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Welcome back RotoBallers to our weekly fantasy baseball prospect rankings. It has been an exciting week for prospects as Vinnie Pasquantino FINALLY got called up to the big leagues after the Royals traded Carlos Santana to the Seattle Mariners! He will not be on the rankings and may he mash at the big leagues finally. We have some movement in the rankings as more guys get called up, some get demoted and it's clear which teams are competing and which are not this season.
Additionally, players who are playing in the minors but graduated from prospect status will also not be in the rankings.
For those who are not familiar, below you will find our updated list of the top-25 fantasy baseball prospects rankings to make an impact for the 2022 fantasy baseball season, which RotoBaller will be updating weekly. You’ll find quite a few well-known prospects on the list — as well as some lesser-known players that could nonetheless provide key contributions to your fantasy league teams this season. As always, this weekly list is updated to reflect rest-of-season fantasy baseball values, and near-term impacts that these MLB prospects can make.
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Top MLB Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball
The list below is for 2022 fantasy baseball redraft leagues. These are MLB prospects, rookies, and call-ups to potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2022. As prospects are called up, they are removed from the rankings. You can also see our top-250 fantasy baseball dynasty prospects for longer-term outlooks.
| Ranking | Player | Pos | Team | Age | ETA |
| 1 | Miguel Vargas | 3B | LAD | 22 | July |
| 2 | Alec Burleson | OF | STL | 23 | July |
| 3 | Gabriel Arias | SS | CLE | 21 | July |
| 4 | Esteury Ruiz | OF | SD | 23 | July |
| 5 | D.L. Hall | SP | BAL | 23 | July |
| 6 | Kyle Stowers | OF | BAL | 24 | July |
| 7 | Max Meyer | SP | MIA | 23 | July |
| 8 | Brayan Bello | SP | BOS | 23 | July |
| 9 | Kyle Muller | SP | ATL | 24 | July |
| 10 | Darick Hall | 1B | PHI | 26 | July |
| 11 | Gunnar Henderson | 3B/SS | BAL | 20 | July |
| 12 | Spencer Steer | 2B/3B | MIN | 24 | July |
| 13 | Nick Pratto | 1B/OF | KCR | 23 | July |
| 14 | Triston Casas | 1B | BOS | 22 | August |
| 15 | Ryan Noda | 1B/OF | LAD | 26 | July |
| 16 | Matthew Liberatore | SP | STL | 22 | July |
| 17 | Ethan Small | SP | MIL | 25 | July |
| 18 | Ryan Pepiot | SP | LAD | 24 | July |
| 19 | Peyton Burdick | OF | MIA | 25 | July |
| 20 | David Villar | 3B | SF | 25 | September |
| 21 | Ezequiel Duran | 3B | TEX | 23 | September |
| 22 | Mason Martin | 1B | PIT | 22 | September |
| 23 | Corbin Carroll | OF | ARI | 21 | September |
| 24 | Michael Busch | 2B | LAD | 24 | September |
| 25 | Hunter Brown | SP | HOU | 23 | July |
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #1-5
Miguel Vargas is the new No. 1 on the list. Justin Turner is not having a good season. He is 37 years old, batting .216 with a .287 OBP and four home runs in 68 games. It's tough because from 2016 until this season he has been a reliable fantasy asset. At some point the Dodgers are going to have to DFA him no? Vargas is batting .285 with a .381 OBP, 12 home runs, and eight stolen bases in 70 games played. He has a 12.1% walk rate and just a 16.1% strikeout rate. He also has played two games in left field as well. Chris Taylor isn't necessarily having a great season either with a .328 OBP and 34.3% strikeout rate. Vargas deserves a shot and would have gotten one had he been on any other team.
Alec Burleson has been playing great but the roster is crowded in Saint Louis. Gabriel Arias is now at Triple-A continuing to rehab. He is expected to join the big league club soon.
