Top 10 Third Base Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (2026)

Eric's top 10 third base prospects for fantasy baseball and how they project long-term along with some names to buy or sell at this position in dynasty leagues. His top prospects include Sal Stewart, Jordan Lawlar, and more.

The third base position has always been looked at as a source of power and overall offensive impact. But when it comes to ranking third base prospects, the overall crop might not look as enticing as some other positions.

In the Top-10 below, only two are in my overall Top-50 and five in my Top-100. However, this position still has plenty of exciting talent and always gets a boost eventually when some shortstops outgrow the position and have to move over to the hot corner.

For my entire Top 50 and additional writeups, check out my Patreon. Make sure to continue checking RotoBaller as I'm going to be going through all positions in the coming weeks!

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Third Base Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

Age and highest level in parentheses

1. Sal Stewart, Cincinnati Reds (21/MLB)

From start to finish, the 2025 season was a productive one for Cincinnati Reds' prospect, Sal Stewart. Spending the first 80 games in Double-A, Stewart slashed .306/.377/.473 with 19 doubles, 10 home runs, and 13 steals. That strong performance carried over in Triple-A where he slashed .315/.394/.629 with 15 doubles and 10 home runs in just 38 games before closing out the season with an additional five home runs in 18 Major League games with Cincinnati.

Better call Sal!

Stewart goes the other way for his 5th homer of the season 💪 pic.twitter.com/DW19JMiHzt

— MLB (@MLB) September 28, 2025

Everywhere he's gone, Stewart has brought a good blend of contact, approach, and power. In Double-A, Stewart had an 80% contact rate and a 15.5% strikeout rate. And while the contact rate dipped a bit to 74.6% in Triple-A, he rebounded to 76.1% in the Majors along with a solid 81.8% zone contact rate.

The strikeout rate did climb to 25.9% but it's a small sample size, and Stewart has never had any issues with strikeouts in the minors, posting a 15.6% mark in 2025 and 15.7% for his minor league career over 323 games.

The power department is where I don't believe Steward gets enough love. I mean, just look at those quality of contact metrics in Triple-A and the Majors last season! Not only are Stewart's quality of contact metrics impressive, he also has ideal batted ball angles. With the Reds, Stewart posted a 65% air rate, 52.5% pull rate, and an elite 30% Pull-Air rate. Those metrics weren't quite as high in the minors, but Stewart still had a 58% air rate and 39.2% pull rate.

Given his contact skills, quality of contact metrics, and the home ballpark he gets to play in, Stewart developing into a .270/25 type down the road isn't out of the question. I'm not ready to go that high with my projections just yet as it will be his first full Major League season in 2026, but as you can tell from my projection below, I'm quite high on Stewart in general, both in 2026 and beyond.

2. Jordan Lawlar, Arizona Diamondbacks (23/MLB)

Due to the notable peaks and valleys, along with some durability concerns, Jordan Lawlar has become a difficult player to rank and a polarizing name in the prospect community. Lawlar debuted for Arizona in 2023, and had stints with them in 2024 and 2025 as well, but is still prospect eligible with only 97 combined Major League at-bats, in which he has slashed .165/.241/.237 with zero home runs and a 34.3% strikeout rate.

It's been a different story in the minor leagues though. In 2025, Lawlar slashed .313/.403/.564 with 22 doubles, 11 home runs, and 20 steals in just 63 games while also walking at a 12% clip. Lawlar's contact rates dipped a bit to 81.9% in zone and 72.7% overall, but he managed a 43.6% hard-hit rate and 10.5% barrel rate. Lawlar is also a plus runner who has shown both a willingness to run often and a high efficiency stealing bases, converting on 86.4% of his 118 attempts in the minors so far.

There's plenty of risk with Lawlar due to all the injuries, but there's still plenty of upside as well. And at this point, the perceived value and price point in dynasty leagues makes him a fine low-cost buy-low target.

