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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Robby Snelling, Andrew Painter, Samuel Basallo - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
Fantasy managers should always keep a close eye on emerging prospects in the minor leagues, as they could provide your team with a significant boost when they earn a promotion. This season, many high-end pitching prospects earned the call and made a strong impact, like Logan Henderson or Chase Burns. On the hitting side, Nick Kurtz and Chandler Simpson are just a few to name.
In this piece, we will look at two of the top pitching prospects at Triple-A and the top catching prospect in the sport and determine if fantasy managers should stash them on their bench.
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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Robby Snelling, SP, Miami Marlins
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 15% rostered
2025 AAA Stats: 27 2/3 IP, 1.63 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 34 SO, 4 BB
After opening the season at the Double-A level, the southpaw has been nothing short of impressive since moving up to Triple-A Jacksonville.
Throughout its first five starts at the Triple-A level (27 2/3 innings), Snelling has posted an impressive 1.63 ERA with a stellar 0.98 WHIP. During this stretch, the left-hander has tallied 34 strikeouts and shown elite control, allowing only five walks. He has tallied at least 11 strikeouts in two of his last three outings.
During the first half of the season with Double-A, Snelling was solid but not as dominant as he is now, as he held a 3.61 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP through 72 1/3 innings of work.
With the Marlins clawing their way back into the NL Wild Card race, what better way to bolster this rotation than by promoting one of their top performers in the minor leagues? Given that he has a viable path to join Miami in the near future, he is worth a spot on your roster in deeper 12+ team leagues going forward. Fantasy managers should keep a close eye on his status as another few dominant outings could push him to the big leagues.
Given his strikeout upside he has shown, he would likely be viewed as a solid SP4 when he does earn the call.
Robby Snelling has really taken a step forward. pic.twitter.com/tDS5i65GpN
— The Dynasty Dugout (@DynastyDugoutBB) July 29, 2025
-Written by Andy Smith
Andrew Painter, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 AAA Stats: 76 1/3 IP, 5.42 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 77 SO, 31 BB
While Painter's last start was quite uninspiring, fantasy managers should not be overly concerned with his rest of the season outlook. In this outing, the right-hander allowed five hits and five earned runs across four innings of work against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He walked four hitters and only struck out four.
Despite the poor results on the stat sheet, seeing Painter continue to work out his struggles is what fantasy managers need to see. There is no doubt about his talent. The only concern we have with Painter is his ability to take on a larger workload, especially after he underwent Tommy John and was shut down for two full seasons.
Before this rough showing, Painter logged at least five innings in each of his first five starts, and even went six innings deep in each of them. During these two outings, where he logged at least six innings, Painter held a strong 2.19 ERA with a stellar 1.05 WHIP.
Overall, through his first 72 innings at the top level of the Philadelphia system, the former first-round pick has posted a 4.88 ERA with a 1.42 WHIP. During this stretch, he has struck out 71 hitters. Before moving up to Triple-A, Painter was sent on a brief rehab assignment at Low-A, where he struck out 12 hitters across 11 1/3 innings of work.
With the Phillies in the heat of the playoff race, Painter should be in the mix in the coming weeks to strengthen their organization. Despite his inconsistency at Triple-A, he will be a must-start pitcher when he gets the call due to his strikeout upside alone. Fantasy managers in 12-team formats should continue to view Painter as the top pitching prospect to stash.
Andrew Painter was ON FIRE today.
He could find himself in a new organization by tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/6GWSQIjx9C
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) July 30, 2025
- Written by Andy Smith
Samuel Basallo, C/1B, Baltimore Orioles
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2025 AAA Stats: 73 G, .279/.384/.612, 17 2B, 23 HR, 0 SB
I haven't discussed him in this article in a few weeks, so I figured it was time to check in on Basallo, and to the surprise of no one, Basallo is still mashing for Triple-A Norfolk. Over his last 16 games, Basallo has racked up nine doubles, seven home runs, and a whopping 28 RBI while slashing .353/.421/.794. For the season, Basallo is now up to 17 doubles and 23 home runs in 73 games with a .279/.384/.612 slash line.
The power that Basallo possesses is truly elite, and he's shown that all season with a 94.4 mph AVG EV, 57.2% hard-hit rate, and a 21.4% barrel rate. The 69.7% contact rate is a tad low, but not terrible given Basallo's level of impact. With Mountcastle back from the IL and Coby Mayo showing signs of life, there's still no open spot for Basallo right now, though.
That duo, plus Adley Rutschman, are currently occupying the first base, catcher, and designated hitter spots in Baltimore.
The Baltimore prospect who I actually believe has a higher percent chance of getting called up is Dylan Beavers, who is slashing .305/.422/.526 with 14 doubles, 18 home runs, 22 steals, and nearly as many walks (66) as strikeouts (69) in 399 plate appearances. It shouldn't be overly difficult for Beavers to break into the uninspiring outfield trio of Greg Allen, Jeremiah Jackson, and Dylan Carlson.
- Written by Eric Cross
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