3 Impact Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash - Nick Kurtz, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel

Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Nick Kurtz, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.

As we head into June, the fantasy baseball season is heating up along with the weather, and you may find your team in need of some refreshment and reinforcement as the summer wears on. One top spot to look for new additions is from the prospects teams are adding to their roster throughout the season.

In this article, we will focus on three players who began the season in the minor leagues on Opening Day but have made their way to the majors over the last few weeks. We will take a look at Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, Zebby Matthews of the Minnesota Twins, and Mick Abel of the Philadelphia Phillies to see how each of these call-ups has performed since their promotion and what to expect from them the rest of the way.

So, let's dive in and see if these three prospects should be stashed or grabbed off the waiver wire before it's too late.

• Fantasy baseball trade analyzer
• BvP matchups data (Batter vs. Pitcher)
• PvB matchups data (Pitcher vs. Batter)
• Who should I start? Fantasy baseball comparisons
• Daily MLB starting lineups
• Fantasy baseball closer depth charts
• Fantasy Baseball live scoreboard
• Fantasy baseball injury reports

Nick Kurtz, 1B, Athletics

Current Level: Athletics
Availability: 23% rostered
2025 AAA stats: 20 G, .321/.385/.447, 7 HRs, 24 RBI, 18 R, 26 SO, 10 BB
2025 MLB stats: 28 G, .245/.315/.447, 5 HRs, 15 RBI, 11 R, 36 SO, 11 BB

Kurtz made an extremely fast climb through the minor leagues to reach the majors in less than a calendar year from being drafted. The 22-year-old lefty is a power-first, slugging first baseman who brings plenty of power but also a high strikeout rate at this point in his career.

After the Athletics made him the No. 4 overall pick in 2024 out of Wake Forest, he posted a .368 batting average and .559 wBOA in 12 games as a professional last season. He started this year in Triple-A with the Las Vegas Aviators and smashed seven homers in 20 games while hitting .321 with a .433 wOBA and 141 wRC+.

He made his major league debut on April 23 and hit his first major league home run on May 4. While there was some adjustment time with plenty of early strikeouts, he really started to find his stride at the end of May, going 7-for-17 in a five-games stretch at home with four homers, a 61.5% hard-hit rate, and a 30.8% barrel rate.

Nick Kurtz brings the @Athletics within a run in the 9th!

His 4th homer in his last 4 games 😳 pic.twitter.com/NvtifzNeNb

— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2025

Unfortunately, just as he was heating up, he landed on the 10-day IL with a hip flexor strain suffered while running the bases.  The good news is that he is targeting a return on Monday, June 9, against the Angels. Kurtz will look to pick up right where he left off, and the Athletics are ready to lock him in at first base for many years to come.

Kurtz has a very high ceiling and looked to be trending towards it before the injury. If he's available, he's a great option to stash through the weekend and deploy regularly the rest of the season. His strikeout rate was a little high pre-injury, so if your league penalizes K's his value is a little lower.

Even though the A's are struggling overall, the situation should give Kurtz plenty of room to grow as one of their young core players, and he'll have a long leash with plenty of opportunity the rest of the season.

Zebby Matthews, SP, Minnesota Twins

Current Level: Minnesota Twins
Availability: 23% rostered
2025 AAA stats: 7 G, 32 2/3 IP, 1.93 ERA, 2.47 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 38 Ks, 9 BB
2025 MLB stats: 4 G, 19 IP, 5.21 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 1.47 WHIP, 25 Ks, 8 BB

Matthews had a fast rise through the minor leagues as well, starting last year when he went from High-A to the majors in the span of one season with stops at Double-A and Triple-A along the way. He struggled once he got to the majors, though, going 1-4 with a 6.69 ERA, 5.72 FIP, and 1.65 WHIP.

He started this year back at Triple-A with some time to refine and improve his stuff before rejoining the Twins' major league staff. He was excellent in his time with the St. Paul Saints, posting an ERA under 2.00 and racking up a 28.1% strikeout rate. He has always produced a high volume of strikeouts, and even when he gives up runs, his outstanding stuff has resulted in plenty of punchouts.

He came back up to the majors for a start on May 18, and he struggled against the Brewers, giving up four runs in three innings. He was better against the Royals in his next outing, picking up a career-high nine strikeouts in just four innings. He gave up four runs in the first inning of his third start against the Mariners but seemed to settle down after that and ended up still working seven solid innings.

In his most recent start, he held the Athletics to just one run on four hits but only got through five innings with four strikeouts before being taken out of the game after five innings.

Zebby Matthews vs #Athletics

5.0 IP
77 pitches
4 H
1 ER
3 BB
4 Ks

Zebby was good again. Only 77 pitches but with the Pablo injury that leash will only get longer, he will start to pitch deeper into games.

Still has to limit the walks but regardless is looking great.

— Rex (@RexTalksTwins) June 5, 2025

He's still finding his rhythm at the major league level and has room to grow, but he has a very high ceiling, and his elevated strikeout rate makes him a great pitcher to grab if he's still available in your league. His fellow rookie and prospect David Festa is also joining the Twins rotation, and the two top prospects will both be pivotal to how the rest of the Twins' season goes.

Since he hasn't put it all together for multiple starts in a row, Matthews is still very underowned and makes a great option to add in standard formats.

Mick Abel, SP, Philadelphia Phillies

Level: Philadelphia Phillies
Availability: 45% rostered
2025 AAA stats: 10 G, 57 IP, 2.21 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.23 WHIP, 67 Ks, 26 BB
2025 MLB stats: 2 G, 11 1/3 IP, 0.79 ERA, 1.13 FIP, 0.71 WHIP, 11 Ks, 0 BB

Abel has been lights out in his two starts this season for the Phillies, and he's quickly become one of the hottest names on waiver wires after his second start of the season against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Mick Abel tossed another gem in his second career start!

Between him, Andrew Painter, and the rest of the Phillies’ starters, there are going to be a couple of tough decisions coming up! pic.twitter.com/SZq7Ov8hrp

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) June 5, 2025

Abel has had a high ceiling since the Phillies added him with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, but he has had one major issue--control. He has always had very high strikeout rates but also very high walk rates. For example, last year at Triple-A, he went 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA in large part due to his 6.46 BB/9. This year, he cut that to 4.11 BB/9 in his 10 Triple-A starts, and has been even more remarkable in the majors with no walks at all in his first two MLB outings.

In that very small sample size, he has only allowed one run on eight hits while picking up 11 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings. He has excellent stuff and a high strikeout ceiling, and if he continues to demonstrate improved control, he could be a huge addition to the Phillies' rotation going forward.

He's not nearly as secure in his role as Matthews, though, since the Phillies have top prospect Andrew Painter in line to make his much-anticipated debut in July and Aaron Nola (ankle, side) working his way back from injury. They had been using Taijuan Walker in the rotation until calling Abel back up for Wednesday's start against the Blue Jays. Abel will likely get at least a few more starts, but it isn't a sure thing that he'll keep his spot all summer.

Based on even his Triple-A numbers, there's also the potential for some regression over his next few outings. He was strong at Triple-A this season, but his control issues weren't quite solved to this level. He is currently slated for a matchup next week at home against the Cubs and could even be a two-start pitcher if he stays in the same rotation spot, with a Sunday rematch with the Blue Jays also possible.

Abel has the upside to be a great addition and is an obvious swoop and snag if available, but I actually think Matthews has more value for the rest of the season due to Abel's less certain rotation spot. Both rookie righties are great pickups, though, and can each bring great upside and refreshing firepower to your starting rotation if you can snag them on waiver wires.

More Fantasy Baseball Prospects and Rookies