Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash - Updated Rankings for 2023 Redraft (Week 5)

1 year ago by Eric Cross

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While we didn't have quite the prospect promotion frenzy this past week as we did the week before, the top 25 prospects to stash list still saw some movement, including the call-up of electric right-hander Mason Miller and the recall of Taj Bradley. We also appear to have a few more arms on the cusp of promotions along with some sneaky bats joining the list this week.

The purpose of this article is to assist those trying to answer the last part above. Stashing fantasy baseball prospects should be done strategically, not haphazardly. You need to be cognizant of which prospects will be up sooner and can make the biggest short-term impact on your teams -- even if that means stashing a prospect that might be ranked lower than another in long-term dynasty prospect rankings.

In this article, we will focus on MLB prospects, rookies, and call-ups who could make impacts for the 2023 fantasy baseball season.

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Top 25 Prospects to Stash for Fantasy Baseball

Notes on plenty of prospects can be found below the rankings table. And remember, these rankings are for 2023 redraft value only. These are MLB prospects to potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2023. As prospects are called up, they are removed from the rankings. You can also see our top 250 fantasy baseball dynasty prospects for long-term outlooks.

Called Up Last Week: Mason Miller (OAK), Logan T. Allen (CLE)

Honorable Mentions: Maikel Garcia (KC), Addison Barger (TOR), Ricky Tiedemann (TOR), Luis Ortiz (PIT), Gavin Williams (CLE), Cade Marlowe (SEA), Justin Foscue (TEX), Casey Schmitt (SF), Pedro Leon (HOU), Samad Taylor (KC)

Rank	Name	Position	Team	ETA	Last Wk
1	Brandon Pfaadt	SP	ARI	April	1
2	Kyle Manzardo	1B	TBR	May	2
3	Gavin Stone	SP	LAD	May	9
4	Edouard Julien	2B	MIN	May	NR
5	Curtis Mead	2B/3B	TBR	May	3
6	Matt Mervis	1B	CHC	May	4
7	Matthew Liberatore	SP	STL	May	6
8	Tanner Bibee	SP	CLE	May	7
9	David Hamilton	SS	BOS	May	11
10	Colton Cowser	OF	BAL	June	19
11	Royce Lewis	SS	MIN	June	13
12	Ronny Mauricio	SS	NYM	June	15
13	Jordan Westburg	2B/3B/SS	BAL	June	16
14	Justyn-Henry Malloy	OF	DET	May	NR
15	Connor Norby	2B	BAL	June	14
16	Bobby Miller	SP	LAD	June	12
17	Matt McLain	SS	CIN	June	17
18	Elly De La Cruz	SS	CIN	July	21
19	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	1B/3B	CIN	June	NR
20	Nolan Jones	OF	COL	May	NR
21	Chase Silseth	SP	LAA	May	10
22	Bo Naylor	C	CLE	May	18
23	Sal Frelick	OF	MIL	May	8
24	Endy Rodriguez	C	PIT	June	24
25	Michael Busch	2B	LAD	June	23

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis

Brandon Pfaadt (SP - ARI)

Given recent events, there's a decent chance that Brandon Pfaadt's next start could and should come in the major leagues. With the Diamondbacks finally designating Madison Bumgarner for assignment, there's a gaping hole in that rotation that Pfaadt should fill in the very near future. Unfortunately, Tommy Henry got the initial call as he lined up with Bumgarner's day, but there's a good chance Pfaadt makes that next start later this week.

New season high in punchouts for reigning Minors strikeout champ Brandon Pfaadt 💪
7 IP
3 H
0 R
1 BB
8 K

The third-ranked @Dbacks prospect notched 15 swings-and-misses for the @Aces: pic.twitter.com/NrSF4WmOiM
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 21, 2023

After a rough first outing, Pfaadt has three straight impressive starts, including his best start of the season on Thursday where he tossed seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Overall, Pfaadt has a 1.62 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 6.1% walk rate, and a 27.3% strikeout rate over his last three outings. Eventually, Arizona will run out of other names to call up and that string probably ends with Henry. Given Pfaadt's stuff and performance since the beginning of 2022, he's a must-stash right now with a top-50 SP upside once he's up.

