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While the prospect promotion train has lost a bit of steam over the last week or two, we still got one high-profile prospect promotion this week with Minnesota recalling former top overall draft pick, Royce Lewis. let me start by saying that if Lewis is still available in your league, go out and scoop him up off the waiver wire immediately. We actually had just as many notable demotions as promotions this week, putting a couple of names back on this week's Top-25 Prospects to Stash in Redraft Leagues list here on RotoBaller.
Stashing fantasy baseball prospects should be done strategically, not haphazardly. You need to be cognizant of which prospects will be up sooner and can make the biggest short-term impact on your teams – even if that means stashing a prospect that might be ranked lower than another in long-term dynasty prospect rankings.
In this article, we will focus on MLB prospects, rookies, and call-ups who could make impacts for the 2023 fantasy baseball season.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and weekly lineup resources:- Nick Mariano's fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups (Premium)
- Start/Sit recommendations - All Pitcher Matchups for Week Ahead
- Fantasy baseball waiver wire rankings (top 80 players)
- FAAB fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Outfield fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- 1B/3B fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- 2B/SS fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Hitter streamers - fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Two-start pitcher streamers - fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Cut List - Players To Consider Dropping for Week 5
Top 25 Prospects to Stash for Fantasy Baseball
Notes on plenty of prospects can be found below the rankings table. And remember, these rankings are for 2023 redraft value only. These are MLB prospects to potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2023. As prospects are called up, they are removed from the rankings. You can also see our top 250 fantasy baseball dynasty prospects for long-term outlooks.
Called Up Last Week: Royce Lewis (MIN), Drew Waters (KCR)
Honorable Mentions: Joey Ortiz (BAL), Colt Keith (DET), Dominic Canzone (ARI), Justin Dirden (HOU), Justin Foscue (TEX), Pedro Leon (HOU), Samad Taylor (KC), Sal Frelick (MIL), Addison Barger (TOR), Kyle Harrison (SFG), Moises Gomez (STL), Davis Schneider (COL)
| Rank | Name | Position | Team | ETA | Last Wk |
| 1 | Jordan Westburg | 2B/3B/SS | BAL | June | 1 |
| 2 | Ronny Mauricio | SS | NYM | June | 8 |
| 3 | Elly De La Cruz | SS | CIN | July | 3 |
| 4 | Colton Cowser | OF | BAL | June | 7 |
| 5 | Jordan Walker | OF | STL | June | 4 |
| 6 | Christian Encarnacion-Strand | 1B/3B | CIN | June | 5 |
| 7 | Kyle Manzardo | 1B | TBR | July | 6 |
| 8 | Gavin Williams | SP | CLE | July | 9 |
| 9 | Oswald Peraza | SS | NYY | July | NR |
| 10 | Endy Rodriguez | C | PIT | July | 10 |
| 11 | Bo Naylor | C | CLE | June | 11 |
| 12 | Grayson Rodriguez | SP | BAL | July | NR |
| 13 | Justyn-Henry Malloy | OF | DET | June | 12 |
| 14 | Dominic Fletcher | OF | ARI | July | NR |
| 15 | Ben Brown | SP | CHC | June | 13 |
| 16 | David Hamilton | SS | BOS | June | 15 |
| 17 | Andrew Abbott | SP | CIN | June | 17 |
| 18 | Lenyn Sosa | 2B/SS | CHW | July | NR |
| 19 | Oscar Colas | OF | CHE | June | 16 |
| 20 | A.J. Smith-Shawver | SP | ATL | July | NR |
| 21 | Curtis Mead | 2B/3B | TBR | July | 18 |
| 22 | Connor Norby | 2B | BAL | July | 19 |
| 23 | Brandon Pfaadt | SP | ARI | July | NR |
| 24 | Cade Marlowe | OF | SEA | July | 20 |
| 25 | Tyler Soderstrom | C/1B | OAK | July | 21 |
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis
Ronny Mauricio (SS - NYM)
Last week, I mentioned how Ronny Mauricio was playing more second base lately which is usually indicative of a promotion in the near future. Now those rumblings are getting louder coming out of Queens and it's sounding like the move could come as soon as this week. When Mauricio gets the call, he has the upside to make an immediate fantasy impact given his blend of power and speed which was on display last season and so far this season.
