The Hitter Edition of the Stash List is back for the 2025 season.
This Stash List highlights the 10 best-hitting prospects likely to make an impact during the 2025 season.
Prospects are often thought of as only holding value in dynasty formats. However, knowing which prospects hold value for the current season can help set you apart in redraft leagues. Several have a 2025 ETA, and getting ahead of the curve on rostering these prospects is a key part of roster management. Read to discover the top 10 hitters you should stash in your redraft leagues.
Ground Rules
- The Stash List is for your redraft leagues and does not consider impact beyond 2025.
- Only current minor league players who are expected to make an impact this season are included.
- Upside, proximity, health, and opportunity are all weighed for each player.
- The focus is on 12-team leagues with standard categories.
- Rankings will be updated weekly.
- Stats will be updated weekly for all players through Thursday’s games.
The Stash List
Graduates/Call Ups
Last week’s #5 prospect to stash, Zac Veen, got the call to join the Rockies for their home series against the Brewers. He hasn’t got off to a flying start, going 1-8 with a single in his first two games. Veen possesses 15 HR, 25+ SB upside, but in order to get close to those numbers he needs to be in the Rockies lineup every day.
Chase Meidroth was promoted to join the Chicago White Sox on Thursday after just missing out on the top ten last week. The 23-year-old infielder has one of the most unique offensive profiles in the sport. He possesses a ludicrous ability to put the bat on the ball (97.4% Z-Con) while also demonstrating elite plate discipline (20% walk rate). This year, he’s also demonstrated more power. So far, he’s registered three homers after just seven in 122 games last year. Meidroth should give fantasy managers good OBP production, but he may struggle to register a ton of the counting stats.
While their fantasy upside is highly questionable at best, both Angel Martínez (CLE) and Dustin Harris (TEX) were recalled this week. Martinez hit the ground running with a 3-3 season debut, and Harris has 24 homers and 76 steals over the last two seasons.
Top 10 Hitting Prospects to Stash
1. Nick Kurtz, 1B – Athletics
For the first time this season, we have a new #1 prospect to roster. Nick Kurtz is on a generational run to kick off 2025, and its likely going to result in a Major League debut this month. At the time of writing, Kurtz has home runs in three straight games, and is leading minor league hitters (min. 40 PA’s) with a 231 wRC+. His 97.9 average exit velocity would rank 2nd among MLB hitters (behind Pete Alonso’s 98.1) and his hard hit rate (66.7%) would be the third best in the league. Kurtz is generating elite levels of production, despite a 10% decrease in his contact rate between this season (72.7%) and last (82.5%). Some of that is likely due to the fact he’s facing AAA pitching for the first time, and it hasn’t resulted in an alarmingly high K rate, but it’s something that could limit his ceiling in the Majors.
Despite their 5-8 start, the Athletics have the potential to be a fun team to follow this season. Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker are legitimate All-Stars at the top of the lineup. Jacob Wilson, JJ Bleday, Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom round out an intriguing hitting core. Add Kurtz to the mix, and you have seven impact players in the lineup. There’s no doubt that the A’s should promote their top prospect ASAP, but getting him into the lineup could force some questions on defense. The most reasonable solution requires moving Brent Rooker into the outfield, opening up the DH spot for a Kurtz/Soderstrom tandem between there and first base.
2. Roman Anthony, OF – Boston Red Sox
Anthony moves down one spot this week purely because of how good Kurtz has been during the start of this season. Make no mistake, the Red Sox have a potential lineup-changer on their hands, and its only a matter of time until he can showcase his sky-high potential at Fenway Park. However, a slow start to the season has delayed that reality for now. Anthony was ice cold with the bat this week, going just 1-12 in his last three games, striking out five times. Compared to his 2024 performance, he looks like a completely different player. His contact rate is down 20%, and it’s led to a 9% jump in both his strikeout rate and his CSW%.
The good news? His average exit velocity (98.7) is up nearly ten miles an hour, and would be the #1 mark in the Majors. He rebounded from the slump in style on Friday, going 3-4 with two doubles and two RBI’s. When Anthony makes contact, theres a pretty good chance it’s going to cause some damage (56% hard hit). His BABIP (.200) is also significantly lower than his 2024 mark (.364), which indicates that he’s been the victim of some bad luck in the early part of the season. The Red Sox aren’t pressed for time in getting him to the show, so he’ll have plenty of opportunities to return to top form before arriving at Fenway. When he does get the call, Anthony will likely hold down a corner outfield spot, and force Boston into benching Cedanne Rafaela (59 wRC+).
