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With every new fantasy season, managers will begin to research which players should be entrusted with their top draft picks. Articles are read, streams are watched, and several mock drafts may be completed, but many times less attention is paid to players in the later rounds of drafts.
This can lead to players being overlooked, especially when there is little to nothing known about them from the prior season. In many cases, winning fantasy championships is a combination of hitting on those higher draft picks while landing a lottery ticket or two in the later rounds, in addition to making key waiver adds throughout the season.
Prospects can fit into the category of overlooked lottery tickets and this article will highlight a few that could make significant contributions to fantasy lineups in 2025. For this list, we'll focus on prospect hitters who reside within the top 300 picks of 2025 fantasy baseball drafts based on their current ADP. You can also check out the Top Fantasy Baseball Prospect Pitchers for 2025 article as well. Let's see who they are!
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Dylan Crews, OF, Washington Nationals
Current ADP: 145
MLB Prospect Rank: No. 1 overall
2024 AAA stats: 49 G, 211 AB, .265-8-30-34-10, .352 wOBA, 106 wRC+
Drafted with the second overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, outfielder Dylan Crews quickly moved through the ranks of the Nationals' organization, culminating with a late-season debut in 2024.
Crews brings 60-grade hit, power, and run tools with him to the Show, making him a likely multi-category contributor for fantasy. Last season, the 22-year-old began at Double-A, slashing .274/.343/.446 in 211 plate appearances (PA).
Once promoted to Triple-A, he did not wither in the face of stiffer competition, rather, it was the opposite. The right-handed hitter reduced his strikeout rate from 23.7% in Double-A to 17.6% at Triple-A, while increasing his walk rate from 7.6% to 8.4% over 238 PA.
Crews' average dipped to .218 in his brief MLB debut, however, the former first-round draft pick struck out at a rate that was less than the league average (19.7%) and walked at an average rate (8.3%) in 132 PA.
Dylan Crews delivers his first three-hit game in The Show!
Top 2: 97 mph EV
Top 7: 103.6 mph
Top 9: 100.8 mphMLB's No. 1 prospect has four multihit contests this month for the @Nationals. pic.twitter.com/k9WdJ7P19A
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 18, 2024
What was even more noteworthy was his ability to steal bases, swiping 12 of them (15 tries), which would extrapolate out to 54 steals if given 600 plate appearances.
The 5-foot-11 LSU product also swatted three homers during his MLB cameo, adding 13 more in the minors before his call-up, so he packs a punch despite the diminutive size.
With a current ADP of around 145, fantasy managers can get a player who can boost all relevant fantasy categories at a cheap price, and who has the talent to stick at the major league level for the entirety of the season.
Jasson Dominguez, OF, New York Yankees
Current ADP: 156
MLB Prospect Rank: No. 14 overall
2024 AAA stats: 44 G, 175 AB, .309-7-25-33-15, .376 wOBA, 121 wRC+
Yes, he's still considered a prospect. It feels like we've been talking about Jasson Dominguez forever now, but with just 87 major league at-bats, he still meets the prospect threshold.
The switch-hitter brings a blend of speed and power to the diamond, with so much talent and athleticism that he earned the nickname "The Martian" at an early age for his seemingly otherworldly abilities.
Dominguez was signed as the top-ranked international prospect back in 2019 but did not make his professional debut until 2021 with the 2020 minor league season cancelled due to COVID.
The Dominican then began his quick ascent through the minors, making his much-anticipated MLB debut late in the 2023 season where he showed well, smacking a double and four home runs in his first 31 at-bats before it was determined he would need Tommy John surgery, ending his season.
Aliens on earth?
Yep, there’s proof.
The 👽 does it again! 2 HR in 3 games for Jasson Dominguez.
pic.twitter.com/jPwBcEFvkR— Chris Clegg (@ChrisCleggMiLB) September 4, 2023
The recovery kept him out of the 2024 season until mid-May, and then a severe oblique strain kept him out for six additional weeks from mid-June to late July.
But even with a cold spell in his return to the lineup in late July, the 21-year-old still put together a .314/.376/.504 slashline with 11 HR and 16 SB in 250 plate appearances (including Single-A and Double-A).
While the batting average was just .179 in his long-awaited return to the majors in 2024, there were other reasons for optimism heading into 2025, including a 16.4% BB% and five stolen bases in 67 plate appearances.
Also, although Dominguez did not record an at-bat, the Yankees' top prospect got some valuable postseason experience as part of New York's postseason roster throughout their World Series run.
Now if only he could get a full-time job with Bronx Bombers, then he'd be a good bet for at least a 20/20 season. With Juan Soto gone, that certainly seems to clear a path, even with Cody Bellinger on his way as the former MVP could handle first base duties rather than the outfield.
With Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently intimating that Dominguez is a leading candidate to be the team's center fielder, it sounds like that full-time job is a real possibility when Opening Day rolls around.
The youngster has as high of a ceiling as any prospect out there, with the potential to be a perennial All-Star, so fantasy managers should determine how he fits into their 2025 draft plan.
Roman Anthony, OF, Boston Red Sox
Current ADP: 313 (ranked within the top 300, being drafted outside the top 300)
MLB Prospect Rank: No. 3 overall
2024 AAA stats: 35 G, 131 AB, .344-3-20-33-5, .439 wOBA, 162 wRC+
Drafted in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, Roman Anthony has made quick work of the minor leagues, ascending to Double-A by the end of 2023 and playing 35 games at Triple-A by the end of 2024.
First career bomb for Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony. Big fan of the swing. Freak athlete who posted a 96th percentile max exit velo and 99th percentile sprint speed among his Perfect Game peers pre-draft. pic.twitter.com/6tIEY45QiH
— Beck (@Upper_Beck) May 20, 2023
He's yet to look overmatched as well -- it has been quite the opposite -- as the left-handed hitter has improved his AVG, OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ upon each promotion between 2023 and 2024.
Known to have a keen eye, the Red Sox's top prospect owns an elite career walk rate of 15.6% in the minors, even surpassing that number during his time at Triple-A with an 18.9% BB%. Impressively, that was the same as his K%, meaning he walked as much as he struck out.
With a 45.1% hard-hit rate and a 7.8% barrel rate at Triple-A, the 20-year-old made solid contact against pitchers that were more advanced in age, with presumably more power to come as he matures.
Not all prospects come into the majors and hit the ground running, however. We saw that firsthand last season as former top prospect Jackson Holliday struggled mightily in his first taste of MLB action.
So, Anthony is no sure thing, but the patient approach should translate to the majors, even if it isn't at the stellar levels we saw in the minors.
He's also not currently on the 40-man roster and he'd have to be added first which would then pave the way to playing time. The Red Sox are in need of more pitching help and if Wilyer Abreu or another player were to be traded this offseason, that could free a path to playing time to begin 2025.
Otherwise, expect Anthony to begin the season at Triple-A, but fantasy managers should stay vigilant, as once he's in the majors, he could be an instant impact in the Red Sox lineup, especially with the short right field line in Fenway Park and his left-handed swing.
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