RADIO
Lauren analyzes top fantasy baseball prospects risers, fallers, sleepers and busts for 2025. Her MLB rookies report for Week 16 and recently promoted prospects.
Welcome to Week 16 and the final installment of RotoBaller's Rookie Report. Last week, we highlighted Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mick Abel, Cincinnati Reds hurler Chase Burns, and Boston Red Sox top prospect Roman Anthony.
This week, our focus shifts to Jac Caglianone, Chandler Simpson, and Cole Young. Each is a top talent in their respective teams' farm system who has debuted this season.
We’ll dive into their early performances, analyze what’s working (and what’s not), and offer insights on what fantasy managers can expect as the 2025 season continues to unfold.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball draft tools and resources:- Fantasy baseball draft kit
- Fantasy baseball rankings
- Team Sync platform and Draft Assistant
- Fantasy baseball mock draft simulator
- Fantasy baseball draft cheat sheets
- Fantasy baseball closer depth charts
- Fantasy baseball prospects
Jac Caglianone, 1B/OF, Kansas City Royals
It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows since Caglianone, the highly anticipated Royals prospect, got promoted to the majors on June 3. He's struggled a lot, but he's also shown flashes of what made him the sixth overall pick of last year's MLB Draft. The 22-year-old has the tools to succeed; it's just a matter of patience, and Kansas City is willing to wait.
Track Record:
Caglianone was unsurprisingly drafted in the top 10 after a successful collegiate career at Florida. In three seasons, he posted a 1.207 OPS with 75 homers, 189 RBI, 80 walks, and 105 strikeouts in 750 plate appearances. He surpassed rookie ball and Low-A after being drafted, and began his pro career in High-A, where he stumbled.
Caglianone hit a pair of homers and added 14 RBI, seven walks, and 26 strikeouts across 29 games. The Royals didn't seem worried, though; it was simply growing pains for the budding outfielder. If Kansas City did have worries, Caglianone squashed them in 2025 when he slashed .322/.389/.593 with 15 home runs and 56 RBI in 229 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. With that, the Royals felt he was ready to face major league pitching, and he was called up at the beginning of June.
Outlook:
As mentioned, Caglianone has faced adversity in the over 30 games that have followed his promotion. He's worth -0.8 fWAR and batting just .151 with a .491 OPS, .219 wOBA, and 31 wRC+ in nearly 130 plate appearances. Eight of his 18 hits on the year have gone for extra bases, including four home runs, and seven RBI. Three of his four homers have traveled over 400 feet, with his longest of the season a 466-foot moonshot that left the bat at 110.8 mph. Per MLB.com's Anne Rogers, it was the longest homer by a Royals rookie since Statcast began tracking distances in 2015, and it’s tied for the 10th-longest home run by any player at Kauffman Stadium.
466 FEET!
Absolutely crushed by Jac Caglianone 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XnBCIDqKvR
— MLB (@MLB) July 10, 2025
Caglianone has the power and skill to be a successful hitter in this league. Although probably striking out more than he'd like to, his 22 percent K rate is in line with the league average, and his 114.1 mph max exit velocity is in the top 8% of MLB. It's only a matter of time before he becomes acclimated to major league pitching and his batted balls start dropping for more hits.
Chandler Simpson, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
One of the speediest prospects in the minor leagues was promoted to the bigs on April 19. Simpson stole 225 bases in 260 attempts across four seasons in the minors, so when the Rays called him up, he was expected to continue that pace at the major league level.
Track Record:
Simpson was the 70th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech. In his lone year there, he slashed an incredible .433/.506/.517 with 27 stolen bases, 25 RBI, 31 walks, and 16 strikeouts in 241 plate appearances. Following the draft, he played eight games in rookie ball in 2022. In 2023, Simpson began the season in Low-A, swiping an unbelievable 81 bases, and was caught stealing just 12 times across 91 games.
He was promoted to High-A before the end of the campaign, appearing in 24 games, batting .326 and reaching base at a .429 clip, with 16 walks, 13 stolen bases, and just nine strikeouts. By this point, Simpson had yet to log a home run in his minor league career. It was clear that he was not a power threat, but an on-base machine who was a looming threat to steal.
