Top-5 Hitter Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash For Week 2 - Redraft Leagues (2026)

April 3, 2026

Frank Ammirante's top hitter fantasy baseball prospects to stash for Week 2 (2026). His MLB prospects to pick up and stash on your bench and N/A spots in redraft leagues.

We're into the second week of the 2026 MLB season. Since last week's column, we've seen Konnor Griffin recalled to the majors, so it's time to get a fresh list of the top five hitting prospects to stash.

I've dug a bit deeper for this week's article, so if your league is more shallow, just add these hitters to your watch list instead of picking them up. There are two returning stashes from last week, along with three new additions to discuss.

With that in mind, find out why Ryan Waldschmidt, Colt Emerson, Max Clark, Charlie Condon, and Abimelec Ortiz are my five hitter prospects to stash that I'm going to highlight this week.

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Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

Ryan Waldschmidt is going to be an absolute stud

90+mph exit velo with a launch angle of 27.1 degrees

High floor, relatively high-ceiling outcome here. High OBP with a feel for hitting and showing the attributes to hit for power and develop some more

Top 15 prospect right now

— Prospect Tilt (@Prospect_Tilt) April 2, 2026

Ryan Waldschmidt is a polished hitter who put up a .309/.423/.498 slash with nine homers and 19 steals in 300 plate appearances at Double-A last season. If you're in an OBP league, you should be even more intrigued by Waldschmidt, as he put up an impressive 15.0% walk rate with an elite 17.7% strikeout rate.

So far, Alek Thomas (.158/.200/.316) has been underwhelming at the plate, continuing to struggle as he has throughout his career. That means that there's a chance that we see Waldschmidt sooner rather than later, especially since he's been solid at Triple-A so far, including a 25.0% walk rate and a 114 wRC+ in 24 plate appearances.

The D-Backs have also shown that they're going to be aggressive in calling up prospects this year, bringing up Jose Fernandez, who homered twice in his big-league debut.

Perhaps they just want Waldschmidt to get a bit more experience at Triple-A before he's up in the big leagues. If Thomas continues to struggle at the plate, we could see the team opt to move Jordan Lawlar to center or even play Waldschmidt there. They can definitely use the upgrade on offense while sacrificing a bit of defense, since that's Thomas' main strength.

Getting a 20-20 threat with elite plate discipline can be a big boost to your fantasy team, so make sure to stash Waldschmidt.

Colt Emerson, SS, Seattle Mariners

The Mariners should just make Colt Emerson the everyday SS.

I get it, JP Crawford is good in the clubhouse or whatever.

But he had a .370 slugging percentage with poor defense and baserunning last season.

Emerson would raise the ceiling for this offense.

— Frank Ammirante (@FAmmiranteTFJ) February 25, 2026

Colt Emerson is back in this column after signing an eight-year, $95 million extension this past week. That gives me confidence that Emerson will be called up sooner rather than later.

This is a talented infielder who was terrific in the minors last year, including a 133 wRC+ in 161 plate appearances at Double-A. As with Waldschmidt, the Mariners likely want Emerson to get some experience at Triple-A before bringing him up.

So far, Emerson is slashing .278/.316/.500 with one homer in 20 plate appearances there. If he can continue to put up strong production, we could see him up with the Mariners soon.

Cole Young is holding it down at second base, currently slashing .320/.346/.520 with one home run, but he's also striking out at a 30.8% clip with a 3.8% walk rate, so this start feels unsustainable. If regression hits Young hard, the Mariners can replace him with Emerson. Given that they signed Emerson to an extension, it's clear that they have big plans for him as soon as this year.

With J.P. Crawford being activated off the injured list, the best path to playing time for Emerson is for him to continue mashing while Young struggles at the big-league level. Make sure to stash Emerson on your NA spot if you have one, as he's a polished hitter with the ability to make an impact right away.

Max Clark, OF, Detroit Tigers

Max Clark is one of the Tigers' top prospects. As a 20-year-old, Clark slashed .251/.360/.439 with seven homers and seven steals in 203 plate appearances at Double-A. The plate discipline was intriguing, including a 14.3% walk rate and a 16.7% strikeout rate.

Now at Triple-A, Clark doesn't look overmatched at all, slashing .278/.435/.444 with a 21.7% walk rate and an 8.7% strikeout rate. He's also shown his stolen base upside, swiping three bags in 23 plate appearances.

Like Waldschmidt, Clark offers even more upside in OBP leagues due to his elite walk rate. With a willingness to be aggressive on the basepaths, Clark can steal at a 25+ pace when he gets recalled to the big leagues.

The path to playing time lies in center field, which is currently occupied by Parker Meadows, who has been injury-prone and underwhelming at the plate throughout his career. So far this season, Meadows is slashing .200/.250/.267 in 16 plate appearances. This comes after an abysmal 75 wRC+ last year.

If Clark continues to perform well at Triple-A, he can replace Meadows in center field. The Tigers have shown a willingness to play their young studs this year, as Kevin McGonigle has been up since Opening Day. Perhaps they'll do the same with Clark.

Remember that Tarik Skubal is a free agent after the season. With his likely departure, there's a sense of urgency for the Tigers to win now. That means playing your most talented players like Clark.

Charlie Condon, 1B, Colorado Rockies

Charlie Condon is a former third overall pick who slashed .235/.342/.465 with 11 homers in 237 plate appearances at Double-A last season. While the strikeout rate wasn't good (28.3%), you have to like the 10.5% walk rate.

Condon is displaying his power at Triple-A so far, slashing .389/.500/.778 with two homers in 22 plate appearances. The walk rate looks terrific (13.6%), but the strikeout rate is too high (31.8%).

However, any time you can get a slugger who can play at Coors Field, you have to take notice in fantasy baseball. The Rockies are a rebuilding team that could opt to see what they have in Condon at some point in the year.

Currently, first base is occupied by TJ Rumfield, who has been terrific so far. But there's still room for Rumfield to move to DH and Condon to take over at first. While this may take until later in the year, the upside is there for Condon to be an impact bat for you, especially in deeper formats.

Abimelec Ortiz, 1B, Washington Nationals

Abimelec Ortiz came over to the Nationals in the MacKenzie Gore trade. He was excellent for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate in his age-23 season last year, slashing .283/.388/.565 with nine home runs in 165 plate appearances.

So far, Ortiz has been absolutely mashing in Triple-A, including a .333/.556/.583 slash with six walks and one strikeout. You have to be intrigued by that kind of plate discipline.

The Nationals are deploying Luis Garcia Jr. at first base right now, but he's more of a position-less type whose glove wasn't good enough for second base, and his bat doesn't play as well at first.

This is a rebuilding team, so it makes sense for them to see what they have in Ortiz sooner rather than later. Plus, it's not like Ortiz is that young, as he's 24 years old. There's not much more for him to prove at Triple-A, so a call-up feels imminent.

Even if the Nats don't want to move Garcia from first, there's room at DH. Once recalled, Ortiz can provide a power boost for your lineups.

Three Other Prospects to Consider Stashing

• Joshua Baez, OF, STL
• Aidan Miller, SS, PHI
• Leo De Vries, SS, ATH

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