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As the calendar flips over to the month of May, the prospect promotions are still coming hot and heavy. Over the last week, we've seen Kyle Manzardo, Jordan Beck, Tyler Black, Joey Loperfido, and Christian Scott get the call, all of which had been staples on this list throughout the month of April.
Even with all those names being taken off the list this week, we still have a loaded Top 25 below with the top four names all sitting in my Top 10 overall prospect rankings.
And remember, stashing 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 Prospects to Stash for 2024 Fantasy Baseball
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 to potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2024.
Honorable Mentions (Hitters): Pedro Leon, Matt Shaw, Spencer Jones, Carson Williams, Luisangel Acuna, Ben Rice, Jakob Marsee, Jace Jung, Victor Mesa Jr., Justin Foscue, Marco Luciano, Ryan Bliss, Damiano Palmegiani, Drew Gilbert, Blake Dunn, Chase DeLauter, Dylan Crews.
Honorable Mentions (Pitchers): Jackson Jobe, Jacob Misiorowski, Chase Hampton, Will Warren, A.J. Blubaugh, Carson Whisenhunt.
| Rank | Player | Pos | Team | ETA |
| 1 | Junior Caminero | 3B | TBR | May |
| 2 | Paul Skenes | SP | PIT | May |
| 3 | Jackson Holliday | 2B/SS | BAL | May |
| 4 | Coby Mayo | 3B | BAL | May |
| 5 | Orelvis Martinez | SS | TOR | May |
| 6 | James Wood | OF | WAS | June |
| 7 | Jasson Dominguez | OF | NYY | June |
| 8 | Cade Horton | SP | CHC | July |
| 9 | Cade Povich | SP | BAL | June |
| 10 | Thomas Saggese | INF | STL | June |
| 11 | Addison Barger | SS/3B | TOR | June |
| 12 | Max Meyer | SP | MIA | June |
| 13 | Jonatan Clase | OF | SEA | June |
| 14 | Shane Baz | SP | TBR | June |
| 15 | Johnathan Rodriguez | OF | CLE | May |
| 16 | Jack Leiter | SP | TEX | June |
| 17 | Robert Gasser | SP | MIL | May |
| 18 | AJ Smith-Shawver | SP | ATL | June |
| 19 | Drew Thorpe | SP | CHW | June |
| 20 | Colson Montgomery | SS | CHW | June |
| 21 | Victor Scott II | OF | STL | June |
| 22 | Connor Norby | 2B | BAL | June |
| 23 | Justyn-Henry Malloy | 3B/OF | DET | June |
| 24 | Owen Caissie | OF | CHC | June |
| 25 | Brooks Lee | 3B | MIN | June |
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
Any day now folks. In 17 games after a late start to his season, Caminero is slashing .324/.378/.662 with five doubles and six home runs in 17 games. He's been especially red hot over the last week with a current six-game hitting streak where he's belted four dingers and racked up 11 hits. While Caminero won't provide you more than a rogue steal or two, the power impact could be massive and he's shown solid contact skills as well. If he's not called up this week, I'll be shocked. Shocked I say!
Brick shot!
2nd homer of the game, 4th in 12 @DurhamBulls games this year for @RaysBaseball's Junior Caminero (@MLB's No. 4 prospect)
109.7 mph exit velocity | 433 feet pic.twitter.com/qdFUnbN8u6
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 28, 2024
Coby Mayo, Baltimore Orioles
When you order a sandwich and don't want any mayonnaise, it's common to say "Hold the mayo." Well, the Baltimore Orioles are taking that phrase to a whole new level and turning it into "Hold the Mayo down in Triple-A". Coby Mayo has been absolutely mashing in Triple-A this season to the tune of a .309/.370/.633 slash line, 21 extra-base hits, and 11 home runs in 33 games so far. Four of those 11 round-trippers have come in the last seven games.
