5 Hitter Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash For Week 9 - Redraft Leagues (2026)

May 22, 2026

Frank Ammirante's hitter fantasy baseball prospects to stash for Week 9 (2026). His MLB prospects to pick up and stash on your bench and N/A spots in redraft leagues.

We're now into Week 9 of the 2026 MLB season. It's time to look at which hitting prospects we should be stashing right now in redraft leagues. Finding that upside rookie can put your team over the top. Just look at what Travis Bazzana is doing with the Guardians.

Last week, I switched it up by diving into super deep stashes. This week, we're going to focus on hitters who are closest to being called up to the big leagues. We just saw Colt Emerson finally get called up. Who is next?

With that in mind, find out why Kaelen Culpepper, Edwin Arroyo, Joshua Baez, Max Clark, and Braden Montgomery are my five stashes to highlight this week.

Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Minnesota Twins

Back-to-back games with a roundtripper for Kaelen Culpepper 🚀

The @Twins' No. 2 prospect has eight RBIs over his past six games for the Triple-A @StPaulSaints. pic.twitter.com/vZx8ZARW5w

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 6, 2026

Culpepper is currently slashing .250/.357/.464 with nine home runs and nine stolen bases in 199 plate appearances at Triple-A. The 23-year-old shortstop has impressive plate discipline metrics, including a 12.6% walk rate and a 19.1% strikeout rate.

This is a hitter who put up 20 homers and 25 steals across all minor-league levels last year, so there's plenty of upside in this profile. At 23 years old, there's not much left for him to prove in the minors.

The Twins are currently 23-27 with a low chance of doing any damage this season, so they'd be wise to see what they have in their young players. It's only a matter of time for Culpepper to be up with the big league team.

We already saw the Twins make an aggressive move in sending Royce Lewis down to the minors. It was surprising that Culpepper wasn't called up then, but expect it to happen soon.

Right now, Brooks Lee (92 wRC+) is playing shortstop, Luke Keaschall (75 wRC+) is at second base, and Tristan Gray (89 wRC+) is at third base. There are plenty of options for Culpepper to come up and play every day.

You're going to want him on your roster if that happens, so keep a close eye on Culpepper.

Edwin Arroyo, SS, Cincinnati Reds

Edwin Arroyo sends this one to the street!

MLB's No. 99 prospect leads all @Reds players with 65 hits and 113 total bases as he bumps his @LouisvilleBats average to .349. pic.twitter.com/QTmlWJcwpB

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 21, 2026

Arroyo has an impressive .344/.406/.590 slash with nine home runs and eight stolen bases in 214 plate appearances at Double-A. This is a red-hot hitter who could give the Reds the boost they desperately need.

Ke'Bryan Hayes is currently playing third base every day. I get it, he plays good defense. But at some point, they're going to have to move on from this black hole in their lineup. Hayes has an atrocious 12 wRC+ and has been worth -0.8 WAR. The Reds are playoff contenders, so they can't keep this going for much longer.

When you add in the fact that Eugenio Suarez is sidelined, it makes sense for the Reds to call up Arroyo to see if that can spark their lineup. He's showing enough power, speed, and contact ability to make an impact in this lineup.

We saw the Diamondbacks move on from a defense-only player in Alek Thomas to make room for Ryan Waldschmidt. It wouldn't shock me to see the Reds move on from Hayes to bring in Arroyo. Monitor this situation closely.

Joshua Baez, OF, St. Louis Cardinals

Joshua Baez Closing in on Debut After Recent Home Run Barrage? https://t.co/TPX8nf4Mg1

— RotoBaller MLB (@RotoBallerMLB) May 20, 2026

Baez has a .239/.315/.497 slash, which is a bit underwhelming, but the power and speed upside is enormous, as highlighted by his 11 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 181 plate appearances at Triple-A.

Remember, this is a hitter who put up 20 homers and 54 steals across all minor league levels last year, so the ceiling is quite high. Once Baez is finally recalled to the Cardinals, you're going to want him on your fantasy teams.

The Cardinals are a rebuilding team, but they've surprisingly gotten off to a 28-21 start, so they can be patient with Baez. However, it's only a matter of time before he forces their hand.

Having another outfielder with strong tools to go along with Jordan Walker would make the Cardinals' lineup even more exciting. Swapping Nathan Church for Baez would raise the ceiling of this group. Keep a close eye on Baez, as he's my favorite stash on this list. He could be exactly what your team needs.

Max Clark, OF, Detroit Tigers

Max Clark lines a 2-out RBI double to right. pic.twitter.com/oYAfzyyUzX

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 22, 2026

Clark is currently slashing .263/.335/.359 with one home run and 10 stolen bases in 188 plate appearances at Triple-A. While the lack of power is concerning, you have to like the 9.6% walk rate and 14.9% strikeout rate. It's impressive to see a 21-year-old show this kind of plate discipline.

The biggest key for me here is that the Tigers have been very disappointing, currently 20-31 on the season. This team desperately needs a spark for its ice-cold lineup. Why not give Clark a chance? It's likely Tarik Skubal's last year in Detroit, so they have every incentive to try to win now.

However, if they're still struggling at the deadline, we could see Skubal traded. That gives Clark another path to playing time, since in this scenario, the Tigers would be embracing a youth movement.

When Clark gets called up, he can provide a boost to your fantasy teams with speed while not hurting you in batting average, but don't expect much power from him, as he hasn't been able to tap into it yet at Triple-A. To that end, it's a good idea to temper expectations.

Braden Montgomery, OF, Chicago White Sox

Braden Montgomery bangs a double off the CF wall at 103MPH. #Knights pic.twitter.com/pWzGFKCQZI

— FutureSox (@FutureSox) May 21, 2026

Montgomery is slashing .283/.348/.467 with two home runs and one stolen base in 66 plate appearances since being promoted to Triple-A. This comes after Montgomery slashed .313/.429/.606 with six homers and two steals in 126 plate appearances at Double-A. It's clear that the White Sox prospect is soaring through the ranks.

Chicago is a rebuilding team, but they're exceeding expectations at 25-24. Perhaps this team is closer to a playoff spot than we initially thought. To that end, it's a good idea for them to see what they have in Montgomery sooner rather than later.

This is a polished prospect with not much left to prove in the minors at 23 years old. You have to like the plate discipline he's shown so far, as highlighted by a 13.5% walk rate across all minor-league levels.

The White Sox currently have Jarred Kelenic as a strong-side platoon in right field right now. This is a journeyman player who doesn't fit into the team's future plans.

This organization is likely waiting for Montgomery to get a bit more reps at Triple-A before bringing him up. But, mark my words, it's going to happen soon. When it does, you'll have an outfielder with 20+ home run upside who can provide a decent batting average.

Make sure to add Montgomery to your watch list.

Three Other Prospects to Consider Stashing

• Luis Lara, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
• Charlie Condon, 1B, Colorado Rockies
• Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics

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