3. Marcelo Mayer, Boston Red Sox (22/MLB)

While Marcelo Mayer has graduated from prospect rankings which use 45-day service time thresholds, I simply use the 130 at-bat threshold for hitters and Mayer finished 2025 with 127 at-bats in the Majors as he missed the final two months of the season due to wrist surgery after tearing something called the triangular fibrocartilage complex. Whatever that is.

In his 127 at-bats with Boston, Mayer hit four home runs with a .228/.272/.402. It was a mixed bag for Mayer in Boston though as he had a 5.9% walk rate and 30.1% strikeout rate, but also posted a 51.7% hard-hit rate, 9.2% barrel rate, and a 90 mph AVG EV.

Mayer has consistently flashed above-average to plus raw power throughout the minor leagues and in his limited Major League time, but he's generally been in the 72-73% contact rate range and doesn't project as more than a 5-8 steal threat at best. Long-term, the upside to be a .250-.260 hitter who adds more than 20 homers annually is there, but Mayer is a risky investment due to questionable durability. He's also more likely to wind up at second base or third base than shortstop, at least in the short-term with Trevor Story in town.

4. Caleb Bonemer, Chicago White Sox (20/High-A)

After being selected in the 2nd round of the 2024 MLB draft, Caleb Bonemer quickly made the White Sox look smart for taking him. In 107 games between Low-A and High-A, Bonemer slashed .281/.401/.473 with 30 doubles, 12 home runs, and 29 steals. The contact skills were rock solid from the jump as Bonemer posted a 78% contact rate in Low-A and 77% overall with an 8.4% SwStr rate. Bonemer also walked at an impressive 15.8% clip while only striking out as a 21.2% rate.

The blend of contact and approach from a 19-year-old isn't something you see every day, but Bonemer has some category juice as well. He's an above-average runner who has shown at least average power with projection for more moving forward. If everything clicks, Bonemer could wind up as an above-average power/speed threat while providing a good AVG and OBP as well. I'm just not sure if he winds up at third base or shortstop.

5. Jacob Reimer, New York Mets (21/AA)

While most of the attention in the New York Mets system was centered around Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, Jacob Reimer had a sneaky good season of his own in 2025. In 122 games split between High-A and Double-A, Reimer racked up 32 doubles, 17 home runs, and 15 steals with a .282/.379/.491 slash line, 11.1% walk rate, and a 21.5% strikeout rate.

Jacob Reimer (@Mets No. 6 prospect) crushes his 9th home run at the Double-A level 🚀

Reimer has 5 HR over his last 12 games

🎠 x #NeedForSteed x @MetsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/b7dRoqUvrM

— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) August 27, 2025

Reimer appears to be physically maxed out, but there's plus raw power in the profile and Reimer maximizes that power with a 60.6% air rate and 51% pull rate. While I'm not sure he provides more than 5-8 steals annually, I can easily see Reimer being a 25-homer bat down the road. Those homers could come with a decent average and OBP as well. Reimer finished 2025 with a 75% contact rate to go with the solid walk rate shown above. We could even see him with the Mets later in the 2026 season.

*Rankings Note: This is where Luke Adams would be if included. I discussed him in my Top-10 First Base Prospects article.

*Rankings Note: This is where Cam Collier would be if included. I discussed him in my Top-10 First Base Prospects article.

6. Andrew Fischer, Milwaukee Brewers (21/High-A)

Andrew Fischer was one of my favorite collegiate bats in the entire 2025 MLB draft. After a solid first two collegiate seasons, Fischer broke out in his one season at the University of Tennessee, slashing .341/.497/.760 with 16 doubles, 25 home runs, and more walks (63) than strikeouts (42) in 292 plate appearances. And in 87 plate appearances after the draft, Fischer slashed .311/.402/.446 with seven extra-base hits.

Fischer is a bat-first corner infielder who could easily profile as a starter at either first base of the hot corner. He features plus power with a patient approach at the plate and doesn't expand the zone or chase out of the zone too often. There's a good feel to hit here too, so I don't believe Fischer will be an all-or-nothing power hitter.

