3 Impact Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash - Payton Tolle, Sam Antonacci, Ryan Waldschmidt

Sam Antonacci was not an extremely highly-regarded talent when he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, but everything he has done since then has been nothing short of impressive. In his first full year in the minors in 2025, he slashed .291/.433/.409 with five home runs, 57 RBI, 78 runs, and 48 stolen bases in 116 games. He finished the year in Double-A, slashing .292/.435/.381 in 49 games. 

While he clearly didn’t hit for much power, he excelled at getting on base through exceptional plate discipline, striking out only 14.1% of the time and walking 13.3% of the time. He was a starter for Team Italy in the WBC this offseason and only tallied two hits in six games, but one was a home run, showing hope for some increased power potential. That was further backed up by two spring training home runs and his time spent in the Arizona Fall League before the WBC, where he hit three home runs with a .541 slugging percentage in 19 games. 

That power continued to shine once he started this year at Triple-A, as he homered in each of his first two games. Through six games this season, he is 8-for-24 with two home runs, four RBI, five runs, and four steals. Between the AZFL, WBC, spring training, and Triple-A, he has eight home runs in 40 games, which is more than he had all of last season. 

Sam Antonacci has homered in each of his first two Triple-A games...#WhiteSoxpic.twitter.com/I7foT4fO0X

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) March 29, 2026

He was primarily a second baseman last season, but also made appearances at third base, shortstop, and first base. So far in 2026, the White Sox have pushed him for even more versatility, as five of his six games have been in left field. They are clearly looking for ways to ensure he can be in the lineup as much as possible when they decide to eventually promote him, and it could be sooner rather than later if he continues to hit at his current rate.

He should have a high floor for a prospect thanks to his great bat-to-ball skills and discipline, and his aggressive baserunning and emerging pop would make him an enticing pick-up. Especially in deeper leagues with a middle-infield spot and not much available on the waiver wire, his future multi-position eligibility would especially come in handy. 

Ryan Waldschmidt is going to be an absolute stud

90+mph exit velo with a launch angle of 27.1 degrees

High floor, relatively high-ceiling outcome here. High OBP with a feel for hitting and showing the attributes to hit for power and develop some more

Top 15 prospect right now

— Prospect Tilt (@Prospect_Tilt) April 2, 2026

Ryan Waldschmidt is a polished hitter who put up a .309/.423/.498 slash with nine homers and 19 steals in 300 plate appearances at Double-A last season. If you're in an OBP league, you should be even more intrigued by Waldschmidt, as he put up an impressive 15.0% walk rate with an elite 17.7% strikeout rate.

So far, Alek Thomas (.158/.200/.316) has been underwhelming at the plate, continuing to struggle as he has throughout his career. That means that there's a chance that we see Waldschmidt sooner rather than later, especially since he's been solid at Triple-A so far, including a 25.0% walk rate and a 114 wRC+ in 24 plate appearances.

The D-Backs have also shown that they're going to be aggressive in calling up prospects this year, bringing up Jose Fernandez, who homered twice in his big-league debut.

Perhaps they just want Waldschmidt to get a bit more experience at Triple-A before he's up in the big leagues. If Thomas continues to struggle at the plate, we could see the team opt to move Jordan Lawlar to center or even play Waldschmidt there. They can definitely use the upgrade on offense while sacrificing a bit of defense, since that's Thomas' main strength.

Getting a 20-20 threat with elite plate discipline can be a big boost to your fantasy team, so make sure to stash Waldschmidt.