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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Jonathon Long, Mick Abel, C.J. Kayfus - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
Stashing the right prospect can provide a much-needed boost to your fantasy team. This season, many young stars have not only gotten the call to the major leagues but made an immediate impact.
In this piece, we will look at two players who currently reside at Triple-A and one top prospect pitcher who is beginning to turn the corner during his first extended stint in the major 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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Jonathon Long, 1B/3B, Chicago Cubs
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 MLB stats: 81 G, .314/.395/.497, 11 2B, 13 HR, 67 SO, 39 BB
After discussing Owen Caissie and Moises Ballesteros the previous two weeks, yet another Cub finds himself in this column. The Iowa Cubs have many emerging stars on their roster, and one who has gone under the radar this season is infielder Jonathon Long. Playing alongside Ballesteros, Caissie, Kevin Alcantara, and Matt Shaw during much of your minor league career will probably do that.
The Cubs selected Long in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and he appears to be a steal. After appearing in 26 MiLB games following the 2023 Draft, Long received his first full taste of professional ball in 2024. He opened the campaign high High-A but needed only 68 games to prove he was ready to move up to Double-A.
With High-A, Long held a .247/.346/.417 line with 12 doubles and 10 long balls. Then, through 46 games with Double-A, the Long Beach State product continued to swing well, posting a .340/.455/.528 line with nine doubles and seven home runs.
During this stint, he also showed a remarkable eye at the plate, striking out just 33 times and drawing an impressive 35 walks.
This performance has earned him a ticket to Triple-A Iowa to open the 2025 campaign, and he has yet to slow down. Through 80 games with Iowa, Long has posted a .317/.397/.502 slash line with 11 doubles, 13 home runs, two stolen bases, and a 65:35 K:BB.
A look under the hood suggests his production with Iowa is not a fluke. Long has generated a .375 BABIP, .389 wOBA, and a 125 wRC+. The only drop in play he has seen is that his ground-ball rate has increased by four points, and his fly-ball rate has dropped two points in relation to his production at Double-A.
However, given that he is facing tougher pitching, this suggests that Long is more than ready for the major leagues.
Unfortunately, as I have discussed previously, there is no spot on the MLB roster for Long on the North Side. Michael Busch is the locked-in everyday first baseman, and while Shaw has struggled at third base, it does not seem that the Cubs would turn to another prospect regularly as we approach the second half of the season.
An MLB debut is in the cards for 2025, but adjust your expectations; it will likely be in a reserve role.
Jonathon Long enters the Top 10 1B Prospects list with Nick Kurtz graduating.
Scouting report, video and more on the #Cubs' 23-year-old with 76 hits in 67 games at Triple-A this year: https://t.co/6INnA73bCJ pic.twitter.com/GRacA7Huq8
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 20, 2025
-Written by Andy Smith
Mick Abel, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 1% rostered
2025 MLB stats: 25 IP, 5.04 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 21 SO, 9 BB
On May 18, Mick Abel made his long-awaited MLB debut. It was a long road to this moment for the 23-year-old, and he dazzled against the Pittsburgh Pirates across six shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out nine batters in a 1-0 Phillies win.
Unfortunately, it was only a spot start for the right-hander in the wake of Aaron Nola's placement on the injured list. Abel was optioned to Triple-A following a game in which he outdueled Paul Skenes. It didn't seem right, but this wouldn't be the last he'd see of the majors this season.
In 2023, Abel tossed 108.2 more frames at Double-A with a 4.14 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. While he allowed 15 home runs and walked 62 batters, the Oregon native had 126 K and kept batters to a .188 average. He then reached Triple-A, making just one start there in 2023. By now, Andrew Painter was the Phillies' pitching prospect that everyone talked about, and new names began to sneak into their prospect rankings.
Abel fell out of favor, and he didn't help his cause in 2024 when his strikeout rate went down slightly, and he walked a career-high 78 batters across 108.2 innings in 24 starts.
At that point, it seemed the former top prospect would never make his debut for Philadelphia. Fortunately for Abel, he was still young, allowing him some more time to get things right. When 2025 rolled around, he experienced somewhat of a renaissance on the mound. Before his call-up to the bigs, Abel had a 2.53 ERA in eight starts, walking 19 and striking out 51 in 46.1 innings with a 49% groundball rate and 51% flyball rate.
Abel made two solid starts in Triple-A following his MLB debut before being recalled on June 4. His next three starts in the bigs weren't perfect, but weren't bad, either. He posted a 3.14 ERA and 5.74 FIP with eight strikeouts and four walks across 14.1 innings. His last two starts were where things got ugly, surrendering four home runs against the Mets on June 21, and walking five batters and allowing five runs on two hits vs. the Padres on July 2 after striking out the first two batters of the game.
Mick Abel's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/4Hq29o3tJ7
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 2, 2025
Abel was optioned to Triple-A on July 4. As for what the future holds for him, that remains a mystery. This may be just who Abel is -- a mixed bag. He has upside, as he'll be turning just 24 in August and has only six big league starts under his belt. Nevertheless, he has struggled to throw strikes, and batters are hitting .270 against his fastball.
As a result, he may need to incorporate more of his breaking pitches, such as his curveball and slider, which opponents aren't seeing as well.
With Painter on the verge of making his MLB debut, Abel is not worth stashing in any standard redraft league.
- Written by Lauren Amour
C.J. Kayfus, 1B, Cleveland Guardians
Current Level: MLB
Availability: 10% rostered
2025 MiLB stats: 73 G, .313/.406/.563, 15 2B, 12 HR, 81 SO, 39 BB
The final player we will look at is C.J. Kayfus of the Cleveland Guardians. Kayfus opened the season with Double-A but needed only 18 games to prove he was ready to join Triple-A Columbus. At Double-A, Kayfus posted a .364/.475/.591 line.
Since joining Triple-A, the No. 75-ranked prospect in the sport on MLB.com has yet to slow down, as he has posted an impressive .297/.382/.554 line with 11 doubles and 11 round-trippers.
While he has held a lower .243 AVG over his last 11 games, Kayfus has proved he is more than ready to join Cleveland in the second half. While Carlos Santana does not appear to be in danger of losing playing time, he could be a potential trade candidate at the deadline, which could open up a spot in the lineup for Kayfus.
For now, he is worth stashing in all 12+ team leagues entering Week 15.
Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old (1B/OF) prospect C.J. Kayfus collects his 2nd hit of the game for Columbus 100.6 mph off the bat to lead-off the 6th inning vs Toledo. #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/rVFUqiUcDs
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 6, 2025
- Written by Andy Smith
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