3. Marcelo Mayer, SS – Boston Red Sox
Mayer holds on to his top three ranking for now, barely. After a really strong spring (.333 AVG, 161 wRC+), the level of performance has fallen off over the first two weeks of the season. Outside of the two home runs over ten days ago, Mayer has not registered an extra base hit this season, and has struck out more than once in 44% of the games he’s played this season. Over the last week, he’s 4-17 with 5 strikeouts and just one walk. He retains this spot because any step up in performance could put him on the cusp of a debut, but if this continues he’s destined to drop down the list.
The main issue for Mayer to figure out is how to hit the slider. He’s hitting .000 against 46 sliders/sweepers this season, and has a whiff rate around 50%. That’s going to be a real problem for him if he continues to struggle against the breaking stuff, as teams are going to flood him with sliders and sweepers. On the flip side, he’s been crushing sinkers. Mayer’s hitting .833 against that offering, with an exit velocity at almost 96 miles an hour. The strikeout rate near 30% is a red flag to keep an eye on, but that should normalize in the next few weeks. His contact rate is up 2% from last year, and an 83.7% Z-Con rate isn’t bad. There are some major developments Mayer needs to make before he’s ready for the Show, but I still expect him to be on the MLB roster before the summer.
4. Alex Freeland, SS – Los Angeles Dodgers
If Alex Freeland was in any other organization in baseball, he’d probably be playing in the Majors right now. That said, you’d have to be pretty darn good to force your way into a lineup that includes three MVP’s. Freeland is quite literally doing everything possible to force his way onto the big league roster. Since April 4th, he’s hitting .545 with six extra base hits, 12 RBI’s and three steals. In the five games during that span, he’s registered multiple hits in ALL of them. Among all minor league shortstops (min. 40 PA’s), his 156 wRC+ ranks second, behind the White Sox’s Chase Meidroth.
If Freeland continues to play like this, the Dodgers will HAVE to find a way to get him into the lineup. You just cannot leave that level of production in the minors. The problem then becomes who to take out of the lineup in his place. Freeland has been playing third base this season, a position he hasn’t played since High-A, so that could be a sign of the Dodgers intentions. Should that be the case, then the player in the hot seat is Max Muncy. The 34-year-old is coming off of back-to-back 2+ WAR seasons, but is really struggling to start 2025 (.174 AVG, 40 wRC+). Los Angeles could be forced to generate production elsewhere if Muncy can’t figure it out, and Freeland is the top candidate to fill that role.
5. Dalton Rushing, C/OF – Los Angeles Dodgers
Outside of Nick Kurtz, the vast majority of prospects on the verge of a MLB call up have not been playing well. At the time of writing, Rushing is in a 1-12 slump, and stuck out four times in one game on April 8th. The Dodgers’ top hitting prospect has struck out in 15 of the 36 at bats he’s had this year. The strikeout rate is concerningly high compared to his 2024 numbers (20.5%), and his whiff rate (31.9) is much higher than last year (23.7%). That said, his exit velocity (91.4) is fractionally higher than last year, and outside a 3% Z-Con drop, the remaining stats seem consistent with his 2024 marks.
With that in mind, I’d expect a reversion to the norm for Rushing soon. He’s a legitimate 25-homer threat with good bat-to-ball ability and plate discipline. The Dodgers have no shortage of offensive weapons, especially with Teoscar Hernández and Michael Conforto performing well in the early part of the season. They don’t need to fast-track Rushing into the lineup, but with how competitive the NL West is shaping up to be, they can never have too many bats on the roster.
6. Coby Mayo, 3B – Baltimore Orioles
I really want to maintain belief that Mayo can breakout and be a star for Baltimore this season, but he’s making it hard. It has been a bad start to the year for the 23-year-old. He went hitless in six of his first seven games, but has been better since. As of now, Mayo is on a four-game hit streak, registering six RBI’s and two extra base hits. However, he also struck out six times and walked just once in that time. The batted ball data so far does not paint a pretty picture. Mayo’s exit velocity (87.9) remains significantly lower than his 2024 mark (90.7), which has led to a 100-point drop in his BABIP. Additionally, he’s pulling the ball 20% less of the time, and instead has seen over 45% of his balls in play go to the opposite field.
The good news for Mayo believers is that his contact numbers are consistent with his 2024 performance. There hasn’t been a drop off in his Z-Con%, and his whiff rate hasn’t jumped by a ton (29.9% in ’25, 28.7% in ’24). It’s only April, and while it’s been a slow start for Mayo, it is far too early to panic. The Orioles are going to need all of their best hitters on the roster if they’re going to have a shot at the division, and Mayo still projects to be one of them.
