RADIO
Andersen's dynasty fantasy baseball prospects breakouts, sleepers, risers for Week 5 of 2026. His MLB prospects report includes JR Ritchie, Konnor Griffin, Connor Prielipp.
Welcome to Week 5 and the fifth installment of RotoBaller's Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects Report for the 2026 MLB season, looking at dynasty prospect risers and fallers.
As we advance deeper into the regular season, we'll take a closer look at JR Ritchie, Konnor Griffin, and Connor Prielipp. Each is a top talent in their team's farm system who has already debuted early this season.
We’ll dive into their early performances, analyze what’s working (and what’s not), and offer insights on what dynasty fantasy baseball managers can expect as we get deeper into the 2026 season.
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JR Ritchie, SP, Atlanta Braves
Ritchie was a Competitive Balance A selection back in 2022. At the time, he was a talented prep righty coming out of high school, and he fetched an impressive $2.4 million signing bonus.
Since then, Ritchie has gradually developed throughout various levels of the Braves' minor league farm system. All the while, he has consistently looked like a future impact starter in the majors for the Braves.
Rookie Profile:
Ritchie has six distinct pitches in his arsenal, and he threw all six in his MLB debut against the Nationals earlier this week. However, he threw nothing more than his changeup, which he used 28.1% of the time. The offering has an impressive mix of depth and run. It fades late in its trajectory, offering the potential to miss plenty of bats.
He also throws a four-seam fastball and sinker, which are distinct from each other. The four-seamer (27% usage) can end up being deadzone, so we wouldn't mind seeing him rely a little more on the sinker. The sinker is probably the better of his two fastballs, running away from left-handed batters with decent depth.
Additionally, Ritchie introduces glove-side movement with his slider, curveball, and cutter. All three have the potential to be high-leverage options for Ritchie to throw. On paper, the slider has the best shape, but the curveball generated the best results on Thursday with a 42.9% whiff rate and 37.5% putaway rate.
Ritchie finished that outing with two runs, five hits, and two walks over seven innings of work. He also struck out seven batters. Both of the runs he allowed came on home runs — including the very first pitch of his career — but he battled back and earned the win in an NL East battle.
Dynasty Outlook:
Ritchie doesn't have elite velocity, as he typically sits around 94 mph with his fastballs. Still, there's enough of a run/sink profile on his sinker to induce whiffs, and he can use his changeup and breaking balls as effective putaway pitches based on batter handedness.
It was encouraging to see Ritchie go the distance (89 pitches), shake off a few mistake pitches, and earn the win on Thursday. He threw 60.7% strikes and has already established himself as a rotation piece for the Braves.
There's long-term fantasy appeal with Ritchie. He doesn't quite make the cut for RotoBaller's dynasty fantasy baseball prospect rankings at the moment, but he should break onto the list soon. If he can solidify his secondary pitches into even stronger putaway offerings, the 22-year-old will be an exciting fantasy commodity with the potential to rack up 10+ K/9.
Konnor Griffin, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
Griffin was the Pirates' first-round pick in 2024. He came off the board ninth overall, and he quickly developed into a potential MLB superstar.
After less than two years in the minors, Griffin made his MLB debut earlier this month. In addition to calling him up, the Pirates also signed him to a nine-year, $140 million extension that buys out his arbitration and several free agent years.
Rookie Profile:
Griffin was a five-tool player who ranked as many outlets' No. 1 overall prospect to kick off the regular season. First and foremost, he is an excellent athlete with an impressive 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame.
You'd be hard-pressed to find another prospect in recent history with the same power and speed combination that Griffin possesses. He makes extremely solid contact and is capable of launching the baseball over the fence in all directions. When it does stay in the yard, he also has the potential to find gaps and leg out extra-base hits.
The hit tool is also above average based on the exit velocities alone. With that said, there are some concerns about discipline, as Griffin struck out 21.7% of the time in the minors last year, and he owns a 5.2% walk rate and 28.6% strikeout rate in the majors this year. There's certainly some swing-and-miss associated with his hit tool, but that's a fair trade-off given his power.
