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It's hard to believe that we're past the halfway mark of the 2024 season, and the all-star break is on the horizon. But while Major League Baseball is set to hit pause next week for a few days, the pause button has not been hit when it comes to prospect promotions.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've seen James Wood and Ben Rice get the call and get off to hot starts, Christian Scott and Shane Baz were both recalled, and Brooks Lee is doing his best Royce Lewis impersonation in Minnesota so far.
Remember, stashing fantasy baseball prospects should be done strategically and varies from league to league. Don't leave your teams without much depth just because you want all the high-upside prospects on your roster.
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Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash
Notes on plenty of prospects can be found below the rankings table. And remember, these rankings are for 2024 redraft value only. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2024.
Honorable Mentions (Hitters):
Matt Shaw (CHC), Carson Williams (TBR), Luisangel Acuna (NYM), Victor Mesa Jr. (MIA), Justin Foscue (TEX), Thomas Saggese (STL), Javier Sanoja (MIA), Trey Sweeney (LAD), Ignacio Alvarez (ATL), Nick Yorke (BOS), Colson Montgomery (CHW), Graham Pauley (SDP), Yunior Severino (MIN), Troy Johnston (MIA), Juan Brito (CLE)
Honorable Mentions (Pitchers):
Jack Leiter (TEX), Jackson Jobe (DET), Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), Blade Tidwell (NYM), A.J. Blubaugh (HOU), Carson Whisenhunt (SFG), Sem Robberse (STL), Ricky Tiedemann (TOR), Emiliano Teodo (TEX), Ty Madden (DET), Chayce McDermott (BAL)
| Rank | Player | Pos | Team | ETA |
| 1 | Coby Mayo | 3B | BAL | July |
| 2 | Jordan Lawlar | SS | ARI | August |
| 3 | Junior Caminero | 3B | TBR | August |
| 4 | Jackson Holliday | 2B/SS | BAL | August |
| 5 | Jacob Wilson | SS | OAK | July |
| 6 | Deyvison De Los Santos | CI | ARI | August |
| 7 | Shay Whitcomb | INF | HOU | August |
| 8 | Colby Thomas | OF | OAK | August |
| 9 | Jasson Dominguez | OF | NYY | September |
| 10 | Max Meyer | SP | MIA | August |
| 11 | Jace Jung | 2B/3B | DET | August |
| 12 | Kyle Manzardo | 1B | CLE | August |
| 13 | Connor Norby | 2B/OF | BAL | August |
| 14 | Johnathan Rodriguez | OF | CLE | August |
| 15 | Tyler Black | 3B | MIL | August |
| 16 | Agustin Ramirez | C/1B | NYY | August |
| 17 | Owen Caissie | OF | CHC | August |
| 18 | Dylan Crews | OF | WAS | August |
| 19 | Jonatan Clase | OF | SEA | August |
| 20 | Cade Horton | SP | CHC | September |
| 21 | David Festa | SP | MIN | August |
| 22 | AJ Smith-Shawver | SP | ATL | August |
| 23 | Pedro Leon | OF | HOU | August |
| 24 | Zebby Matthews | SP | MIN | August |
| 25 | Adrian Del Castillo | C | ARI | August |
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis
Coby Mayo (3B - BAL)
"Hold the Mayo" is a term that should only be used in a restaurant when ordering a sandwich or burger. It should NOT be used when discussing holding arguably the top-hitting prospect in the minor leagues down in Triple-A, whose last name just happens to be Mayo. When it comes to the sandwich that is the Baltimore Orioles, Mayo needs to be on it!
Three prospects have 100+ extra-base hits since the start of 2023.
Coby Mayo 118
Colby Thomas 107
Connor Norby 100#FreeMayopic.twitter.com/F3Vue6Df5r— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) July 8, 2024
Since returning from the IL on June 13, Mayo is slashing a robust .351/.462/.753 in 93 plate appearances with seven doubles, eight home runs, and nearly as many walks (14) as strikeouts (18). There's nothing left for him to prove in Triple-A, and Baltimore is still starting one of Jorge Mateo (.229) or Ramon Urias (.239) regularly.
