This season has already seen a lot of changes, including big-league squads showing more willingness to call up young prospects early on. As I touched on last month, fantasy baseball prospects can have a major impact, both positive and negative. In today’s article, I will look at some highly touted prospects that have already been promoted, as well as some lesser-known names that have made immediate impacts in their short careers.
In that past month, we have seen several call-ups from our consensus Top-100 fantasy baseball prospect rankings, including Eury Perez, Michael Busch, Brett Baty, Brandon Pfaadt, Gavin Stone, and Joey Ortiz. Dominic Fletcher and Casey Schmitt are some of the less-touted guys making waves. While some players, such as Stone and Busch, only got a cup of coffee, there have been many young stars recently promoted that are ready to make an impact for fantasy owners the rest of the way.
As a reminder, the three things we look for most when evaluating a prospect are opportunity, team situation, on-base ability (hitters), or K-to-BB ratio (pitchers). It's also important to remain patient, as many prospects will have ups and downs.
Today, we'll identify which recently promoted prospects to target and which still in the minors could be seeing their names on big-league rosters shortly. Let's dig into the next wave of players that owners should roster, and as always, be sure to follow RotoBaller for all the fantasy baseball news you need to stay up to date with prospects throughout the season.
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Top MLB Prospects: Best fantasy baseball rookies, sleepers to watch
By Danny Burdeen
Eury Perez, SP, Marlins
A favorite of mine over the past few seasons, Perez, 20, made the jump from Double-A to the big-league level this past Friday. The 6-8 fireballer has been one of the top pitching prospects entering this season, and the Marlins decided there was nothing left for him to do on the farm with his ability to mow down hitters throughout his career. Perez didn’t disappoint and tossed 4.2 innings with four hits, two runs, two walks, and seven strikeouts. The 20-year-old righty was dominant with a fastball that averaged 97.5 mph and topped out at 99.1, with both his runs coming off solo home runs. He also had a 34-percent whiff rate, including 46 percent on his curveball and 50 percent on his slider. Although it was just one start, he owns a career 2.85 ERA and 0.98 WHIP to go along with 260 strikeouts over 186 innings pitched in 44 career starts throughout his minor league career. Perez is for real, and the Marlins are likely to give him a long leash, especially if he pitches as he did in his debut in his next start versus a weak Nationals offense. He could have the biggest impact of any rookie the rest of the way, and fantasy owners should be sprinting to the waiver wire for the talented righthander.
Brandon Pfaadt, SP, Diamondbacks
At the time of my last article, Pfaadt was on the cusp of being promoted by the Diamondbacks, but they teased fantasy owners and decided to go with Tommy Henry and Drey Jameson before handing the keys over to their top pitching prospect. Well, Pfaadt is finally up and has made three starts to date. He struggled mightily in his first two starts, allowing a combined 13 runs and six homers to go along with three walks and six strikeouts. The homers were his biggest blemish and the bulk of his disappointing numbers, but he stepped up on Sunday against the Giants with five innings of one-hit ball, but he allowed three walks with five strikeouts. The only hit was a solo home run by outfielder Michael Conforto. Despite shaky outings in his first two starts, Pfaadt has shown enough in his minor league career, especially in the strikeout department, for owners to hold Pfaadt for at least another month to see where things go. As long as he can limit the walks and homers, he can be an asset in most formats moving forward.
Bryce Miller, SP, Seattle Mariners
Unlike Pfaadt and Perez, Miller got off to a rocky start for Double-A Arkansas with a 6.41 ERA in his first four starts. Despite those rough numbers, Miller remains one of the top pitching prospects for the Mariners, and when Robbie Ray decided to undergo Tommy John surgery, Miller got the call, a move that has initially paid off. Over his first three starts, Miller has looked like an ace and allowed just one run, seven hits, and a walk while striking out 18 over 19 innings. All three of his starts have been quality, including an outing versus a tough Astros offense. Miller should already be rostered in most formats with three impressive outings and will be a Rookie of the Year candidate if he continues this run. As with all prospects, owners should expect ups and downs, but Miller has looked legit in his short career with a shiny 29.1-percent K rate to go along with a 1.56 FIP. He should be rostered in all formats where he's available.