Speaking of power, Griffin finally put a charge into one on Friday evening. He launched his first career home run against the Milwaukee Brewers. Ironically, he did so on his 20th birthday. He celebrated the big day by going 3-for-4 with the homer, two singles, three RBI, and a stolen base.
Dynasty Outlook:
Griffin's stats at the plate indicate that he's faced some adversity since being called up. Even though the results have lagged behind slightly, his physical traits reaffirm the belief that he has superstar potential. There's 30-homer upside here, and he's also a glaring threat to rack up doubles and stolen bases while playing above-average defense up the middle.
The Mississippi native, who has played all 20 of his MLB games at shortstop, ranks as the #1 overall prospect in RotoBaller's latest dynasty fantasy baseball prospect rankings. The future remains bright for the 20-year-old in all fantasy formats. Managers have to appreciate his nine years of job security, as well as his rare blend of power and speed.
KONNOR GRIFFIN
20TH BIRTHDAY | 20TH MLB GAME
1ST MLB HOMER 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TKk2f28IIo— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2026
Connor Prielipp, SP, Minnesota Twins
Prielipp was the Twins' second-round pick in the 2022 draft. He was selected out of Alabama and ultimately fetched a $1.825 million signing bonus.
It took nearly four years for Prielipp to develop before making his MLB debut. That timeline is on the longer side for a pitching prospect drafted out of college, but the Twins wanted to make sure he was truly ready after posting mixed results in his first taste of Triple-A action last year.
Rookie Profile:
Prielipp is viewed as one of the top prospects in the Twins' farm system, and he made his MLB debut on Wednesday against the New York Mets.
He threw five different pitches on Wednesday, favoring the slider more than anything else (51.2% usage). The pitch averaged 3.2 inches of gloveside movement with an impressive spin rate of 2934 rpm. He got even more spin behind his curveball, which averaged 3,369 rpm, -11.4 inches of induced vertical break, and 12.3 inches of gloveside break.
Prielipp favored the four-seam fastball over the sinker, though he did throw the latter pitch one time. Both offerings had decent shapes, but the four-seamer — which sat around 95.7 mph — had some concerning underlying metrics, including a .395 xBA, 7.7% whiff, and 0.0% putaway rate. These numbers will be imperative to monitor over a larger sample size.
The southpaw rounds out his repertoire with a changeup that induced whiffs at a 33.3% clip on Wednesday, albeit over a similarly small sample size. The offspeed offering flashed decent depth with impressive armside movement (17.3 inches of horizontal break).
Prielipp posted decent results in his MLB debut. He ultimately allowed two runs, four hits, and zero walks over four innings of work. Averaging a run every other inning and a hit every inning isn't great, but it was encouraging to see him go four frames without a walk. He also struck out six batters and threw strikes at a 63.4% clip.
Dynasty Outlook:
There's a lot to like about Prielipp's profile from a dynasty fantasy baseball perspective. He's an established starter who should remain in a rotation role long-term, and he's posted decent velocity numbers despite consistently throwing 80+ pitches each game.
In addition to the velocity, he has a strong foundation of secondary pitches that can generate encouraging whiff and putaway rates. He has secondary pitches that can be productive against both righties and lefties, creating deception to win matchups.
Finally, while neither his 13.5 K/9 nor 0.0 BB/9 is sustainable over a larger sample size, we're still encouraged by his ability to fill up the strike zone and attack batters head-on. If he can continue to rack up strikeouts while starting to pitch deeper into games, he'll be a reliable fantasy arm with high upside.
Prielipp doesn't appear in RotoBaller's latest dynasty fantasy baseball prospect rankings, but that could be short-lived. He figures to be an imminent addition after proving that he belongs as a permanent fixture in the Twins' big-league rotation.
Connor Prielipp in his @MLB debut:
4 IP
4 H
2 R
0 BB
6 KHe topped out at 97.3 MPH and generated 7 whiffs on his slider 📈@Twins | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/LalkqskrWy
— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) April 23, 2026
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