Between 32 High-A games and 78 Double-A games in 2024, Simpson stole a whopping 104 bases in 110 total games. He paired that with a .355 batting average and .807 OPS, 29 RBI, 44 walks, and 43 strikeouts. He finally hit his first homer of his career in Double-A. Simpson started 2025 at Triple-A, picking up right where he left off in Double-A. He stole 19 bases and had 48 hits in 144 at-bats. By this point, Tampa Bay had seen enough. It was time to get the speedy youngster to the big leagues.
Outlook:
The 24-year-old batted .285 but posted an OPS of just .632 during a 35-game cup of coffee that spanned from his debut until May 29. Simpson stole 19 bases and was caught stealing 11 times, adding four doubles and 11 RBI with six walks and 14 strikeouts in 133 plate appearances. It wasn't a terrible first impression, but Tampa Bay optioned him to Triple-A on May 30 to work primarily on his outfield defense.
Congrats to Chandler Simpson, who just set a #Rays rookie record with that second-inning infield single! pic.twitter.com/xfygEAHq9q
— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) July 10, 2025
Simpson was recalled on June 24 and has since posted a .364/.390/.418 batting line with 20 hits, only two of which have gone for extra bases, three RBI, seven stolen bases in 10 chances, and three walks and four strikeouts in over 60 plate appearances. His offensive performance across his last seven games has especially contributed to his overall season numbers, slashing .400/.407/.480. Simpson's defense has improved since being recalled, too.
Cole Young, 2B/SS, Seattle Mariners
Like Caglianone, Young, Seattle's No. 3 prospect and MLB's No. 34, hasn't performed to his prospect pedigree since debuting on May 31. However, he was drafted in the first round out of high school in 2022 and is still just 21 years old, with plenty of time to develop at the major league level.
Track Record:
Young began his pro career in rookie ball, where he posted a .899 OPS in seven games, allowing for a quick promotion to Low-A, where he finished out the 2022 campaign. There, he put even better numbers, including a .960 OPS with two home runs and nine RBI in 10 games. Young played 78 more games in Low-A in 2023, totaling 130 bases in 376 plate appearances, before he moved up to High-A. There, he continued to do his thing, belting six homers alongside 23 RBI, 34 walks, 38 strikeouts, and a .883 OPS.
In 2024, as a 20-year-old, he spent the entire season in Double-A, slashing .271/.369/.390 with 36 extra-base hits, 57 RBI, 23 stolen bases, 67 walks, and 87 strikeouts across 552 plate appearances. While his power tool was lacking, it became clear that Young possessed decent speed and plate discipline, certainly something for him to build upon as his baseball career progressed.
Naturally, he started 2025 in Triple-A, where he got into 54 games, logging 23 extra-base hits and an .853 OPS. His performance prompted Seattle to demote infielder Leo Rivas to Triple-A in favor of Young on May 30, and he made his debut the next day against the Minnesota Twins.
Outlook:
In his debut, Young delivered the game-winning hit, a ground ball to first base, resulting in a throwing error that allowed the winning run to score, giving the M's a 5-4 win. Outside of his early heroics, it's been a reasonably quiet rookie campaign for Young, who's batting .243/.286/.306 with four doubles, a home run, and 10 RBI. Ironically, his lone HR was only a homer in 2/30 ballparks, whereas a 373-foot single would've been a homer in 15/30, and a 367-foot double in 4/30.
MLB's No. 34 prospect Cole Young rips his 1st MLB homer for the @Mariners 🔱 pic.twitter.com/oCJrlv7qMR
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 10, 2025
The Pittsburgh native has accrued just -0.2 fWAR, along with a 74 OPS+, 70 wRC+, and .261 wOBA. He's walked only five times and struck out 28. Young hasn't done exceptionally well in his 33 MLB games thus far, but he has shown flashes of being a good contact hitter, logging seven multi-hit games. He'll be only 22 years old on July 29, so it's possible he needs more time in the minors.
More Fantasy Baseball Advice
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!
