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Zach's later-round fantasy baseball prospect sleepers and stashes for 2025. His upside rookie draft targets include Jackson Jobe, Andrew Painter, Caleb Durbin.
Rookies are a great way to build your fantasy baseball team with some exciting new talent, and there are some exciting young players ready to emerge onto the scene in 2025. Some rookies are being drafted very early in drafts, but others can bring great value late in drafts with one of your last few picks.
Big names like Jasson Dominguez, Roman Anthony, Roki Sasaki, Dylan Crews, and Matt Shaw have been covered in other articles on RotoBaller and bring some exciting upside. In this post, though, I'm going to focus on some of the rookies available later in your drafts who bring nice upside and good potential at a very affordable level of investment.
None of these players are sure things, and rookies bring with them extra risk since this is their first extended run in MLB. Make sure your team is deep enough to handle the risk of adding these players and evaluate your league settings to see if it's possible to stash these players if they begin the year in the minor leagues. If you can carry them on your roster and deal with the additional risk, these five later-round rookies bring very exciting upside.
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Caleb Durbin, 2B/3B, Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers acquired Durbin from the Yankees in the Devin Williams deal this offseason. The 25-year-old righty brings lots of defensive versatility and has made a strong case to leave spring training as part of the Brewers' Opening Day roster.
The Brewers lost Willy Adames to free agency and didn't add any infield pieces, meaning Brice Turang or Joey Ortiz will likely play shortstop with the other playing either second or third base. Durbin could fill the other spot, or at least be in the mix with Oliver Dunn and Andruw Monasterio.
Durbin has drawn comparisons to Jose Altuve because he's a small, compact hitter who brings both power and speed potential. Last year, he played 90 games in the minors and finished with 10 home runs and 31 stolen bases while hitting .275 with a .378 wOBA. Durbin also played in the Arizona Fall League, where he set a new league record with 29 stolen bases in 24 games while hitting .312 with five home runs and a .976 OPS.
Throughout his rise to MLB, Durbin has had excellent command of the strike zone, a low strikeout rate, and a good OPS to go with his excellent speed. He may slot in at the top of the order for the Brewers at some point this season, which would give him plenty of value, but he'll likely start lower in the order.
In spring training, he hit two home runs and had two stolen bases in his first nine games.
Leadoff BOMB for Caleb Durbin! pic.twitter.com/t0KH9KWKRH
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 4, 2025
With some potential positional versatility and good speed production, the floor is fairly high for Durbin once he makes the roster and earns playing time. His power may or may not stick, but either way, he's worth a look at his current ADP well outside the top 300.
Tirso Ornelas, OF, San Diego Padres
In the outfield, I laid out some of my top late-round hidden gems earlier this spring training. One of the quickest-rising hitters to target late in drafts is Padres prospect Tirso Ornelas. He could be part of the solution in the corner outfield spot vacated by the departure of Jurickson Profar to the Braves.
The lefty has been in the organization a long time, working his way up the system. Last year, he played 128 games in Triple-A and hit a very solid .297 with 23 home runs, 89 RBI, and a .376 wOBA. He continued his strong year in the Mexican Winter League, hitting .289 with seven home runs and nine stolen bases in 48 games for the Charros de Jalisco.
Ornelas didn't start the year on many top rookies lists, but he's continued mashing in spring training.
Tirso Ornelas belts this solo dinger 418 feet!
The @Padres prospect is now 3-for-7 this spring. pic.twitter.com/d7yQeH9JhM
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 24, 2025
Whether he gets the job from Opening Day or has to work his way into playing time, he's one of the most well-rounded prospects available in the late rounds. He's still barely being drafted, so stashing him late is a great way to build outfield depth.
Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics
The A's drafted Wilson No. 6 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft and by the end of 2024, he had arrived in MLB. In 53 games across the minors, he hit an impressive .433 with 28 doubles, seven home runs, and a .504 wOBA.
After all that success, he hit .250 in his first 28 games in MLB. He had two doubles and two triples but only a .281 wOBA. Despite his lack of great quality contact, he did manage just a 9.7 percent strikeout rate, which was the fifth lowest by any hitter with at least 100 plate appearances. Even though he had some growing pains, the Athletics are ready to give Wilson their everyday starting job at shortstop this season.
