3 Impact Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash - Dylan Beavers, Cam Schlittler, Colby Thomas

Schlittler doesn't have much prospect hype as a seventh-rounder in the 2022 Draft who failed to crack the top-100 prospects list at either FanGraphs or MiLB.com, but scouts have been wrong before. The 24-year-old flashed the ability to dominate on the farm, and the Yankees should provide the run support needed for a fantasy impact.

Let's start with the scouting report, which reads better than the typical non-prospect. FanGraphs sees two pitches as MLB average or better, with two additional passable offerings:

Touching 98 mph is great for a starter, and his write-up notes that Schlittler's curve plays off his heater well. His slider and cutter are works-in-progress, but there's hope both can develop into something beyond show-me pitches.

If Schlittler's scouting report is decent, his MiLB performance has been nothing short of fantastic. He first reached the upper minor leagues with Double-A (Somerset) in 2024, posting a 4.45 ERA in 32 1/3 innings pitched (IP). His 3.30 expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) was much better than his ERA.

Batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is higher in the minors, but Schlittler was still unlucky to post a .395 mark. Homers didn't hurt him with a 9.7 percent HR/FB, so gopheritis can't be blamed for the difference between his ERA and xFIP. It seems that Schlittler just experienced bad luck in a relatively small sample size.

If we assume the BABIP will normalize, Schlittler was dominant. His 29.3 percent K% was outstanding, while his 8.8 percent BB% was just good enough to keep his K-BB% above 20 percent. The performance earned Schlittler a brief stay at Triple-A (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre), though he wasn't very effective in 1 2/3 IP.

Schlittler returned to Somerset to begin 2025 and fared even better, posting a 2.38 ERA largely supported by his 2.57 xFIP in 53 IP. His .354 BABIP was still insane, but the things Schlittler could control all improved.

Opposing hitters struggled to slug with a 3.1 percent HR/FB. They also struggled to make contact as Schlittler's K% jumped to 30.2 percent. He even improved his BB% slightly to 8 percent. Schlittler was ready for a bigger challenge, and the Yankees obliged with a promotion to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

His ERA ballooned to 3.80 in 23 2/3 IP against more advanced competition, but his 2.95 xFIP suggests he pitched better than that. A .340 BABIP and 18.8 percent HR/FB are responsible for the discrepancy, the latter likely more a product of the environment than anything Schlittler did.

More importantly, Schlittler improved his K% to 35.7 percent with only a modest BB% uptick to 9.2 percent. It's a great sign that his stuff played better against better hitters in predominantly hitter-friendly environments, creating hope for immediate success at the highest level.

The Yankees haven't announced any post-All-Star Break pitching plans yet, but the team currently has only four starters listed on Roster Resource, and one of them is the struggling Marcus Stroman. Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Schmidt, and Ryan Yarbrough aren't expected to return any time soon, so Schlittler should get an extended opportunity to show what he can do.

Recent struggles aside, the Yankees are a contending team with a strong offense. Schlittler averaged over five innings per start on the farm, so he should earn wins. He should also get strikeouts if his MiLB numbers are any indication, and he flashed the ability to limit long balls with Somerset.

Schlittler's first opponent will be the Mariners, a team that's been up and down all season. There's no guarantee of success, but Schlittler has the skills and opportunity to be a worthwhile fantasy option in the second half.

In his debut, the right-hander struck out seven batters across 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball en route to picking up the victory. He is a must-roster in all 12-team leagues heading into the All-Star break.

The Yankees plan to promote Cam Schlittler to make his MLB debut vs the Mariners according to @Joelsherman1

He features a 97 MPH fastball and was ranked as the 89th-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. pic.twitter.com/sFKF1tUWMJ

— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) July 5, 2025

There is legit power in the profile, as Thomas has a 105 mph 90th percentile exit velocity. While that number is down a few ticks from last year, Thomas has reached a top speed of 116 mph this year. His barrel rate has risen all year, now sitting at 10 percent as the ground-ball rate has trended downward.

Some of my questions about the profile have been answered. Last year, upon his promotion to Triple-A, his contact rates faltered significantly. But so far this year, Thomas has seen a seven percentage point jump in in-zone contact, and the overall contact rate is up three percentage points.

The chase rate of 34 percent is still higher than I would like to see, and I still worry about Thomas’s ability to hit good fastballs.

On Wednesday evening, the Athletics sent Thomas back to Triple-A when Miguel Andujar returned from the injured list.

For the time being, Thomas should not be rostered in redraft leagues

The A’s have churned out a lot of high-quality major league hitters, and Colby Thomas may be their latest player development win.

He headlines this week's Statcast Standouts.https://t.co/0OXk0XK13x pic.twitter.com/ytJCbTMUSy

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 30, 2025