Meanwhile, between second base and third base, Baltimore has been starting Jorge Mateo and Ramon Urias regularly, a duo that is currently hitting a combined .221. Baltimore could easily move Westburg to second base full-time and open up the hot corner for Mayo. While Baltimore continues to hold the Mayo down in Triple-A, you should continue to hold the Mayo on your fantasy teams as he could be up any day now and offers a similar upside to Caminero.
Chase DeLauter and Johnathan Rodriguez, Cleveland Guardians
Unfortunately, any hope of Chase DeLauter debuting before the all-star break went up in smoke after he broke his foot late last week. The injury is going to keep him out for several weeks and push his debut back to late 2024 or even 2025. If you were stashing him, he can safely be dropped in redraft formats.
However, there's another Cleveland outfield prospect to keep on your radar, and his name is Johnathan Rodriguez. In 31 games for Triple-A Columbus, Rodriguez is slashing .281/.384/.491 with six home runs, six doubles, and a pair of steals. This comes after a 29-homer campaign last year where he slashed .286/.368/.529. I'm not recommending you run to your waiver wire to scoop up Rodriguez, but he's a name to monitor in deeper formats.
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
It sounds like Pittsburgh will have Paul Skenes make at least one more start in Triple-A before promoting him to Pittsburgh. I'm not sure what Pittsburgh has to gain from another Skenes minor league start, but regardless, this might be his last one with a Major League debut coming next week. No pitching prospect in the minors right now offers the potential 2024 impact that Skenes does and that impact could be 2023 Eury Perez level. In seven starts this season, Skenes has recorded a stellar 0.99 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 7.6% walk rate, and a 42.9% strikeout rate.
Now, for your viewing pleasure, here's a phenomenal Skenes breakdown from Lance Brozdowski.
No, I have no idea why Paul Skenes is making another Triple-A start.
But! I do have a deep dive breakdown into his pitch shapes.
Confident it'll give you the best perspective out there on how he attacks hitters & why he's unique. #Pirates
Tease below! Full vid in thread. pic.twitter.com/yJcL81F7Ml
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) May 6, 2024
Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs
With Jackson Jobe a little further away and Andrew Painter recovering from major surgery, the only other elite pitching prospect with a chance of coming even remotely close to Skenes in terms of immediate impact is Chicago's Cade Horton who recently was promoted to Triple-A Iowa. Horton ascended to top prospect status in 2023 and has kept that momentum cranking in 2024 with a 1.77 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 7.5% walk rate, and a 30% strikeout rate in 20.1 innings.
With a mid to upper-90s fastball, elite slider, and serviceable curveball and changeup, Horton possesses incredible upside for fantasy purposes and could be up with the Cubs within the next month or so, or even earlier if there's an injury.
Shane Baz, Tampa Bay Rays
Lastly, I wanted to include a blurb on one of my favorite pitching prospects, Shane Baz. Depending on where you look, Baz has graduated off lists that use service time, but he's still under the 50-inning threshold and worthy of discussing in an article such as this. After missing all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery and being delayed by oblique issues this spring, Baz finally made his first rehab appearances on Saturday for Triple-A Durham, allowing three runs in three innings.
Honestly, I don't care about the stat line, it was just nice to see Baz back in action. He's likely going to need several additional rehab outings so his return to Tampa Bay is probably sometime in late May or June, but the upside here is considerable and worth stashing in all fantasy leagues. Both of Baz's breaking balls had a whiff rate above 40% in 2021 and 2022, and don't forget how good he was in the minors back in 2021 after making massive strides with his command and control.
In case anyone forgot how damn good Shane Baz is, here is 2021 in the minors compared to a current Top-5 dynasty SP for me (Grayson Rodriguez).
G-Rod: 103 IP, 2.36 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 33.7% K-BB
Baz: 78.2 IP, 2.06 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 33.6% K-BB#FantasyBaseball #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/xp3NoqLl7a— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) December 29, 2023
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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