Wilson has shown more power this spring training:
Good to see Jacob Wilson showing some pop this spring. He absolutely crushed this one.pic.twitter.com/w8UrqfvVPF
— Kirk Snyder (@dynastyinfo411) March 4, 2025
He and the Athletics get a park upgrade as they play in Sacramento, and since the 23-year-old is locked into a full-time role, he is a good late-round addition. His averages should be good enough to help and not hurt you, and he should have strong counting stats, making him a low-risk, late-round pick who brings good upside.
Andrew Painter, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Painter will still be 21 at the start of this season, but the big righty is coming back from Tommy John surgery, so the Phillies will manage his workload very closely. With the MLB rotation already running five deep, he will likely begin the year in Triple-A, but the Phillies are already planning for a midseason arrival.
In 2022, Painter reached Double-A at just 19 years old and went 6-2 with a 1.56 ERA, 2.02 FIP, and 13.5 K/9 in 103 2/3 innings. He was on all the lists of top prospects and ready to take off, but he missed all of the 2023 and 2024 minor league seasons with Tommy John surgery.
Painter was back on the mound for the first time last year in the Arizona Fall League. He only pitched 15 2/3 innings, but he had an impressive 2.30 ERA while allowing 10 hits and four walks. Even more impressive is that he racked up 18 strikeouts and had a 68 percent strike rate. He looked outstanding and was named Arizona Fall League Player of the Year.
My RotoBaller colleague Eric Cross has Painter ahead of Jobe in his top 10 pitching prospects:
My New Top 10 Pitching Prospect Rankings for #FantasyBaseball.
1. Andrew Painter
2. Jackson Jobe
3. Noah Schultz
4. Bubba Chandler
5. Travis Sykora
6. Alejandro Rosario
7. Kumar Rocker
8. Quinn Mathews
9. Chase Dollander
10. Cade Hortonpic.twitter.com/okOCbQblMr— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) January 21, 2025
Painter is the better option in the long term, but for redraft leagues, Jobe is a better pick since he has a straighter line to a starting role. Painter will have a huge impact when he arrives, but you'll have to be patient if you draft him, depending on how your league allows you to stash players in the minor leagues or inactive.
He isn't expected in MLB until June at the earliest, but when he arrives, he'll make an immediate impact.
Jackson Jobe, SP, Detroit Tigers
The Tigers drafted Jobe with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, and the 22-year-old looks ready to make an impact in 2025. He pitched 21 games in the minors last year, going 5-3 with a 2.36 ERA, 3.41 FIP, and 96 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings. He even made a cameo with four shutout innings in MLB at the end of the regular season, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two.
This season, the Tigers have room for Jobe in their starting rotation, which is headlined by Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and free-agent returnee Jack Flaherty. There are veteran options in the mix, so his spot isn't locked up yet, but it seems to be trending in that direction, especially with the draft pick incentives from putting him on the Opening Day roster.
His stuff is filthy:
3D tracking -- Jackson Jobe K's
99.4 mph / 2,458 rpm 4-seamer
with 20" of induced rise84.1 mph / 3,107 rpm curveball
with 16" of induced drop / 12" of break pic.twitter.com/QdSziJW63J— David Adler (@_dadler) March 3, 2025
His main pitch is a four-seam fastball, which can get to 100 mph, but usually sits around 96 mph. He pitches off that with a split change and a cutter in addition to a sweeper from spring training highlighted above.
Right now, Jobe is going around pick No. 250 in drafts as a depth piece for your rotation. There are about 70 starting pitchers off the board ahead of him, so it doesn't take a huge investment to get in on some of his tantalizing upside. So far in spring training, he has given up some hard contact but also showcased his devastating stuff and a mature approach.
The Tigers will manage his workload, but he has the potential to emerge as one of the top young pitchers in the majors this season. Working at pitcher-friendly Comerica Park all summer could lead to a breakout campaign in which he could even challenge Dominguez for AL Rookie of the Year.
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