Top-5 Hitter Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash For Week 5 - Redraft Leagues (2025)

April 26, 2025

Kevin Luo's top hitter fantasy baseball prospects to stash for Week 5 (2025). His MLB prospects to pick up and stash on your bench and N/A spots in redraft leagues.

What an exciting week in the world of prospect call-ups. Three players featured in my prospects to stash article last week got the call to the majors.

Chandler Simpson, Agustin Ramirez, and Nick Kurtz all should make a solid impact on your fantasy teams, but if you missed out on them, there are still plenty of big-name prospects on the precipice of the majors that you should look to stash.

Let's take a look at a few top ones for this week.

Roman Anthony, OF, Boston Red Sox

With Kurtz getting the call to the majors, Roman Anthony is back atop the hitting prospects to stash mountain. Considered by many to be the top prospect in baseball, he's still performing like a man who doesn't want to be in Triple-A much longer.

His five HRs and 167 WRC+ are plenty impressive, but his advanced approach at the plate should lead to a smoother transition to the big leagues than other top prospects, as he has walked 20.2 percent of the time and struck out 22.3 percent of the time this season.

One factor that may have delayed his call-up was that he was nursing a shoulder injury, which kept him playing only as a designated hitter in Worcester for a couple of weeks. However, he's back in the outfield, and the shoulder is looking fine.

I think Roman Anthony’s fine.

🕸️💎 pic.twitter.com/jzkzySG8ti

— Hunter Noll (@Hunter_Noll) April 23, 2025

The last piece to the Anthony puzzle in Boston is: where will he play? The Red Sox seem pretty adamant on keeping Ceddanne Rafaela in the lineup, and Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu are holding down the other two OF spots.

Could a trade open up an opportunity for Anthony, or will the Red Sox eventually move Rafaela to a super utility role?

When Anthony gets the call, he'll be a worthwhile starting outfielder in almost all formats, providing solid five-category production for roto leagues and an advanced approach that should translate well in points leagues.

Matt Shaw, 3B, Chicago Cubs

I didn't think Shaw would be making an appearance in this prospects to stash series as he broke camp as the Cubs' starting third baseman. However, he struggled over the first couple of weeks this season and got sent back down to Triple-A.

Fantasy managers should not be too concerned about Shaw's demotion. If the Cubs weren't a contending team, they probably would have let him sort out his issues in the majors, but it makes sense for them to let him reset a bit in Triple-A without as much pressure.

Shaw has yet to produce much in Triple-A with only one hit in 19 PA, but he's clearly not pressing as he has five walks and zero strikeouts. His production throughout his minor league career is a much better indicator of the type of player he can be.

Shaw burst onto the scene in his first taste of pro ball with a 170 WRC+ across Rookie Ball, High-A, and Double-A. In his first full season in 2024, he had a 144 WRC+ with 21 HRs and 31 SBs across Double-A and Triple-A. He also showed impressive plate skills with an 18.2 percent K-rate and 11.9 percent BB-rate.

Unlike many prospects to stash, the runway for playing time for Shaw is pretty straightforward. The Cubs planned for him to be their starting third baseman this season, and that plan doesn't appear to have changed.

They just DFA'd Gage Workman and are playing Jon Berti most days at the hot corner. No offense to the veteran speedster, but he'll be no deterrent to Shaw's playing time when the Cubs think he's ready to return.

Expect Shaw to play a few more weeks in Triple-A and get the call back up when he starts a little hot streak. When he does, you can expect five-category production in what looks like a loaded lineup in Chicago.

Jac Caglianone, 1B (Maybe OF?), Kansas City Royals

If you missed out on Kurtz and you're looking to stash a high upside first baseman, Caglianone is your man.

While Cags is still in Double-A, the Royals may not be able to wait much longer to bring their 2024 first-round pick to Kansas City. Coming off a playoff appearance last season, the Royals surely had aspirations to be back in the postseason in 2025.

However, their offense so far this season has been absolutely putrid. Coming into Thursday, they had the fewest HRs, tied for the fewest runs, and the second-lowest team OPS in all of baseball.

Although he's off to a slow start to the season, Vinnie Pasquantino is penciled in at first base for the Royals. However, he's one of a handful of regular starters with a sub-100 WRC+, so the Royals will surely find a place for Cags whenever he's ready.

