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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Andrew Painter, Robert Hassell III, Spencer Jones - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
In fantasy baseball, it is crucial to stash prospects on your bench. Every season, top prospects emerge as must-start players and become league winners, especially during the second half of the season.
In this piece, we will look at three budding stars at the Triple-A level. Two of these prospects have already earned a taste of the majors this season but had mixed results.
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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Andrew Painter, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 AAA stats: 40 1/3 IP, 4.24 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 45 SO, 18 BB
The top prospect in Philadelphia was in a similar slump as fellow top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler but has been able to break out of it rather quickly. Since serving up 10 earned runs across two outings, one on June 4 and June 10, the former 13th overall pick has gone on to log 14 1/3 innings (three starts) to the tune of a 2.51 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.
During this stretch, Painter has struck out 16 batters and allowed seven free passes.
Over his first four starts at Triple-A (before his rough two-game slump), Paitner held a similar 2.65 ERA with a 1.23 WHIP.
The right-hander opened the campaign with Low-A after missing the entirety of the 2023 and 20234 seasons due to Tommy John surgery. Even though he missed a significant portion of time, Painter needed only 11 1/3 innings at the Low-A level to prove he was ready to make the jump to Triple-A.
While seeing Painter break out of his slump is promising, the most important factor regarding the 22-year-old is his workload. Seeing Painter consistently log five innings of work in each outing is very important for his rest-of-season outlook.
Earlier in June, Phillies manager Rob Thomson noted that Painter will likely not be in the mix to make his MLB debut before the All-Star break. However, with Aaron Nola (ankle) on the 60-day IL and not making much progress, Painter could push their hand.
He is a solid stash option in all standard formats. If he continues to find his footing, he could surpass Chandler as the top pitcher to stash.
A Painter and his canvas 🖌️
Andrew Painter -- the @Phillies' top prospect -- racks up five punchouts in his ninth start for the @IronPigs: pic.twitter.com/aIp9Mnbxij
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 28, 2025
-Written by Andy Smith
Robert Hassell III, OF, Washington Nationals
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MLB stats: 53 G, .296/.356/.448, 10 2B, 7 HR, 13 SB
Another prospect who earned a taste of the majors this season is Robert Hassell III from the Washington Nationals. Hassell earned the call when both Dylan Crews and Jacob Young were on the IL. However, with Young back in action, the Nats opted to send Hassell back to Triple-A Rochester to continue his development.
Instead, they promoted fellow young prospect Daylen Lile to take his position in the outfield.
In the majors, Hassell was given a brief look like the name before him on this list, and performed quite similarly. Through this minor stint, Hassell posted a .218/.228/.269 line with a double, a home run, and a stolen base. However, unlike Ballesteros, Hassell struggled at the plate. He only drew one walk and struck out 21 times (26.6% rate).
He also generated a low .292 xwOBA and a 7.0% barrel rate.
However, since returning to Triple-A, Hassell has been very productive and is making quite a strong case to return to D.C.
During his first five games back at Triple-A, Hassell has tallied at least one hit in each of them. During this stretch, he has posted a remarkable .455/.556/.955 slash line with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, and three stolen bases. Across his first 43 games at Triple-A that season, he was still productive, posting a .288/.337/.405 line with seven doubles, four home runs, and nine stolen bases.
Will his recent surge convince the Nationals to give him a second look?
Robert Hassell is 10-for-21 with 3 homers since getting sent back down to the minors. pic.twitter.com/mLvlYJJV16
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) June 25, 2025
Currently, the Washington outfield has one triple opening in right field, as James Wood and Young are not in any danger of losing at-bats in left and center field. Currently, the right field is occupied by Lile, who took Hassell's spot on the roster. During his first 19 games in the majors, Lile has held a .180/.239/.328 line and has yet to impress.
If Hassell continues to produce and Crews remains on the IL with an oblique injury, fantasy managers should expect him to earn another opportunity soon.
- Written by Andy Smith
Spencer Jones, OF, New York Yankees
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MiLB stats: 52 G, .277/.387/.606, 8 2B, 18 HR, 76 SO, 33 BB, 11 SB
The New York Yankees finally promoted Spencer Jones to Triple-A last week, bringing him one step closer to contributing at the major league level. The promotion was deserved as Jones has been raking over the last few weeks. In his last 16 games, Jones is slashing .403/.479/.823 with eight home runs, nine walks, and three steals.
This hot stretch has raised his season slash line to .277/.387/.606 in 222 plate appearances with 18 home runs and 11 steals.
On the surface, that all looks fine and dandy, but there are still two major red flags in Jones' contact and strikeout rates. While the strikeout rate has come down slightly of late, he's still striking out 34.2% of the time this season with a contact rate around 57%. If a slugger like Jones is in the 67-70% range, that can still work given their massive power.
However, a sub-60% contact rate simply will not suffice at the major league level.
Given the power/speed upside, Jones is absolutely one to keep an eye on. And given how streaky this profile tends to be, he'll probably have a hot stretch at some point after he's up. But the red flags are too major for me to ignore, so I won't be stashing or targeting Jones personally.
SPENCER JONES.
HIGH. DEEP. GONE. TWO HOMERS IN THREE GAMES AT TRIPLE-A!
THIS ONE OFF OF Tanner Houck! pic.twitter.com/RY7LV0OFfW
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) June 29, 2025
- Written by Eric Cross
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