Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash (Redraft): Eric Cross' Rookie Rankings for Week 21

August 18, 2026

Eric Cross' top 25 fantasy baseball prospects to stash in redraft for Week 21 (2026). His updated MLB rookie rankings for prospect call-ups to make 2026 impacts.

We're now passed the threshold for Major League teams to call up prospects while retaining their rookie eligibility for the 2027 season. That likely means we're about to see a flurry of prospect promotions over the next couple of weeks.

We already got one of those promotions a few days ago with Joshua Baez bursting onto the scene with a trio of taters in his MLB debut. Unfortunately, he's gone hitless in his 14 at-bats since then.

These prospect rankings are for 2026 redraft value only. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2026 redraft leagues. You can also see our top fantasy baseball dynasty prospects rankings for longer-term outlooks and our 2026 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard for all other league formats.

Top 25 Prospects to Stash in Redraft Leagues

My prospect write-ups are below the rankings. These rankings are for 2026 redraft value only, not dynasty. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2026.

Promoted Last Week: Joshua Baez (STL), Zac Veen (COL), Charles McAdoo (TOR)

Honorable Mentions (Hitters): Zach Ehrhard (LAD), Kemp Alderman (MIA), Ryan Clifford (NYM), Yohandy Morales (WAS), Ryan Ward (LAD), Gavin Cross (KCR), Jacob Melton (TBR), Manuel Pena (ARI), Jett Williams (MIL),

Honorable Mentions (Pitchers): George Klassen (LAA), Jack Wenninger (NYM), Hunter Barco (PIT), Brody Hopkins (TBR), Jaxon Wiggins (CHC), Karson Milbrandt (MIA)

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis

Lazaro Montes, Seattle Mariners

There's no question that Lazaro Montes has one of the highest power ceilings of any current prospect, and he's shown that all season. Montes is up to 35 home runs in 111 games between Double-A and Triple-A, including 10 in 32 Triple-A games. He's been especially powerful over the last 12 games, swatting seven homers in 56 plate appearances.

Lazaro Montes becomes the 2nd Minor Leaguer to reach the 35-HR plateau this season 🚀

Make it 3 straight games with a roundtripper -- this one at 107.6 mph -- for the @Mariners' No. 5 prospect.@RainiersLand | @MsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/ln1dkgYzBM

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 15, 2026

For the season, Montes is slashing .251/.368/.566, and has managed a career .268 AVG over 485 minor league games. However, the batting average doesn't tell the entire story. While Montes could easily be a 40-homer, middle of the order masher, his 63.1% zone contact rate, 60.6% contact rate, 19.3% SwStr rate, and 32.4% strikeout rate in Triple-A give me major pause in targeting him heavily, especially in redraft.

If you were in on Baez, you're likely going to be in on Montes as well, given the major boom-or-bust profile. This could go really well with Montes cranking a bunch of September home runs, or he hits .150 with a 45% strikeout rate.

Ralphy Velazquez and Cooper Ingle, Cleveland Guardians

One of the hottest hitters in Triple-A over the last three weeks has been Cleveland's Ralphy Velazquez. In his last 15 games dating back to July 28, Velazquez has slashed .333/.394/.877 with a whopping 10 home runs, giving him 14 homers in 63 games at the level. Velazquez has always been a good source of power (105.4 mph 90th percentile EV in Triple-A), so he'd be an intriguing target if Cleveland decide to give him a cup of coffee in September.

Another Guardian prospect who could get the call by the end of the season is Cooper Ingle. While he's gone hitless in his last three games, Ingle has been hitting very well overall since being optioned back to Triple-A on July 10.

Cooper Ingle blasts his 5th homer in the past 10 games for the Triple-A @CLBClippers 🚀

MLB’s No. 58 prospect (@CleGuardians) has 9 XBH and 16 RBIs in that span: pic.twitter.com/W5AT8gcRNc

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 6, 2026

In 27 games since then, Ingle has slashed .343/.450/.602 with 10 doubles, six home runs, and a 16.7% walk rate. On top of that, Ingle has posted above-average metrics basically across the board in terms of contact and quality of contact.

Ingle is more likely to get called up out of this duo, as he can play both catcher and corner outfield.

Ethan Salas, San Diego Padres

I'm not entirely sure Ethan Salas gets called up this season, but his recent performance in Triple-A warranted him being discussed and making the Top-25 this week. In his first 60 Triple-A plate appearances, Salas has slashed .377/.453/.698 with 10 extra-base hits, three home runs, and more walks (9) than strikeouts (7). He's currently on a 10-game hitting streak and has three straight multi-hit games.

Ethan Salas belts a two-run homer for his career-high 10th of the season.

MLB's No. 23 prospect (@Padres) has three dingers in 14 games since being promoted to the Triple-A @epchihuahuas. pic.twitter.com/ROIFvOjnAn

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 16, 2026

Salas' metrics under the hood might be even more impressive. He's currently running an elite 95.5% zone contact rate and 91.6% overall contact rate, along with a 90.3 mph AVG EV, 47.9% hard-hit rate, and a 104.4 mph 90th percentile EV. Given the upside and catcher eligibility, Salas would be a highly-intriguing target for fantasy if the Padres bring him up this season. I'd put the odds at sub-25%, but they've been aggressive with him before.

Bo Davidson, San Francisco Giants

After a slow start in Triple-A, Bo Davidson has cranked up the heat over the last week. In his last five games, Davidson went 14/22 with three doubles and four home runs while only striking out twice in 24 plate appearances. This last week has pushed Davidson up to 18 doubles and 23 home runs in 100 games between Double-A and Triple-A this season, along with a .280/.347/.503 slash line and 18 steals in 20 attempts.

BO DAVIDSON JUST SENT IT 440 FT. GRAND SLAM! 💥 pic.twitter.com/HHxmPQv2rn

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 17, 2026

Even though the overall slash line didn't look great since arriving in Triple-A before this last five-game stretch, Davidson's metrics under the hood have painted a different and much more exciting picture. He's currently running a 47.7% hard-hit rate, 90.8 mph aVG EV, 84.1% zone contact rate, and a 78.9% overall contact rate, while striking out just 18.7% of the time.

With the Giants not contending, it makes a ton of sense for them to bring Davidson up to play left field instead of running Turner Hill out there.

Charlie Condon, Colorado Rockies

You might have noticed that Charlie Condon fell down the rankings this week. Well, with Zac Veen getting the call, the outfield/first base/designated hitter spots in Colorado are currently full, along with having guys like Troy Johnson and Jordan Beck on the bench providing additional depth at those positions.

It'd be one thing if Condon were mashing, but he's gone into a bit of a funk at the plate, going 5/39 over his last 10 games, and slashing just .202/.302/.294 with 41 strikeouts over his last 28 games. I'm not completely ruling it out, but it's starting to look more like a 2027 ETA for Condon at this point.

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