Jordan Lawlar (SS - ARI)
After missing a few weeks with a hamstring strain, Jordan Lawlar has continued his rehab assignment in the Complex Level as he works his way back to the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup. It's been nearly a lost season so far for Lawlar, but don't let that make you forget that he's coming off two straight seasons with at least 15 home runs and 35 steals and was considered by many to be a Top-5 or Top-10 fantasy prospect entering this season.
Given Lawlar's power/speed blend, he's easily one of the top upside stashes remaining this season. And his ability to play both shortstop and third base should help him get back into Arizona's lineup sooner rather than later once he's built up some innings again. Arizona currently has Eugenio Suarez hitting .207 with minimal power at third base and Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop, who is hitting a solid .273 but with zero power.
Colby Thomas (OF - OAK)
It might be another lost season in Oakland, but the Athletics have two prospects on the cusp of debuting who are both performing well in Triple-A. After picking up 14 home runs and a dozen steals in 59 games for Double-A Midland, Colby Thomas has five doubles, three home runs, and two steals in his first 17 Triple-A games. I'm not anticipating Thomas to hit for a high average, but he could be a .250-.260 type of hitter with enough power and speed to flirt with or exceed 20/20 annually.
Jacob Wilson (SS - OAK)
As for Jacob Wilson, he doesn't nearly have the power/speed blend that Thomas has, but any conversation surrounding the best hit tools in the minor leagues has to include Wilson. In 42 games this season, Wilson is hitting a ridiculous .461 with 24 doubles and seven home runs while only striking out 7.2% of the time. And over the last nine games since returning to Triple-A, Wilson is slashing .488/.533/.902 with five doubles, four home runs, and a 4/1 BB/K ratio.
Jacob Wilson (MLB No. 50) drills his fourth homer for Triple-A @AviatorsLV.
The top-ranked @Athletics prospect has seven extra-base hits in his past five games. pic.twitter.com/tDYuV6JXwN
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 6, 2024
While he's probably only a 15-homer bat that provides no more than a handful of steals annually, Wilson should be a top of the order catalyst that can score plenty of runs and be one of the best batting average assets in the game.
Checking in on Spencer Torkelson, Edouard Julien, and Jordan Walker
I've been receiving consistent questions surrounding how the trio of Spencer Torkelson, Edouard Julien, and Jordan Walker are doing in Triple-A and if they should be stashed in redraft leagues right now, so I figured I'd hit on them in this week's article.
- Torkelson (Since demotion): 130 PA, .252/.354/.414, 6 2B, 4 HR, 12.3% BB, 29.2% K
- Walker (Since 6/1): 124 PA, .223/.298/.402, 6 2B, 4 HR, 8.9% BB, 18.5% K
- Julien (Since demotion): 140 PA, .218/.386/.327, 3 HR, 20.7% BB, 32.1% K
Long story short, I'm not looking to stash any of these three, especially Walker and Julien. Walker has been underwhelming for his entire Triple-A stint this season and is still hitting too many ground balls. This feels like an issue that will require a swing mechanics adjustment this offseason.
As for Julien, he's still being too patient, driving up his strikeout rate and limiting his production. With Brooks Lee up and raking and Willi Castro being serviceable at second base, I don't see Julien returning any time soon outside of an injury.
The only one I might consider stashing from this trio is Torkelson, but I'm not exactly rushing to my league's waiver wires to do so right now, either. Torkelson is striking out too much in Triple-A and has only mustered four home runs in 130 plate appearances. He also saw his Quality of Contact metrics fall off with Detroit this season. Torkelson's barrel rate dropped from 14.1% to 4.5%, his AVG EV from 91.8 mph to 88.8 mph, and his hard-hit rate from 50.9% to 39.2%.
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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