The Hitter Edition of the Stash List is back for the 2026 season.
This Stash List highlights the 10 best-hitting prospects likely to make an impact during the 2026 season.
Prospects are often thought of as only holding value in dynasty formats. However, redraft leagues, especially those that are keeper leagues, can benefit from finding the right hitter to stash at the right time on the waiver wire. Several have a 2026 ETA, and getting ahead of the curve on rostering these prospects is a key part of roster management. So let’s break down the Top 10 prospects to start off the 2026 season.
Ground Rules
- The Stash List is for your redraft leagues and does not consider impact beyond 2026.
- 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 Saturday’s games.
The Stash List
Graduates/Call Ups
There weren’t any graduates or call-ups from this past week of the minor league season, but with another full week of minor league games underway, there are names from the first two weeks that have dropped off, and new names have emerged onto the list as they’ve been red hot to begin the 2026 season in Triple-A. Four names from the first two weeks of the season have dropped off: Walker Jenkins, Travis Bazzana, Leo De Vries, and Jett Williams, due to cold starts. Four new names have emerged to replace them. Let’s dive into those hot prospects who could make serious cases to make their MLB debuts or return to the majors in the weeks to come.
Top 10 Hitting Prospects to Stash
1. Max Clark, OF – Detroit Tigers
2026 MiLB numbers
There’s no denying Max Clark is swinging a hot bat for the Toledo Mud Hens right now. He owns a .413/.491/.630 slash line, with nine extra base hits, seven RBI, nine walks, and four strikeouts over 57 plate appearances.
Clark is still in search of his first home run of the season, which will come as the weather warms up off of Lake Erie, but the hot start is exactly what the Tigers were hoping to see from him in his first weeks at Triple-A. The good news is Clark’s ETA to the majors has moved up; the bad news that comes with it is due to a player injury, specifically Parker Meadows, who suffered a concussion and a left radius fracture after colliding with Riley Greene in the outfield in the late innings of the Tigers’ 3-1 loss against the Twins on Thursday.
For now, the Tigers have called up Wenceel Pérez over Clark to fill the open roster spot from Meadows going to the IL. The Mud Hens are only 13 games into the new season, which is still too small a sample size for Clark to rush him up to the majors, even with a long-term injury to their primary centerfielder. However, if Perez struggles over the next two to three weeks, and Clark maintains his current hot streak, while adding in some power. Then, Tigers fans and fantasy owners who are glancing at Clark’s ceiling should definitely stash him now and hold out hope to see him by May 1.
2. James Tibbs III, OF/1B – Los Angeles Dodgers
2026 MiLB numbers
Only one player has had a hotter start to the season in the Pacific Coast League than James Tibbs III, but Patrick Wisdom’s days as a prospect are long behind him, which is why Tibbs is the name to follow the closest in the PCL for the next two weeks.
Tibbs is second to Wisdom in home runs in the PCL. Wisdom leads the league with nine to Tibbs’s seven, but his .377/.450/.887 slash line and .565 wOBA is nothing to bat at. Tibbs has been producing a lot of power to begin the year, and there are still some holes in his swing, with 17 strikeouts in 60 plate appearances. Tibbs is not a top 100 prospect, but he’s been producing like one for the Oklahoma City Comets to begin the year, and putting himself on the Dodgers radar for a call-up in the first half.
Tibbs doesn’t have a spot on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster yet, as teammate Ryan Ward sits ahead of him on the depth chart following his stellar 2025 season, where he led the PCL with 36 home runs and 122 RBI. If Tibbs puts up similar numbers to Ward as the season progresses, then he won’t be spending the whole season down in Triple-A Oklahoma. And with the Dodgers having many injuries on the roster each season, Tibbs could find his way into their plans later this summer. But he has to prove that his hot start to the season isn’t just that first, then an opportunity may come his way.
3. Blaze Jordan, 1B/3B – St. Louis Cardinals
2026 MiLB numbers
Blaze Jordan’s prospect stock dropped significantly following his being traded from the Red Sox to St. Louis for LHP Steven Matz last season. However, the .198/.242/.366 slash line in 186 plate appearances with the Memphis Redbirds to end 2025 is proving to be just the result of adjusting to a new organization following a trade, which is both to Jordan’s and the Cardinals’ benefit.
Jordan is off to a blazing hot start with a .400/.442/.775 slash line, four home runs, nine RBI, and a .535 wOBA over his first 43 plate appearances on the season. The strikeout-to-walk numbers still have a wider gap than he and the Cardinals would like to see from him, with seven strikeouts and two walks, but given the small sample size this early in the year, it’s not a matter to panic over yet in his first 10 games.
The Cardinals’ corner infield depth is one of the more glaring weaknesses on their roster right now. So if Jordan can prove over the next month and a half that this is the hitter he is for the long term, then he could earn a spot on the 40-man roster and bolster their positional depth at both third and first base. With that, fantasy owners should keep their tabs on him through the next month to see if this hot streak from Jordan maintains itself.
4. Kaelen Culpepper, SS – Minnesota Twins
2026 MiLB numbers
The St. Paul Saints have had a tough week, as they nearly avoided a no-hitter in the ninth inning of their game against the Toledo Mud Hens on Tuesday. While the team has been on a 2-8 slump since their series sweep of Indianapolis to start the year, Kaelen Culpepper has remained a consistent bat in their lineup over that time.