After a 26/20 season in Double-A last year, Mauricio has already racked up seven home runs and nine steals in 50 games this season with a .346/.389/.576 slash line. While his aggressive approach might get exploited and keep his AVG/OBP in check, Mauricio could still provide a solid fantasy impact with his power/speed blend, making him an ideal stash right now. That's exactly what I did in a couple of leagues over the last few days.
Colton Cowser (OF - BAL)
On Monday, Cedric Mullins suffered a groin strain and appears headed to the IL, which in theory, would open up everyday at-bats for Colton Cowser. However, Baltimore's top outfield prospect has missed the last two weeks himself. He's due back soon though and could step into that center field gig if Mullin's absence is more than a minimal IL stint. Let's say that all of that comes to fruition, Cowser would be just as intriguing for fantasy purposes as Mauricio, and then some. The two share a similar power/speed blend, but Cowser has the ability to get on base at a higher clip. If you're in need of an outfielder or just looking to stash the next potential impact prospect bat, then Cowser is a great place to start.
Jordan Westburg (2B/3B/SS - BAL)
It's also not out of the question to see Jordan Westburg brought up if Mullins lands on the IL. While Westburg has been primarily an infielder as a professional, he's had a little time in the outfield and is athletic enough to make it work in a corner outfield role. If that happens, we'd probably see him take over in left field with Austin Hays sliding over to center field. As someone that has Westburg on several teams, I'm really hoping that's the case. Westburg hasn't slowed down at all this season in Triple-A and is still slashing a robust .312/.385/.596 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs, and four steals in 44 games.
Of course, we can wish and hope that it's Westburg all we want and Baltimore could just go with Kyle Stowers.
Grayson Rodriguez (SP - BAL) & Brandon Pfaadt (SP - ARI)
I'm sure many of you are wondering if you should be stashing the recently demoted pitching duo of Grayson Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt in your redraft leagues. My answer isn't a concrete yes or no. This decision is more dependent on your league format and league depth, especially how much bench depth you have. In general, I don't believe either Rodriguez or Pfaadt will be back up any time soon, Both displayed significant command issues during their stints in the Major Leagues this season and I'm assuming Baltimore and Arizona will let these two work out the kinks for a bit in Triple-A before recalling them. Unless you're in an incredibly deep league, I'd cut bait on Pfaadt for now. As for Rodriguez, I can get behind stashing him in deeper 15-team leagues or deeper, but that's about it. I'm still very high on Rodriguez and have faith in Pfaadt, but it doesn't seem like they'll provide much fantasy impact here in 2023.
Dominic Fletcher (OF - ARI)
Speaking of demoted players, Dominic Fletcher was recently sent back to Triple-A as well. It was a surprising move given that his slump wasn't that long and Fletcher began his Major League career on fire, slashing .462/.488/.744 with six extra-base hits in his first 12 games. However, a .154/.214/.205 slash line over his last 10 games caused Arizona to send him back to Triple-A. With Fletcher, I'd recommend a similar course of action as I mentioned with Rodriguez above. In deeper leagues with deeper benches, I'm not opposed to stashing him for a bit, but he can be cut for now in all 10, 12, and 14-team leagues.
Oswald Peraza (SS - NYY)
While his Major League stint earlier this season was quite underwhelming, Oswald Peraza has been tearing it up in Triple-A since his demotion two weeks ago. In 50 plate appearances, Peraza is slashing .362/.400/.787 with six home runs, a steal, and only striking out 14% of the time. Meanwhile, Anthony Volpe is hitting .198 in the Majors including .180 in the month of May. Granted, he does have seven home runs and 13 steals overall, but if he continues to hit below .200 and Peraza continues to hit well in Triple-A, it's not inconceivable to think that the Yankees could make the swap over the next few weeks.
If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.
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