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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Chase DeLauter, Brandon Walter, Didier Fuentes - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
Prospects can have a significant impact on your fantasy team, despite their limited presence in the major leagues. Earlier this week, we saw Chase Burns showcase elite strikeout upside against the potent Yankee lineup.
In this piece, we will examine one budding outfielder at Triple-A and two young starters who recently got the call to the big leagues.
Should those players be left on the waiver wire, or should fantasy managers add them before their breakout? Let's dive in!
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Chase DeLauter, OF, Cleveland Guardians
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MLB stats: .271/.403/.479, 17 R, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 1 SB, 18.5% BB%, 13.4% K%
The Guardians have struggled all season to find productive outfield play, and DeLauter is showing signs in Triple-A that he could be ready for his major league debut. What's interesting about DeLauter is that he walks more (18.5%) than he strikes out (13.4%), and he puts the ball in play.
He doesn't have one standout skill that catches the eye to make you see him as a category stuffer, but that may be hard to determine yet, as foot and ankle injuries have wreaked havoc on his early career. He had sports hernia surgery in March and just recently joined the Triple-A team at Columbus.
DeLauter is one to monitor because the hit tool is such that it could cause the Guardians to call him up sooner rather than later. He looks to be a corner outfielder. DeLauter's biggest issue appears to be staying on the field and being available to play.
If the Guardians remain in the playoff race, fantasy managers should expect DeLauter to be in the mix to earn the call. Given his elite production at Triple-A, he is a solid third baseman in all 12-team five-outfielder formats.
Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old OF prospect Chase DeLauter is now 2-2 in the game for Columbus after this opposite field triple in the 4th inning for Columbus at Iowa.
DeLauter is currently hitting .316 with a .956 OPS with the Clippers. #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/ks1SQFhScL
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) June 25, 2025
-Written by Mike Carter
Brandon Walter, SP, Houston Astros
Current Level: MLB
Availability: 15% rostered
2025 AAA stats: 23 2/3 IP, 3.80 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.099 WHIP, 25 K
With the Astros dealing with some injuries to their rotation in the middle of May, the team decided to call up Walter on May 20 to make his season debut. In that start, he threw five shutout innings with five strikeouts against the Tampa Bay Rays. The left-hander then followed that up by giving up just three earned runs across 12 2/3 innings in his next two outings on May 8 and May 15.
Walter showed a lot of great things in those first three starts. He walked just one batter across 17 2/3 innings, and his best start came back on May 15, when he threw 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with a career-high nine strikeouts against the Minnesota Twins.
It's nice to see the left-hander put together some quality outings, especially since he was designated for assignment by the Red Sox less than 12 months ago.
Brandon Walter with a great start today:
6.2 IP | 6 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 9 K
He has a 1.53 ERA through three starts this season! #Astros #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/ZvX3zhAa7F
— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) June 15, 2025
However, Walter is not yet a complete pitcher. That was evident in his most recent outing on Saturday, as he allowed seven runs on nine hits across six innings against the Los Angeles Angels. There was a lot that went wrong for the left-hander in that start, but it's a positive sign that he still battled through six innings and generated 14 whiffs on a day where he didn't have his best stuff.
It's easy to see why Walter has had some success in the early going. He leans on his five-pitch mix, and that has kept hitters off balance at the plate. Although he throws his cutter the most at 30%, it's his off-speed pitches (sweeper and changeup) that have done the most damage this year. Both of those pitches continue to be a significant weapon for him.
The 28-year-old has a 29.3% whiff rate with a .238 batting average against on his sweeper and a 32.4% whiff rate with a .176 batting average against on his changeup this season. If Walter can trust his changeup more as a putaway pitch, then we could see more consistent outings from him moving forward. His changeup has just an 8.0% putaway rate through his first four starts.
There's a lot to like about Walter in a small sample size. His chase rate (35.4%), strikeout rate (25.3%), walk rate (2.0%), and barrel rate (7.1%) all rank in the top half of the league, and the southpaw has pitched well in three of his four starts. With a unique five-pitch mix, the Astros pitcher has the chance to break out this season.
As a result, Walter should be added in some 12-team leagues in Week 13. We shouldn't call him a must-add just yet until we see what he does against a very good Cubs offense in his next start on Friday. He has pitched against four middle-of-the-pack offenses (Rays, Guardians, Twins, and Angels), and his next outing will tell us if he is for real or not.
- Written by Joey Pollizze
Didier Fuentes, SP, Atlanta Braves
Current Level: MLB
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MLB stats: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB
Didier Fuentes was one of the more surprising call-ups in the last several weeks, but if you follow the Braves and their aggression, it was not surprising. Fuentes began the year in High-A Rome and quickly moved to Double-A, even with struggles on the surface. After one start in Triple-A, Fuentes got the call to the majors.
Fuentes got a soft landing spot with Miami, and even though he allowed four earned runs and gave up a big homer, he showed good flashes for someone who just turned 20 years old. The Stuff+ was off the charts as Fuentes posted a 117 fastball stuff+ and 113 overall.
Fuentes is an impressive strike thrower for his age, posting a mark near 67 percent last year, which fell to an above-average 64 percent this year. He walked just seven percent of batters faced, while also missing bats. Locations are good, and Fuentes has induced weak contact.
The four-seam is sitting 95 mph and topping at 99 mph with 16 inches of IVB from a 5-foot release height. The pitch has one of the flattest VAs in baseball and is a compelling bat-missing pitch.
It is still a fastball-heavy approach, but he did add a new curveball this year with good depth and sweep. There is a gyro-slider in the profile that he did not throw much in his pro debut, which has more carry and sits in the mid-80s, a pitch he is likely to unveil more over time. The splitter is rarely used, but has solid traits.
Fuentes has a ton of upside, but as a young 20-year-old, there are likely to be struggles. He is worth a look in deeper 12+ team formats while he remains in Atlanta.
19-year-old @Braves prospect Didier Fuentes claims the #SpringBreakout strikeout lead in dominant fashion 💎
3 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 7 K pic.twitter.com/5D1ZeSejBF
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 16, 2025
- Written by Chris Clegg
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