Perhaps that spot will be in the outfield. He's a very athletic first baseman, and we know he has the arm strength for the outfield, as he was a two-way player at Florida. He played his first professional game in right field on Thursday, possibly signaling that the Royals are looking for a path to get him to the majors.

Cags has not dominated in the minors like some of his fellow top 2024 draftees like Kurtz or Cam Smith, but he's having a very solid season with a 138 WRC+ and four HRs.

This production has come with massive exit velocities and an advanced approach at the plate. He's striking out 22.9 percent of the time while walking 10.8 percent of the time.

Jac Caglianone just became the 5th player in RECORDED HISTORY to hit a baseball 121 MPH! 🤯🚀 pic.twitter.com/mu3CfDnVRP

— Topps (@Topps) April 16, 2025

When Cags does get the call to the majors, you can expect big power with a solid average hitting in the heart of the Royals' lineup.

Jordan Lawlar, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks

Stashing Jordan Lawlar is becoming a bit of a predicament as he keeps producing in the minors, but his opportunity window appears to be getting smaller.

Lawlar has shown across three seasons that he can more than handle Triple-A pitching. In 2023, he had a 143 WRC+ across 80 PA in Triple-A. In 2024, he had a 149 WRC+ across 58 PA. In 2025, he has a 157 WRC+ across 102 PA.

The Diamondbacks could call him up any time for his second chance in the majors. But where will he play?

After Ketel Marte went down with an injury (hamstring), that appeared to open up some playing time for Lawlar; however, they called up Tim Tawa, who has been the main second baseman in Arizona. Tawa has justified his opportunity in the majors with four HRs and a 166 WRC+.

With Tawa performing well and Marte scheduled to return to the Diamondbacks lineup in the next couple of weeks, the playing time opportunity at second base appears to have come and gone for Lawlar.

That leaves two questionable lineup spots for Lawlar to get playing time (without another injury), potentially. Eugenio Suarez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. are both off to mediocre starts to the season. Lawlar has experience playing third base, and the Diamondbacks could move some pieces around if they want him to replace Gurriel.

Whenever Lawlar gets an opportunity to play regularly in the majors, he should provide five-category production, and fantasy teams are always looking for this level of upside in their middle infield slots.

Dalton Rushing, C/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

I have been on the fence about including Dalton Rushing as a hitting prospect to stash this season. Rushing is one of the best catching prospects in baseball, but it's not exactly easy to get into the Dodgers' lineup.

The Dodgers have their clear lead catcher for the present and future in Will Smith, and a guy named Shohei Ohtani is slotted into their DH slot for the next decade. The Dodgers had Rushing get some work in the outfield, but they have Teoscar Hernandez and new signing, Michael Conforto, manning the two corner outfield spots.

However, the window of opportunity for Rushing may be slightly ajar.

Will Smith injured his wrist on Tuesday during a play at the plate. He's currently listed as day-to-day, but Smith not entering as a pinch hitter for Austin Barnes with the Dodgers down one in the ninth inning on Wednesday was potentially telling.

An injury to Smith, even a short-term one, would be a huge opportunity for Rushing. However, even if Smith is fine, could an opportunity in the outfield be opening up? Michael Conforto is not off to a great start to the season, hitting below .200 with a 102 WRC+.

I don't think there's necessarily an indication that the Dodgers will be giving up on Conforto, but he's only on a one-year, $17 million deal, which is pocket change to the Dodgers if they wanted to relegate him to a part-time player.

Rushing is not off to the best start to the season in 2025 (106 WRC+ in Triple-A), but he has a long minor league track record of production.

Rushing really burst onto the scene as a prospect after getting drafted in the second round in 2022. He had a 224 WRC+ in Low-A. He followed that up with a 147 WRC+ in High-A in 2023 and a 146 WRC+ across Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. He also hit 26 HRs in 2024.

"Dalton Rushing with a crushing, up over everything and onto the sidewalk!"

412 ft for the @Dodgers' top-ranked position player prospect, who goes deep for the second time this week for the Triple-A @OKC_comets. pic.twitter.com/hr2fx3pkUl

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 25, 2025

If Rushing were to get the call and an opportunity to play, even for a short span of time, he has big power upside and will be in the loaded Dodgers lineup. Upside like that at catcher will always be valuable, especially in deep one-catcher or two-catcher leagues.

Five Other Prospects to Consider Stashing

• Coby Mayo
• Bryce Eldridge
• Emmanuel Rodriguez
• Samuel Basallo
• Marcelo Mayer

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