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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Carson Whisenhunt, Brice Matthews, Colson Montgomery - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
During the first half of the season, fantasy managers have seen many high-end prospects get the call. Some prospects like Chandler Simpson or Nick Kurtz flashed immediate upside, while others have struggled through their first taste of the big leagues.
In this piece, we will look at three recently-promoted prospects and determine if fantasy managers should grab them off the waiver wire.
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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Carson Whisenhunt, SP, San Francisco Giants
Current Level: MLB
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 AAA Stats: 97 2/3 IP. 4.42 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 86 SO, 28 BB
The San Francisco Giants have called up Carson Whisenhunt to make his Major League debut on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. Many consider Whisenhunt to be San Francisco's top pitching prospect, but I'm not terribly high on him personally and wouldn't be rushing out to add him for this start against Pittsburgh. Nor do I have much intrigue in targeting him for the remainder of the season and beyond.
In this outing, the left-hander struggled, allowing five hits and four earned runs across five innings. He struck out three hitters.
In 18 starts for Triple-A Sacramento this season, Whisenhunt recorded a 4.42 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 6.8% walk rate, and a 21% strikeout rate. Whisenhunt is basically Drew Thorpe with more velocity on his 4-seamer. He'll generally be in the mid-90s with a plus changeup and solid command/control, but Whisenhunt has never established a legit breaking ball and has been middle of the road in generating whiffs and picking up strikeouts.
Given his rough debut and previous lack of high success at Triple-A, his upside is pretty limited. He is only worth targeting in deeper 14+ team/NL-only formats.
-Written by Eric Cross
Brice Matthews, INF, Houston Astros
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 15% rostered
2025 MLB stats: 11 G, .142/.211/.400, 3 HR, 18 SO, 2 BB
Another great young option in the infield is the Astros' Brice Matthews, who made his MLB debut a week after Montgomery on July 11. Matthews hasn't been quite as hot as Montgomery, but he does bring more flexibility with his second base eligibility and also brings more speed potential.
In his 73 games at Triple-A before his promotion, Matthews hit .283 with 10 homers, 25 stolen bases, and a .393 wOBA. His strikeout rate was still over 30% in Triple-A this season, but it was improved from last year, when it was 31.4% overall in the minors and 39.6% in Triple-A.
Matthews went 1-for-12 in his first four games, but then he had a few huge games against the Diamondbacks, going 3-for-8 with three homers and seven RBI.
The kid does it again
Brice Matthews' 3rd HR in 2 games gives the @Astros the lead! pic.twitter.com/mZm9pBE9rm
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2025
He cooled back off and has gone just 1-for-15 since then, and he has dropped back down to a .143 batting average. He has yet to attempt a stolen base, but he still has more stolen base upside if the Astros eventually give him the green light on the bases.
The big concern with Matthews, like with Montgomery, is his low contact rate. In his 35 at-bats, Matthews has 18 strikeouts for a 45% strikeout rate in the majors. He'll need to cut that back and make more regular contact if he wants to stay in the lineup long-term.
However, Matthews has enough power and speed potential to be on the fantasy baseball radar for as long as he has a starting job in the majors. If the Astros make a move at the deadline or even just get healthy, he could lose his starting role.
Montgomery is more secure in his role, so he's a safer pickup and play going forward. However, Matthews also brings a high ceiling and a little extra speed in his profile, along with the extra positional flexibility.
Update - The Astros have optioned Matthews to Triple-A. He is only worth stashing in deeper 14+ team redraft leagues for the time being.
- Written by Zach Thompson
Colson Montgomery, SS, Chicago White Sox
Current Level: MLB
Availability: 15% rostered
2025 MLB Stats: 21 G, .257/.316/.486, 2 2B, 4 HR, 18 SO, 6 BB
The White Sox have been trending upward over the last few weeks, and their offense has shown some legitimate signs of progress so far in July. There are two White Sox options in these Bargain Basement hitters for this week. Coming into play on Tuesday, the White Sox have scored the fourth-most runs in the majors in July with an average of 5.1 runs per game.
One of the young hitters at the center of the surge has been Montgomery, who made his MLB debut on July 4 and has performed very well from both positions on the left side of the infield.
In his 20 games, Montgomery is hitting .273 with four homers, 16 RBI, six walks, and a .364 wOBA. He has a 32.7% hard-hit rate overall with a 10.2% barrel rate, but he has locked in and been getting much better contact lately with a 50% hard-hit rate and 25.0% barrel rate over his last six games. All four of his homers have come in that six-game span.
Since reaching the majors, Colson Montgomery has caught fire 🔥
The White Sox infielder launched his fourth homer in six games and is slashing 273/.333/.515.
(📽️: @whitesox)pic.twitter.com/GW6b8jUycA
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 29, 2025
Montgomery hit .218 in Triple-A this year but did showcase that power potential with 11 homers and a .324 wOBA before his promotion. He had 18 homers in 130 games in the minors last year.
The big concern with Montgomery has been his strikeout rate in the minors. At Triple-A, he had a 29% strikeout rate last year and a 34% strikeout rate this year. He has managed it better than expected in the majors, though, with a 24.7% strikeout rate since his promotion and just a 16.7% strikeout rate in his last six games.
While he may not ever be a contact-first hitter with a high batting average, if he keeps his strikeout rate that low, he should be worth owning, given how much power potential he brings. If you need a patch on the left side of your infield, Montgomery is a great short-term addition for as long as he keeps up his current power binge.
- Written by Zach Thompson
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