Updated MLB Prospects Rankings - Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects (Week 18)

August 12, 2022

Updated Top 25 fantasy baseball prospects rankings for Week 18. MLB prospects, rookies, and call-ups to make fantasy baseball impacts in 2022 redraft leagues.

The trade deadline has passed, which has made implications in the prospects rankings list this week. Some prospects got moved, creating a new paradigm for them. Some veterans I was thinking would get moved to open up a spot for a prospect to come up did not get moved. Check out all of the happenings below, including my explanations for where I put guys and why.

For those who are not familiar, this is another installment of our fantasy baseball prospects rankings series, reviewing MLB prospects to make fantasy impacts in 2022. Below you will find our updated list of the top-25 fantasy baseball prospects rankings to make an impact for the 2022 fantasy baseball season, which RotoBaller will be updating weekly. You’ll find quite a few well-known prospects on the list — as well as some lesser-known players that could nonetheless provide key contributions to your fantasy league teams this season.

As always, this weekly list is updated to reflect rest-of-season fantasy baseball values, and near-term impacts that these MLB prospects can make. Players who are playing in the minors but graduated from prospect status will also not be in the rankings.

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Top MLB Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

The list below is for 2022 fantasy baseball redraft leagues. These are MLB prospects, rookies, and call-ups to potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2022. As prospects are called up, they are removed from the rankings. You can also see our top-250 fantasy baseball dynasty prospects for longer-term outlooks.

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #1-5

Miguel Vargas called up briefly but was then sent back down. I had C.J. Abrams as the new number one but will slide Vargas back into the top slot. Regarding Abrams, players need 130 at-bats in order to no longer be considered a prospect, and Abrams has 125. Abrams finds himself in Washington and the opportunity to play everyday should happen soon. This is a team relying on Cesar Hernandez and Luis Garcia; Abrams is better than both.

Ryan Pepiot finds himself third. There are more talented pitching prospects but with Clayton Kershaw hurt, there is a strong chance Pepiot gets to fill in.

Josh Jung is brand new to the list. He has played eight rehab games so far and has three home runs at the Florida Complex League. Look for him to move up to Double-A or Triple-A at some point. If he is coming along well, Texas will want to give him a look before the season ends.

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #6-10

Spencer Steer moves up to No. 8 in the list now after being traded to Cincinnati. Is he better than Jose Barreo, Donovan Solano, Jake Fraley, or Albert Almora Jr.? If the answer is "yes" to any of them from the Reds' perspective, he probably plays everyday rest of the season when that decision is made.

Ken Waldichuk also moves up as he was part of the Frankie Montas trade that brought him to Oakland. Adam Oller has been a disaster and Waldichuk has a 3.59 ERA and a 34% strikeout rate in Triple-A.

Kyle Muller also moves up as he is back from his injury on his non-throwing hand. He had five strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched but also allowed five runs. The Braves already didn't believe in him and they didn't trade him either, so he could very well not pitch in the majors this year outside of an injury.

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #11-25

These are guys that likely won't make an impact this season in fantasy outside of injuries happening or something like that, especially the guys listed that stayed on playoff contenders like Oswald Peraza, Jonathan Aranda, Michael Bush, etc.

Drew Waters makes his debut on this list. He is now in the Royals system and is being blocked by Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Isbel in Centerfield. In 301 Triple-A plate appearances, he has 10 HR and 14 SB. In 20 games in the Royals' system, he has five home runs and nine steals. There was no way he was going to come up on the Braves but things are open in Kansas City if they are willing to give him a shot.

Shea Langliers and Gabriel Moreno move down as their respective teams did not trade a catcher. Both are talented but likely an injury away from coming up.

In general, I am lower on Baltimore prospects. They are only 1.5 games out of a wild-card spot but they traded away their closer and Mancini. I was hoping Odor would get displaced by a Jordan Westburg and that a Mancini trade might bring up Kyle Stowers but we haven't seen any of that yet.

Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson round out the list, not because of their talent but because they will likely stay in the minors until 2023. If it looks like they could come up in 2022, they will jump up the list as these are two of the best prospects in the game right now.

Honorable Fantasy Prospect Mentions

• Cade Cavalli, SP
• Ethan Small, SP
• Hayden Wesneski, SP
• Michael Busch, 2B

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