7. Jace Jung, 3B – Detroit Tigers
A 2024 stash list regular returns to the top ten after missing out in the first two weeks. He spent most of the season among the top five prospects to stash last season, but had to wait until mid-August before making his MLB debut with the Tigers. He wasn’t bad after being promoted, but a 102 wRC+ with a 30% strikeout rate was a far cry from the production he generated in AAA (15 HR, 122 wRC+). So far in 2025, he’s playing the best baseball of his career. Jung had three consecutive multi-hit games last week to go with six walks in his first four games. His exit velocity is up four miles an hour between this year (91.7) and last (87.5), and his hard hit rate has gone up 20%.
The one minor blemish on his otherwise terrific start is a 4% drop in his zone contact rate. His mark of 77% leaves plenty of room for improvement, but it hasn’t had a huge impact yet, as his strikeout rate is still 4% lower than it was in the Majors last season. Jung is already on the 40-man, so the Tigers won’t need to make a major roster move to get him up, but right now there’s nowhere for him to play. Javier Báez is enjoying a mini-resurgence (117 wRC+), and Detroit likely isn’t giving up on Colt Keith at second yet. Should either of those situations change, Jung will be the first one called to step in. He doesn’t have the upside that Anthony or Kurtz have, but he should develop into a solid, everyday player.
8. Carson Williams, SS – Tampa Bay Rays
For most of the week, I was convinced I was going to take Williams out of the top ten because of how rough his start to the year has been. I couldn’t bring myself to do it purely because of the upside that he possesses, and the potential situation he could find himself in with the Rays. As of Thursday, Williams is 1-15 over the past eight days, and has struck out 10 times in his last six games. Simply put, that’s not good, and has likely dented the shortstop’s chances of a Major League debut in the near future.
The good news is that the “under-the-hood” numbers still look pretty good so far. Williams’ max exit velocity (110.9) puts him just outside the top 50 marks in the Majors, alongside Jackson Merrill and Triston Casas. Additionally, his on-base percentage (.385) is thirty points higher than last year, and it’s allowed him to register three steals, despite the low average. He hasn’t hit one out yet, but Williams still has 25-30 homer potential to go with a hefty amount of steals. I’m not giving up on Williams yet, but if this slump turns into a prolonged period of lackluster production, I may be forced to remove him from future lists.
9. Travis Bazzana, 2B – Cleveland Guardians
I’ll hold my hand up, I probably made a mistake in leaving Bazzana off last week’s list. The thinking behind that was there were other names whose proximity to the Majors outweighs the upside that a late-season Bazzana promotion would provide. Then he started the year hitting .364 with a homer and two steals. Shows what I know. That stellar start to the year in AA lands him back on the list this week, and he could start threatening the top five if he keeps it up. The Guardians have been good but not great to start 2025, and they could use some more production from their infielders. Bazzana could provide exactly that should he continue to perform at the level he is.
For a player with just 32 games of professional experience under his belt, Bazzana looks remarkably poised at the plate. His first homer of the year came in just his second game, followed by his first career triple on Thursday, taking a low fastball the other way with a nice piece of hitting. It’s unlikely that he’ll replicate his 28 homer, 36 steal college career highs, but he should land comfortably in the teens in both categories. Bazzana’s debut isn’t imminent, and likely won’t come until July or August, but he’s a player to keep an eye on for the latter portion of the season.
10. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF – Minnesota Twins
There were about 15 names I considered for this final spot, but Rodriguez holds onto a top ten start despite a 1-22 slump to start the season. He broke that slump with a 2-4 performance on Thursday, but that’s not enough to prevent him from dropping three spots. Its the same old story with Rodriguez this season. He’s walking at a high rate, but he’s also striking out well over 30% of the time. As I’ve said time and time again, it’s a small sample size, as he’s only played seven games, but his best K% in his minor league career is 26.1% (2022 at Single A). Rodriguez has the power and speed to be a 25-25 threat, if he can get on base more than 40% of the time.
History suggests he has the ability to. Rodriguez has never posted an OBP below .400 since his age-18 season in the Complex League (.346). Additionally, his contact rate (71.4%) is up three points from his AAA mark last year. The one area of concern is his batted ball data. His hard hit rate (26.7) is down almost 20%, and his exit velocity (85.7) is down five miles an hour. If these numbers rebound, then Rodriguez could be a star for the Twins this year. If they remain at the level they currently are, then Rodriguez will probably fall out of the top ten in the coming weeks.
On The Bubble
Here are the next five hitters considered for inclusion on this week’s list in no particular order.
Stash List
The big news on Kurtz over the weekend is that Rooker started in the outfield for this first time this season. They need to hide one of Rooker or Soderstrom out there.
Either one is a downgrade defensively, but you have to find a way to get all three of those bats into the lineup every day even if the defense takes a hit.
No Walker Jenkins? Really?
This list is for 2025 only. Jenkins likely will not debut this year. Even if he does, it won’t be until several months from now.