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Kevin Luo's top hitter fantasy baseball prospects to stash for Week 2 (2025). His MLB prospects to pickup and stash on your bench and N/A spots in redraft leagues.
It's the start of the fantasy baseball season, and it's anyone's title to win. While some teams are dealing with a few injuries, most teams are generally comfortable with who is in their starting lineup at this point in the season.
With fewer short-term holes for teams to fill, it's the time to chase upside for later in the season. One of the best ways to do that is to stash top prospects whom you expect to make a significant impact when they get the call to the majors.
Young fantasy stars like Elly De La Cruz and James Wood have been premium stash candidates in previous years when they've been on the cusp of the majors. Let's take a look at the five best hitters to stash right now in the minor leagues.
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Roman Anthony, OF, Boston Red Sox
Anthony is the clear top prospect in the minors to stash right now. He's arguably the best prospect in baseball and is banging down the door to the major leagues.
Anthony has had incredibly impressive age-to-level production over the last two seasons. He had a 143 WRC+ as a 19-year-old across Low-A, High-A, and Double-A in 2023 and a 149 WRC+ as a 20-year-old across Double-A and Triple-A last season.
There was some speculation that Anthony could break camp along with fellow top prospect Kristian Campbell. However, due to the Red Sox's mini-logjam in the outfield, he is starting the season in Triple-A. In the first few games, he is showing that he has no intention of staying there long, as he's already homered twice and has a 222 WRC+.
Roman Anthony's first home run of the Minor League season was a TANK! 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/BQc52Hk6I0
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2025
The Red Sox clearly see themselves as a contender this season and are being aggressive in their pursuit to make the playoffs in the AL. They demonstrated this by acquiring Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman this offseason and by breaking camp with Campbell. It shouldn't be long before they take the next step and promote Anthony.
It's somewhat unclear where Anthony will play, which may delay his call-up. At the end of spring training, it looked like Wilyer Abreu's spot in the lineup might be on life support as he had a -36 WRC+ in the short sample and looked potentially injured. However, he has been Boston's best hitter so far in the young season.
That leaves Ceddanne Rafaela as the man to be replaced. The Red Sox have some history settling for mediocre offense alongside elite center-field defense (see: Jackie Bradley Jr.), but Rafaela's sub-80 career WRC+ and one walk since August 10, 2024 and plate discipline may just not be cutting it anymore for an everyday role.
However you slice it, we can expect to see Anthony in the Red Sox lineup fairly soon. Expect a solid five-category production from him when he gets the call.
Nick Kurtz, 1B, Athletics
Along with Cam Smith, Nick Kurtz has been one of the most impressive college bats so far from the 2024 MLB Draft. Although it has all come in small samples, he's been incredibly productive at every stop of his professional career.
He had a 230 WRC+ across Low-A and Double-A after being drafted last season and a 160 WRC+ in spring training. He's also shown incredible plate discipline by walking more than he has struck out in each of these periods.
Like Anthony, Kurtz got assigned to Triple-A out of camp and wasted no time showing he is ready for the call to the majors, as he has hit three HR with a 300 WRC+ in his first few games.
lol, Nick Kurtz has done it again! HR in 3 of his last 4 games. pic.twitter.com/IHCjOehKJ1
— Chris Clegg (@ChrisCleggMiLB) April 3, 2025
The one issue with stashing Kurtz is that his ETA is a little tougher to predict. Tyler Soderstrom's early season emergence has given him a decent leash at first base, and the A's have Brent Rooker as their everyday DH.
You might need to wait a while, but these things usually work themselves out when you need to fit a player as good as Kurtz into your lineup. When he gets the call, expect big power with a good average from Kurtz, especially in the much more hitter-friendly stadium for the A's in Sacramento.
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Minnesota Twins
Rodriguez is one of the most controversial top prospects in baseball. With Rodriguez, I think of the "Moneyball" clip where Jonah Hill lists all of the good things about a player. His one defect is that he doesn't seem to like swinging the bat (he also has Twins-itis, so he's always injured).
Last season, Rodriguez only swung at 31.7 percent of pitches. The MLB average was 47.8 percent. This low swing percentage has resulted in both very high walk and strikeout rates for him.
Despite the very low swing rate and constantly battling injuries, Rodriguez has been incredibly productive throughout his minor league career. He had a 196 WRC+ in Low-A in 2022, a 145 WRC+ in High-A in 2023, and a 184 WRC+ across multiple levels in 2024 (mostly Double-A).
