Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash (Redraft): Eric Cross' Rookie Rankings for Week 5

April 30, 2025

Eric Cross' top 25 fantasy baseball prospects to stash in redraft for Week 5 (2025). His updated MLB rookie rankings for prospect call-ups to make 2025 impacts.

The first month of the Major League season is in the books, and we've already received plenty of notable prospect promotions. Some of these prospects have hit the ground running and impacted fantasy teams, while others scuffled and were optioned back to Triple-A.

Over the last week, Nick Kurtz got the call, and Agustin Ramírez has taken the Major League by storm, looking like a stud through his first week with the Marlins. We also have the Super-2 threshold coming up in around a week and a half, which will likely help bring another solid wave of prospect promotions.

These prospect rankings are for 2025 redraft value only. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2025 redraft leagues. You can also see our top fantasy baseball dynasty prospects rankings for longer-term outlooks and our 2025 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard for all other league formats.

Top 25 Prospects to Stash in Redraft Leagues

My prospect write-ups are below the rankings. These rankings are for 2025 redraft value only, not dynasty. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2025.

Promoted Last Week: Nick Kurtz (ATH)

Honorable Mentions (Hitters): Bryce Eldridge (SFG), Jett Williams (NYM), Kevin Alcantara (CHC), Owen Caissie (CHC), Tyler Black (MIL), Shay Whitcomb (HOU), Jacob Melton (HOU), Spencer Jones (NYY), Adrian Del Castillo (ARI), Carson Williams (TBR), Otto Kemp (PHI), Colson Montgomery (CHW), Tyler Locklear (SEA)

Honorable Mentions (Pitchers): Noah Schultz (CHW), Cade Horton (CHC), Tink Hence (STL), Ian Seymour (TBR), Thomas Harrington (PIT), Quinn Mathews (STL), Logan Henderson (MIL)

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis

Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee Brewers

There hasn't been any question that Jacob Misiorowski's upside can rival any pitching prospect in the minor leagues right now. However, a bloated walk rate has consistently been in the picture, leading many, myself included, to wonder if Misiorowski was destined for the bullpen. Those concerns haven't vanished, but it's certainly encouraging to see Misiorowski walk just one batter in his last two starts combined with a 5.1 percent walk rate over his last three outings.

Jacob Misiorowski (@Brewers) flashes 99.9 mph as he lowers his @nashvillesounds ERA to 1.82:
5 IP
3 H
0 R
1 BB
8 K pic.twitter.com/E3c7BAO5SJ

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 27, 2025

For the season, Misiorowski is still walking 11.5 percent of the batters he's faced, but he can still succeed in that 10-12 percent range given his elite arsenal and elite bat-missing ability. Misiorowski has struck out 33.6 percent of the batters he's faced this season with a 1.82 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 29.2 innings.

With an elite mid to upper-90s heater, big curveball, harder slider, and a changeup that looks much better this season, Misiorowski's potential is off the charts if he can keep the walk rate in check and command his arsenal reasonably well. It probably won't be long before we see him up with Milwaukee.

Marcelo Mayer, Boston Red Sox

Everyone is clamoring for Roman Anthony's promotion, but Marcelo Mayer is knocking loudly on that proverbial door to Boston as well. Over his last nine games, Mayer is rocking a stellar .417/.452/.944 slash line with four doubles, five home runs, and 24 RBI. Yes, I said 24 RBI in Mayer's last nine games. Mayer also has five home runs and seven multi-hit games in this span. To say he's on fire right now is an understatement.

Mayer has been hitting the ball hard all season with a 54.2 percent hard-hit rate, 92.4 mph AVG EV, and a 15.3 percent barrel rate to go along with an 82.6 percent zone and 75.6 percent overall contact rate. But where does he play? With Trevor Story healthy and performing well, along with Kristian Campbell at second and Alex Bregman at third, Mayer doesn't have a clear path to playing time at the moment and is likely waiting for an injury to secure regular playing time in Boston.

Brady House, Washington Nationals

You'll often hear me talk about how there's no clear path to Major League playing time for a top prospect on the verge of his debut. That's not the case here with Brady House, as the Nationals are currently starting Jose Tena, who doesn't project as a Major League starter long-term. With House hitting well in Triple-A, it should only be a matter of time before House is patrolling the hot corner for the Nationals and Tena is coming off the bench.

Brady House finds the opposite field again for his second dinger of the game! pic.twitter.com/KXHtUsZzxq

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 28, 2023

In 26 games for Triple-A Rochester, House is slashing .299/.367/495 with five doubles and four home runs. Over his last nine games, House is hitting .371 with a trio of home runs. House has been hitting the ball hard this season with a 44.3 percent hard-hit rate and 9.8 percent barrel rate while also keeping the zone and overall contact rates respectable. The long-term upside is a potential 25-homer bat, and we should see House get a shot sooner rather than later.

Deyvison De Los Santos, Miami Marlins

After a slower start to the season, Deyvison De Los Santos has turned things around at the plate lately. Over his last 11 games, De Los Santos has posted a .341/.396/.568 slash line with two home runs and five extra-base hits total.

As expected, De Los Santos' quality of contact metrics are mostly stellar again this season with a 94.2 mph AVG EV and 53.2 percent hard-hit rate. He's also dropped his SwStr rate by 2.3 percent while improving his walk rate from 5.8 to 9.6 percent and is striking out less over his last 11 games. However, De Los Santos still has a 17.4 percent SwStr rate and is running a zone contact rate a hair under 70 percent.

Given that Miami doesn't have anyone in his way, I'm sure we're going to see De Los Santos fairly soon, and he could be an impact power bat once he's up. Be prepared for lower ABG and OBP, along with profound peaks and valleys, due to the contact and approach metrics.

Moises Ballesteros, Chicago Cubs

With the first month of the Triple-A season in the books, your batting average leader is Moises Ballesteros by a whopping 20 points. In his first 22 games of the season, Ballesteros is slashing .414/.475/.586 with seven doubles, two home runs, and three steals while having nearly as many walks (10) as strikeouts (12). Ballesteros is hitting the ball hard with a 91.7 mph AVG EV and 49.3 percent hard-hit rate, and continues to post above-average contact metrics as well.

For anyone who has followed Ballesteros' minor league career, it's obvious that he's one of the best pure hitters in the minors at the catcher position. But where and when does he fit into the picture for the Chicago Cubs? Ballesteros can only slot in at catcher and DH, but those spots are occupied by Seiya Suzuki (DH) and the solid catching duo of Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly.

Whenever he does get the call, Ballesteros would immediately become fantasy relevant in all 12-team leagues or deeper. However, he's probably waiting for an injury to regular playing time at the Major League level to open up.

Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox

One of the prospects who fell out of my Top-25 stash rankings this week was White Sox shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery. The first month of the season hasn't been kind to Montgomery, who is currently slashing .149/.223/.255 with a cringe-worthy 41.7 percent strikeout rate. Montgomery's quality of contact metrics is middle of the road right now, and he's currently running a 64.2 percent contact rate and a 16.5 percent SwStr rate. I highly doubt he will get the call to Chicago anytime soon.

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