Gavin Stone (SP - LAD)

It hasn't quite been as dominant of a showing here in 2023 as it was in 2022 for Gavin Stone, but the 24-year-old right-hander is coming off his best outing of the 2023 season on Saturday with seven strikeouts over five scoreless innings. Stone was arguably the most impressive pitcher in the entire minor league last season. That performance, along with his #3 starter upside, helped Stone vault into top 10 pitching prospect territory in prospect rankings this offseason.

Unfortunately for Stone, Tony Gonsolin returns this week. We've gotten to the point where it definitely appears that Stone will be the next man up when the Dodgers need an arm. It could be soon given the durability issues this rotation has.

Kyle Manzardo (1B - TB)

So here's the problem we're dealing with when it comes to Kyle Manzardo. In Triple-A, Manzardo is slashing a cool .283/.371/.600 with four doubles and five home runs. He's hitting for plenty of power so far while demonstrating that usual excellent approach with an 11.4% walk rate and 17.1% strikeout rate. On skills and performance alone, there's really no denying that Manzardo is MLB-ready. However, as a 1B/DH-only hitter, it's hard to see where he fits in with Tampa Bay unless there's an injury of some sort.

Honestly still wondering if Kyle Manzardo's 455 foot homer from yesterday has actually landed... pic.twitter.com/EMsl6sJ4L8
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) April 23, 2023

At first base, Yandy Diaz is off to a hot start with elite quality of contact metrics, and the DH spot has recently been occupied by the hot-hitting Harold Ramirez. If you have Manzardo already or have a free bench spot for stashing, he's still one of the top stash candidates right now, but it's hard to answer the "when will he be up" questions.

Edouard Julien (2B - MIN)

With Jorge Polanco returning from the IL this week, Minnesota optioned Edouard Julien back to Triple-A. Julien held his own with the Twins over eight games, cranking a pair of home runs, but will now have to wait in Triple-A for another turn. In deeper leagues, Julien remains a strong stash given his power/speed blend and OBP prowess. It might be a bit before he's back up and probably needs an injury to Jorge Polanco, Carlos Correa (Polanco shifts to short), or Byron Buxton (playing solely DH) to get that call. In shallower leagues, you can drop him for now.

Colton Cowser (OF - BAL)

After a slow start to the season in Triple-A, Colton Cowser has really turned up the heat over the last week and a half. Over the last 10 days, Cowser is slashing a robust .447/.533/.789 with six extra-base hits, three home runs, and a steal with a 7/9 BB/K ratio. Trimming the strikeouts has always been needed with Cowser and he's done so lately while still hitting for power.

Cowser is coming off a 2022 season where he posted a .406 OBP while nearly going 20/20 and he's on a similar pace so far here in 2023. Given his power/speed/OBP, Cowser could make a solid fantasy impact once he's up, which could be sooner rather than later.

Justyn-Henry Malloy (OF - DET)

A new addition to the top 25 this week, Justyn-Henry Malloy has gotten off to a hot start in 2023 after his breakout 2022 campaign. After another two hits on Sunday, Malloy is now up to a ridiculous .391/.538/.580 slash line this season with four doubles, three home runs, and more walks (20) than strikeouts (17) as well.

Malloy is a plus hitter that has consistently posted a high AVG/OBP, but the power is more in the 15-20 homer range. Once up, Malloy would be more of a 14-team league target or deeper, or maybe deeper 12-team leagues. That time could be drawing near as Detroit needs someone to spark their lowly offense.

Sal Frelick (OF - MIL)

Last but not least this week, we have Sal Frelick. Given the unfortunate and potential season-ending shoulder injury suffered by Garrett Mitchell, Frelick likely would be up with Milwaukee right now if it wasn't for a sprained thumb that will cause him to miss a couple of weeks. However, the injury isn't expected to keep Frelick out long-term, so he should still be able to crack Milwaukee's outfield by the end of June or so.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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