitting. There is nothing for DeLauter to prove in Triple-A anymore. Cleveland is just three games out of a wild-card spot, and Guardians right fielders have produced -2.5 WAR, the second-worst mark in baseball. Bring out DeLauter!
DeLauter continues to hit and now has a 15-game hit streak. You would need to go back to 29 games to May 19 to find the last time DeLauter did not get on base. The power and contact are both trending in the right direction as he has gotten fully healthy. While many are quick to know the short follow-through and say it is a "bad swing," Delauter has one of the better vertical bat angles in baseball.
Chase DeLauter is back to doing Top Prospect things in AAA and now holds 151 wRC+ on the season
His combination of contact, power, and patience makes him of the most exciting bats in MiLB and gives him all the tools to excel with Cleveland once he gets the call! pic.twitter.com/ntgNlJiiQ8
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) June 26, 2025
If you have questions about whether DeLauter’s swing can play, look under the hood. The power is easily plus based on the average and 90th percentile exit velocities. He lifts the ball with ease and posts ideal launch angles consistently, and when you run a 90th percentile exit velocity of 107 mph, you will get homers. His barrel rate sits at a solid 10 percent.
The chase rate is down to 14 percent to pair with an impressive 86 percent zone-contact rate.
After a successful career at James Madison University, the Guardians selected DeLauter with the 16th overall pick in the 2022 draft. While injuries have been a significant factor in his career, his performance was strong when DeLauter was on the field. Standing at 6-foot-3, DeLauter has one of the best combinations of athleticism and size in the minors.
- Written by Chris Clegg
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