If the bat performs as expected, Fischer being a Top-40 fantasy prospect by the end of 2026 wouldn't shock me. He's a great FYPD target after the Top-10 picks.

7. Alex Freeland, Los Angeles Dodgers (24/MLB)

Given the team he plays for, Alex Freeland is a difficult prospect to value right now. In 106 Triple-A games in 2025, Freeland slashed .263/.384/.451 with 16 home runs and 18 steals, but he struggled to find consistent playing time in a loaded Dodgers lineup, accumulating just 97 plate appearances and striking out in 36.1% of those plate appearances with a .190/.292/.310 slash line.

I'm not going to ding Freeland too much for that slash line though, especially given what we've seen from him in the upper levels of the minor leagues. In addition to the stats I mentioned above, Freeland had an impressive 16.3% walk rate in Triple-A while keeping his strikeout rate in check at 21.9%. He also posted an 82.9% zone and 76.3% overall contact rate with a 91.6 mph AVG EV and 47.6% hard-hit rate.

There's a solid hitter here with Freeland. I'm just not sure when, where, and how he gets a realistic chance at playing time with the Dodgers.

8. Brock Wilken, Milwaukee Brewers (23/AAA)

For me, Brock Wilken might be the hardest third base prospect to rank. Anyone who has watched Wilken play can immediately see the massive power in his bat, and that translated to 17 doubles and 18 home runs in just 79 Double-A games last season. But at the same time, Wilken hit just .226 in 2025 and .200 on the nose in 2024 after hitting .285 in his 47-game professional debut back in 2023.

Prospects under age 25 to have a .250+ ISO and sub-10% SwStr rate in 2025 (Min 200 PA)

Kevin McGonigle
Mike Sirota
Edward Florentino
Brock Wilken pic.twitter.com/9u5RzE795A

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) November 25, 2025

Valuing Wilken really comes down to if your league uses AVG or OBP. The contact gains he made back in the spring of 2023 at Wake Forest haven't fully stuck, and Wilken has generally been in the 70-72% contact rate range. That's not terrible, but I do believe Wilken is a sub-.250 hitter long-term. However, with that said, Wilken has always been able to draw walks at a high clip, highlighted by a 20.1% clip in Double-A in 2025. There's more value here in OBP formats for sure.

9. Juan Sanchez, Toronto Blue Jays (18/DSL)

One of the more impressive hitters in the DSL this past season was Toronto's Juan Sanchez. In 56 games and 253 plate appearances, Sanchez slashed .341/.439/.565 with 16 doubles, four triples, and eight home runs. For hitters with at least 200 plate appearances in 2025, Sanchez's 156 wRC+ ranked 6th highest in the DSL and 25th overall among 1618 minor leaguers.

Listed at 6'3/180, Sanchez is already strong and has some frame to add even more bulk in the coming years. It's not unreasonable to say he could be a plus or better power bat in time. And given his advanced feel for making contact and working the count, I believe he could provide a decent AVG and OBP as well. As long as the bat develops like this, Sanchez could be a high-impact hitter for fantasy down the road, but there's not a ton of speed upside to speak of. Sanchez will need the bat to carry him.

10. Sam Antonacci, Chicago White Sox (22/AA)

The White Sox 2024 5th round pick enjoyed a productive first full professional season in 2025. In 116 games between High-A and Double-A, Antonacci slashed .291/.433/.409 with 32 extra-base hits, five home runs, and 48 steals in 58 attempts. He also had nearly as many walks as strikeouts, recording a 13.3% walk rate and a 14.1% strikeout rate in 519 plate appearances.

Antonacci's blend of contact and approach is top-notch. In 2025, he finished with an 86% contact rate and 5.2% SwStr rate to go with the impressive walk and strikeout rates mentioned above. He's also an above-average runner. However, I'm hesitant to push him any higher as a below-average power bat who doesn't elevate consistently. As of now, I'm not sure he's more than a 8-12 homer bat. But that could come with a high AVG/OBP and around 25 steals annually.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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