Dominic Fletcher, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Switching gears from both the mound and well-known prospects, enter Fletcher. He got the call after an injury scare to Corbin Carroll and early-season struggles from Jake McCarthy. Since his promotion on April 30, all he has done is hit, hit, hit, no matter what. Since that time, not only has become an everyday player for the D-Backs, but he has also hit .429 with one triple, two home runs, and 13 RBIs in his first 13 games. All but two of those RBIs came in a weekend series against the Giants. Fletcher only has two walks on the season in a small sample size, but he has wheels on the basepaths, shown by his three doubles and one triple. Fletcher has owned a respectable .362 OBP throughout his minor league career, something he can sustain in the big leagues. He's still not going to be a huge difference-maker, but he should be able to put up double-digit homers with a decent average. He's the type of player that fantasy owners should ride while he is hot, but Arizona has some of the best outfield prospects in the game, so Fletcher's time in the sun could be short-lived.
Casey Schmitt, 3B, San Francisco Giants
Schmitt, like Fletcher, is another guy that hasn’t been a blue-chip prospect throughout his career, but he's made an impact out of the gate thus far. The 24-year-old former second-round pick received his first call to the show this past week with shortstop Brandon Crawford being sidelined by a calf injury. Although the Giants might have planned for it to be a short stay with Crawford activated on Sunday, Schmitt has swung a red-hot bat over his first six games with 11 hits in 24 at-bats, which includes two homers and five RBIs to go along with five runs scored. This comes after a breakout campaign in 2022 that saw him hit .293 with 21 home runs and 78 between High-A and Triple-A. In addition to playing his natural position of third base, he has also seen time at second base and shortstop. It remains to be seen which direction the Giants will be in the rest of the season as far as their roster construction goes, but they will ride Schmitt’s hot bat for now. Fantasy owners could do worse than giving the versatile infielder a shot.
Matt Mervis, 1B, Chicago Cubs
One of the more notable promotions this past month has been "Mash" Mervis, as he has been nicknamed by Cubs fans. After a stellar 2022 season for Triple-A Iowa, it was surprising to many that the Cubs chose to block Mervis out of the gate with the signings of veterans Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini. To no one's surprise, though, Mervis tore the cover off the ball in Iowa, and Hosmer and Mancini have struggled. After a tough stretch of losses earlier in the month, the Cubs decided to finally make the move and not only promote Mervis, but also name him the everyday first baseman moving forward. It is still up to Mervis to perform, and he has just seven hits over his first 32 at-bats with no home runs after hitting six for Iowa and 36 with 119 RBIs in '22. With his minor league success as a power hitter and his new opportunity in the majors, Mervis is worthy of a roster spot in deeper formats and should be rostered in dynasty leagues.
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Five prospects to watch in fantasy baseball redraft and dynasty leagues:
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B, Cincinnati Reds. Arguably the best power hitter in the minor leagues right now, Encarnacion-Strand should force Cincinnati's hand soon enough after an impressive spring and white-hot start in Triple-A with a .341 batting average, nine HRs, and 18 RBIs over his first 19 games.
Ronny Mauricio, SS, New York Mets. Blocked by Francisco Lindor at the big-league level, but the Mets have had Mauricio playing second base in anticipation of being called up. He's hitting .353 with seven homers, 24 RBIs, and eight stolen bases, and if given enough playing time, he will be worth an add.
Matthew Liberatore, SP, St. Louis Cardinals. Walks are an issue at 3.3 BB/9, but he's been impressive otherwise with a 3.13 ERA and 11 K/9 over his first eight starts. With the Cardinals having issues in their rotation, it makes sense to give the lefty another chance in the big leagues sooner than later despite a rough debut season in 2022.
Taj Bradley, SP, Tampa Bay Rays. We touched upon the talented righthander in April's prospects article, and after a demotion after three impressive big-league starts, Bradley has struggled in Triple-A. However, he has shown at the highest level that he can be a front-line starter, and the recent designation of Drew Rasmussen to the 60-day IL should open the door back up for the talented righty.
Gavin Williams, SP, Cleveland Guardians. One of the top arms in the minor leagues, Williams has pitched to a shiny 0.89 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A this season in six starts. With a higher ceiling than fellow pitching prospect Tanner Bibbee, Williams could force his way onto Cleveland's roster if he keeps up his impressive numbers.