Esteury Ruiz continues to rake at Triple-A with a .488 OBP, .246 ISO, 11.5% walk rate, and 19.5% strikeout rate. He also has four home runs and 11 steals in 17 games.
D.L. Hall rounds out the top five as I have given a bump to Orioles players. June 2022 has been the best month of baseball for the Baltimore Orioles since 2017 (the last time they had a winning month). If Baltimore can continue to play well in July and somehow find themselves a handful of games out of the wildcard, they could want to get competitive and bring their young guys up to help them. If July is bad, and they find themselves 10+ games out of the wildcard, then I am more bearish on Orioles getting called up outside of injury and roster expansion.
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #6-10
Kyle Stowers is back on the list, as he is back in Triple-A. He has played well at that level with a .356 OBP, .275 ISO, 11.7% walk rate, and 23.3% strikeout rate. I have already elaborated my thoughts on Baltimore and how they may treat their prospects in the second half of the season.
Max Meyer shoots back up the list as he has made two starts since his injury. In his last start on June 22nd, he pitched four innings, had five strikeouts and gave up just one earned run. He is slated to make another start tonight (June 28th, 2022). If he does well, I have full confidence in Meyer going forward. Miami's rotation needs solidifying. Miami is seven games out of the wildcard race. If they want to compete, they need to bring up Meyer. If the team continues to slip, they could be more conservative with him. My sense is Miami wants to be in the mix in the second half of the season.
Brayan Bello continues to have great stuff. There were some highlights going around Twitter of him striking out Eloy Jimenez twice. He has a 34% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in Triple-A now. The Boston rotation could use some help. This is a team relying on Michael Wacha and Rich Hill right now.
Why isn't Kyle Muller in the big leagues? He has a 32.9% strikeout rate, a 7.6% walk rate, and a 3.23 xFIP in Triple-A. He has only gotten one chance this year, has not done well and we haven't heard from him since. Meanwhile, Ian Anderson has a 4.40 ERA, 4.28 xFIP in the big leagues. Overall that rotation has been doing well but it's a tough break for Muller, who likely would be pitching in the big leagues for many other teams. Perhaps he gets included in a trade and an opportunity for another team?
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #11-25
This is where the rankings start to get really close to each other, and even though there are 14 players, they are all pretty close.
Gunnar Henderson moves way up the list. He has a .422 OBP, a .227 ISO with four home runs, and two steals in 18 Triple-A games. My initial thoughts are the Orioles keep him down and don't rush him as they are a last-place team. But with how they have been playing recently, if they want to compete, they could call him up. He has a good eye (19.7% walk rate in Double-A, 18.1% walk rate in Triple-A) and has played well in the minors this season.
Spencer Steer makes his debut on the list at No. 12. He is playing really well in Triple-A. He has 11 home runs in 28 games played with a .328 ISO. Trevor Larnach is going to miss six weeks as of yesterday. Jorge Polanco has a back injury, and Royce Lewis is done for the year. If he continues to hit well in Triple-A, they could use Steer as a boost. He has logged games at 2B, 3B, and SS this season.
Triston Casas is moved down as he still isn't back yet. He is now just hitting off a tee. I am skeptical of his return which is a shame for this season.
The players I have with a September call-up coincide with roster expansion. Trades could always impact their call-up time. I have Hunter Brown last because it is looking like he could be a bullpen guy but he wouldn't close games for the Astros. He is a good prospect but in fantasy baseball if you don't get starts and you don't get saves, in a majority of leagues you aren't helpful. Yes, there are uber-deep leagues where he could help and of course, leagues with holds too. In leagues I play, he won't be a helpful asset if he is a reliever but he could be in your league.
Honorable Mentions: Matt Brash, SP; Korey Lee, C; Pedro Leon, SS/OF; Cade Cavalli, SP; Oswald Peraza, SS; Ken Waldichuk SP; Caleb Kilian SP;
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