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Welcome back to top prospects to stash! The last few weeks saw a flurry of hitting prospects get their promotions to the major leagues; Dominic Canzone, Colton Cowser, Tyler Soderstrom, Zack Gelof, and Oscar Colas all saw call-ups over the past few weeks.
With some of fantasy baseball's favorite stash candidates now in the majors, where do redraft league managers pivot to next? Luckily, plenty of talented prospects have yet to make the final jump.
These are five fantasy baseball hitting prospects worth stashing in redraft leagues in week 16. Many of these hitters should be up in time for the fantasy playoffs, so stashing them while their rostered rates are relatively low can be the decision that takes you to the top. Check back to see risers and fallers as teams continue to promote their young, talented prospects!
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Top Fantasy Baseball Hitting Prospect Stashes
Endy Rodriguez - C, Pittsburgh Pirates
Endy Rodriguez’s stock fell significantly after Pirates catching prospect Henry Davis leapfrogged him to the majors. But Davis’ nearly exclusive use as an outfielder means the uneasy catching situation in Pittsburgh remains.
Austin Hedges is a defensive savant and an elite game-caller, but his .462 OPS makes him an offensive sinkhole. Luckily, the solution to Pittsburgh's offensive woes at catcher is incoming. Top prospect Endy Rodriguez has been swinging a hot bat lately, slashing .319/.402/.464 in his last 17 games.
Rodriguez's defensive experience in the outfield and at second base means that he could fall into more regular playing time than most rookie catchers. With the Pirates falling out of contention and looking to give more responsibility to younger players in the second half, there's no better time to stash Endy Rodriguez.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand - 1B/3B/OF, Cincinnati Reds
The famed Reds rookies have jumpstarted Cincinatti's offense, pushing them to the top of the NL Central. But the name that fantasy players have been stashing since May is still toiling in the minors. Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been one of the most productive players in the minor leagues this season, slashing .321/.392/.620 with 20 home runs, 58 RBI, and 62 runs in 65 games.
The Reds' recent offensive success has also meant that there's little playing time available for Encarnacion-Strand. He'd be a significant upgrade over Cincinnati's bench options (Kevin Newman, Nick Senzel), but you aren't stashing a prospect of Encarnacion-Strand's caliber just for him to ride the pine.
The opening for Encarnacion-Strand may come through Joey Votto. Votto's success in his age-39 season has been one of the best stories in baseball, but with a career-high 32.8% strikeout and an xWOBA that is 58 points lower than his actual wOBA, Votto is likely to regress.
While you will have to bank on someone like Votto taking a step back, Encarnacion-Strand's offensive talent is too overwhelming to leave him in fantasy limbo.
Colt Keith - 3B, Detroit Tigers
Per MLive's Evan Woodbery, Tigers GM Scott Harris indicated in a June 19 interview that he’d like his hitting prospects to take swings in Triple-A before they get to the majors, leaving a Double-A promotion nearly out of the question. In that same interview, he lauded third base prospect Colt Keith (who, at the time, was in Double-A): "Colt has been really, really fun to watch all year... If you don't catch yourself, it's easy to forget that he's the youngest player on the team."
Colt Keith has since been promoted to the Triple-A level, and he has taken some mighty nice swings in Toledo. He is slashing .414/.471/.655 with two home runs, six runs, seven RBI, and one steal over eight games. He has somehow one-upped himself after an impressive run in Double-A, where he slashed .325/.391/.585 with 14 home runs, 50 RBI, and two stolen bases in 59 games.
While Harris is notably conservative with prospect promotions, Keith's mature hitting approach and offensive success give him a better chance than anybody to earn the call-up. While it may not happen immediately, Keith's offense should translate to the majors quickly and should make him an important piece down the stretch for a Tigers team that is only five-and-a-half games out of the top spot in the AL Central.
Ronny Mauricio - SS, New York Mets
New York Mets shortstop prospect Ronny Mauricio is slashing .302/.348/.505 with 12 home runs, 47 runs, 47 RBI, and 14 stolen bases in 77 games with Triple-A Syracuse. But with the Mets' commitment to keeping Mauricio down in the minors until an everyday spot opens up (per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo), it seemed like Mauricio would move away from stash territory.
But with Steve Cohen now willing to partially sell at the deadline, a golden opportunity for Mauricio should come to light. Outfielder Tommy Pham is having a career year (.836 OPS), but his impending free agency means that he'll likely be moved at the trade deadline. That move will allow the Mets to reshuffle their lineup. The Mets could then potentially have Mauricio and second baseman Jeff McNeil take turns at second base and outfield.
With a call-up to the majors likely coming and the stated expectation of significant playing time for Mauricio, he is one of the more realistic and productive stashes left.
Sal Frelick - OF, Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers' outfield is in dire straits. They have Blake Perkins -- slashing .216/.296/.318 with a 28% strikeout rate -- taking the bulk of starts in right field, and Raimel Tapia -- who was plucked off waivers on June 14 -- has slashed .179/.298/.333 with a 37.5% strikeout rate.
It's an understatement to say that this is Sal Frelick's job for the taking. But since his return from a thumb injury on June 14, top-100 prospect Sal Frelick is slashing .230/.313/.297 in 18 games with Triple-A Nashville. A thumb injury will be incredibly bothersome to a hitter, and Frelick's recent lowered production should be attributed to that considering he had a 155 wRC+ in 46 games with Nashville in 2022.
If he can regain his pre-injury self with a hot stretch in the second half, Frelick will propel himself into regular playing time at the major-league level.
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