He's able to produce despite his flawed swing profile because when he makes contact, he makes loud contact.
In 47 games last season EmManuel Rodriguez ran an average exit velocity of 94.7 mph. The only big leaguers with a higher figure in 2024 (min. 100 BBE):
Aaron Judge: 96.2 mph
Shohei Ohtani: 95.8 mph
Oneil Cruz: 95.5 mph pic.twitter.com/WjV974gTN2— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) February 12, 2025
If you're in an OBP league and Rodriguez is available, you need to stop what you're doing and go pick him up. However, in standard 5x5 formats, Rodriguez still has big power upside and solid speed. His glove in the outfield, along with his ability to draw walks, will give him some playing time runway whenever he gets the call to the majors.
Rodriguez's ETA is kind of up in the air right now, but I have a hunch that the Twins may not want to "waste the bullets" in the minors with him, similar to a team getting a prized pitching prospect in the majors. If he is going to string together a period of good health, he might as well have an impact on the big league club.
Chandler Simpson, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
Chandler Simpson is not everyone's cup of tea as a prospect. However, he's most likely just what the doctor ordered for some teams in your league.
He and I will likely hit the same number of over-the-fence homers this year in the majors. However, he has off-the-charts speed and a very good hit tool. Simpson stole 104 bases last season in 110 games across High-A and Double-A. He also had a strikeout rate under 9 percent each of the last two seasons.
Whenever he gets the call, he might just lead the league in steals from that point forward and will provide a good batting average, something former super rabbit prospects like Esteury Ruiz and Victor Scott II struggled to do.
Simpson's call-up could be coming soon. With Josh Lowe injured (oblique), all of the outfield spots for the Rays are fairly up for grabs if the incumbent struggles. Going into spring training, there were reports that Simpson was not a particularly good outfield defender.
I did not know it was possible for someone as fast as Simpson to be a bad outfield defender, but it was the case. He seems to have shown improvements in this area in the spring, reaffirming his position on the doorstep of the majors.
Not every team can afford a zero for power in a starting outfield position, but adding Simpson to a team with, say, Aaron Judge might feel like the kids in "Kicking and Screaming" "creating a mega-person."
Kyle Teel/Agustin Ramirez, C, White Sox/Marlins
I cheated a little bit by putting these two together. If you have a strong catcher in a one-catcher league, you can probably skip this section. However, if you went cheap at catcher or are in a two-catcher league, you may want to stash one of these guys.
Both Teel and Ramirez are on the doorstep of the majors. Their roster situations will likely be a blessing and a curse. Hitting in the White Sox or Marlins lineup is not great for your run or RBI totals.
However, both guys should get plenty of at-bats when called up, not only as catchers but potentially as designated hitters. Let's be real, both teams can use all of the offensive help they can get. Both teams would also like to showcase them to their fan bases as much as possible since they were each the centerpiece of a big trade they made recently.
Teel was the centerpiece of the Garrett Crochet trade, and Ramirez was the centerpiece of the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade.
Both catchers have had very impressive offensive minor league careers. Teel had a 173 WRC+ after getting drafted in 2023 across the Complex, High-A, and Double-A. He had a 134 WRC+ across Double-A and Triple-A last season. He's off to a great start this season, having already hit two HR with a 183 WRC+ in his first few games.
White Sox prospect Kyle Teel is GOING OFF to start 2025
In two games, he's 5-for-9 with two homers and eight RBI 😳 pic.twitter.com/lpltQC9k3y
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2025
Ramirez had a slow start to his pro career as the pandemic altered the timeline of many prospects in the low minors. However, he has made up for lost time over the last couple of seasons. In 2023, he had a 123 WRC+ across Low-A, High-A, and Double-A. Last season, he had a 130 WRC+ across Double-A and Triple-A.
Along with solid all-around production, he struck out less than 19 percent of the time each of the last two seasons. He also had a very impressive power-speed combo for a catcher last season, hitting 25 HR and stealing 22 bases.
Overall, you can't go wrong stashing either catcher if you're looking to fill the position with an upside play soon. Teel's skills behind the plate should give him more job security (Ramirez might be a future first baseman), but Ramirez likely has more overall fantasy juice if he sticks, especially with the steals.
Five Other Prospects to Consider Stashing
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