Fantasy Baseball Prospect Risers - Rookies to Stash and Top Performers for Week 9

May 24, 2026

Jeremy's top fantasy baseball prospect risers, breakouts with big upside for Week 9 of 2026. He analyzes top MLB rookies and call-ups to stash who are surging.

Welcome to the Week 9 edition of the top prospect performers. In this weekly piece, we'll discuss three of the top-performing minor leaguers who are likely to make a fantasy impact at some point down the line. Whether they are promoted in two days or two months, it's important to stay up to date on these names so you're ready to add them when the time is right.

We saw many prospect promotions in this past week, including Colt Emerson, Esmerlyn Valdez, Kevin Alcantara, and Tommy Troy. Emerson is by far the most fantasy relevant, but if you missed out on him, no worries, as there are plenty more on the way. It's also worth mentioning that Kade Anderson remains the highest upside stash, but he's probably not going to be promoted soon unless the Mariners suffer an injury to their rotation. Rather than feature Anderson in this piece every single week until that happens, I like to mix it up to get some new names involved.

This week, we'll take a look at one familiar name from an earlier edition of this piece, one player looking for redemption after struggling early in his major league career, and a fresh face who is pushing for an upcoming promotion. Adding the right prospect at the right time could boost your team to a fantasy championship, so without further ado, let's get into it.

Cole Carrigg, OF, Colorado Rockies

Rockies No. 6, Overall N/A

Cole Carrigg was featured in this piece two weeks ago, and he deserves another mention, as he just hasn’t stopped hitting in Triple-A. So far this month, he has logged a hit in 17 of his 18 May games, while 10 of them were of the multi-hit variety.

The most recent eye-popping performance was Saturday, when he went 3-for-5 with a double and an absolute moonshot of a homer down the right field line.

Cole Carrigg with an absolute moonshot....our sixth homer of the night....

T7: Isotopes 13, Aviators 9 pic.twitter.com/ENRY1qxEiX

— Albuquerque Isotopes (@ABQTopes) May 24, 2026

In May, he has tallied four home runs, seven doubles, and two triples while stealing eight bases. On the season, he’s slashing .362/.422/.557 with five homers and 26 steals in 46 games. The 24-year-old has excelled at putting the ball in play, boasting an impressive 13.9% strikeout rate, which is a drastic shift from the 27% rate he put up at Double-A in 2025.

While 46 games isn’t the largest sample, you don’t just cut your strikeout rate in half by luck, and it’s safe to recognize this as a legitimate step forward that could propel him to the big leagues very soon. What’s even better about his contact ability is that he’ll get to showcase it in Coors Field for half of his games, which has one of the largest outfields in the game in terms of open space to hit the ball.

This is a perfect fit for a hitter like Carrigg, who may not have the best raw power, but is great at peppering balls into the gaps. He’s been picking up a lot of starts at shortstop recently, which would give him plenty of versatility to fit into the Rockies lineup, which currently features unexciting names such as Jake McCarthy, Tyler Freeman, Sterlin Thompson, and Chad Stevens. 

Verdict: Stash in leagues with deep benches, could be nearing promotion 

Noelvi Marte, 3B/OF, Cincinnati Reds

Reds N/A, Overall N/A

Noelvi Marte isn’t the typical “prospect” we’re used to featuring on this list, considering he’s already played 202 games at the major league level, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the better minor leaguers to stash at the moment.

The 24-year-old is still as young as many prospects, despite debuting in the big leagues three years ago, and he’s currently slashing .374/.428/.588 with seven home runs and nine steals in 31 games at Triple-A.

He continued his dominance on Saturday, blasting his seventh home run as part of a two-hit effort against the Columbus Clippers.

He’s been especially hot since May 15, putting up six multi-hit games with four home runs. The youngster only played 11 games in the majors this season before being demoted, which was very unexpected for someone who was being drafted as a top-12 third baseman heading into the year, after batting .263 with 14 homers and 10 steals in 90 games last season.

Noelvi Marte homered, collected three more hits, and drove in three last night for @LouisvilleBats . He's leading the International League in hitting at .391. That's the 2nd highest batting average in all of minor league baseball (Triple-A to Single-A). #Reds pic.twitter.com/8Vgjckom24

— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) May 20, 2026

Marte was a top prospect in his own right once upon a time, and it’s important not to discard him from your mind just because he was good enough to earn the chance to fail in the majors way earlier than many. Jordan Walker is finally delivering on his elite prospect potential this season as a 24-year-old after being unusable for fantasy over the first three years of his career, and Marte could take a similar path.

Verdict: Stash in 15+ team leagues

Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Minnesota Twins

Twins No. 2, Overall No. 39

Kaelen Culpepper impressed in 2025 with 20 homers and 25 steals between High-A and Double-A, making 2026 a big year to see how he’d react to Triple-A pitching. While he hit a measly .205 in April, he completely turned the page in May, slashing .268/.398/.549 in 18 May games as of Sunday morning.

He kept the hot streak rolling on Saturday, homering off a rehabbing Cole Ragans, bringing his season total of long balls to 10. With how the youngster has been playing of late, it may not be too long before he meets Ragans again at the major league level. 

Kaelen Culpepper takes a rehabbing Cole Ragans deep for his 10th homer of the year for the Triple-A @StPaulSaints 👀

The @Twins' No. 2 prospect sports an .999 OPS in the month of May: pic.twitter.com/Q2OdLXij1z

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 24, 2026

After all, the Twins recently demoted Royce Lewis, and you have to imagine that Culpepper is in line to get the next shot at a starting infield job unless Lewis very quickly turns things around. Minnesota currently has Ryan Kreidler playing shortstop, who should hardly be a roadblock for their number two-ranked prospect. 

Culpepper has posted elite quality of contact metrics this season, as can be seen by his 91.8 mph average exit velocity and 50.7% hard-hit rate, which both rank in the top 15 percent of the league. His great combination of speed, exit velocity, and on-base skills will make him matter in fantasy once he gets the call. If the Twins want their best chance at winning games, it won’t be long before they turn to the 23-year-old. 

Verdict: Stash in 15+ team leagues

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