Culpepper had a two-home-run day last Sunday in each game of a doubleheader against the Worcester Woo Sox, and has continued to swing the bat well and have patient at-bats against the opposition. The Twins’ infield depth has already dealt with injuries early this year, as third baseman Royce Lewis went down with a left knee sprain in Thursday’s game against the Tigers. Instead of calling up their top infield prospect, the Twins opted to call up veteran Ryan Kreidler instead.
That isn’t a disservice to Culpepper’s talent or a disbelief in it, but the 23-year-old shortstop has only played 12 career games at Triple-A, and there’s no need for the Twins to rush him up to the majors before he’s had enough at-bats with the Saints to prove he’s ready. And if Culpepper can have a longer runway to work on those things in Triple-A, he believes it will be a great boost to his confidence and overall game before he’s called up to the Majors.
“I’m just trying to be clean on defense, trying to be aggressive on the base paths, still swing at good pitches, have better at-bats, just all those things,” he said last Sunday. [It’s] Gonna help me be in the right direction, so I just need to keep doing those things.”
5. Charlie Condon, 1B – Colorado Rockies
2025 MiLB numbers
Charlie Condon has cooled off a bit over the last week, but his walk rate has continued to increase, even slightly from 13.6% to 14.3%, while the strikeout numbers have decreased significantly, from 31.8% to 23.8%. While the hits are not coming together more frequently, it’s important to see Condon have better strike zone judgment, drawing more walks, and striking out fewer times, which he has done over the last week, getting three walks and three strikeouts each.
Condon may not be up in the majors quite soon, as rookie TJ Rumfield has had a hot start to his 2026 season, putting up a .319/.377/.511 slash line over his first 14 games on the year. However, it’s a long season, and things can change quickly. Since the Rockies are in full rebuild mode, they shouldn’t hold out too long if Condon continues to put up better numbers at the plate, as he looks to be their next franchise cornerstone at first base.
6. Bryce Eldridge, 1B – San Fransico Giants
2026 MiLB numbers
Several hitters on this list have cooled off in the last week, but Bryce Eldridge is finally hitting his stride for Triple-A Sacramento as his batting average has gone up over .100 points and has finally crossed off his first home run of the season. The strikeout rate slightly increased, with a decrease in his walk rate, but Eldridge is finally hitting his stride at the right time, as Luis Arraez exited Saturday night’s game with a right-forearm contusion and could land on the IL early next week.
While Arraez has been playing second base for the Giants so far this year, an infielder down could move Casey Schmidt off first base full-time, and cause the Giants to call up Eldridge for more infield depth. The power is just showing itself now, and so the Giants should take the time to call him up and see if he can put together better at-bats than his first 10 games in the Majors last season.
7. Colt Emerson, SS – Seattle Mariners
2026 MiLB numbers
Colt Emerson is still swinging a good bat at the plate, but his lack of patience has proven costly in his at-bats, as he still only has one walk on the year compared to his 14 strikeouts over 46 plate appearances. The high strikeout rate, just over 30%, has caused Emerson to move down the list, despite the Mariners showing a vote of confidence in him by extending him to an 8-year, $95 million deal last week.
The Mariners infield depth is still healthy, and with Emerson having bad strikezone judgement right now, he’s going to need to string together better at-bats and draw many more walks before he earns himself a chance to get back into the Mariners Major League depth chart later this season.
8. Spencer Jones, OF – New York Yankees
2026 MiLB numbers
The Yankees’ top outfield prospect, Spencer Jones, has been an RBI machine to start the season, driving in 16 runs over his first 52 plate appearances on the year. Jones had earned himself onto the Yankees’ 40-man roster this offseason, as one of their Minor League talents they wanted protected from the Rule 5 Draft. Jones had a stellar 2025 season between Double-A and Triple-A, putting up a .274/.362/.571 slash line with 35 home runs and 80 RBI in 116 games.
His hot start is an encouraging sign, but with the Yankees outfield depth filled with left-handed bats, primarily in Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, it may be a while before he gets an opportunity to crack the Yankees roster. That being said, if veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk, whom the Yankees brought in as a right-handed hitting outfielder, doesn’t perform up to par, and Jones continues to swing the same hot bat he had in 2025. Then he can earn his shot to make his MLB debut sometime this summer.
9. William Bergolla, 2B/SS – Chicago White Sox
2026 MiLB numbers
One of the hottest starts to the Triple-A season that has gone under the radar, the White Sox’s 21-year-old infield prospect William Bergolla has been on fire in his first 10 games with Triple-A Charlotte. Bergolla has a .457/.525/.571 slash line over his first 43 plate appearances, and has shown great plate discipline with a 11.6% walk rate and 9.3% strikeout rate.
Bergolla hasn’t come entirely out of nowhere, but his name has been buried in the White Sox farm system with top prospects such as Colson Montgomery, Caleb Bonemer, and Jacob Gonzalez having more notoriety to them last season. Bergolla was signed out of Venezuela at 17 by the Phillies, and traded over to the White Sox for Tanner Scott at the 2024 trade deadline.
He had his best season in the minors yet at Double-A for all of last year, putting up a .286/.342/.333 slash line, with no home runs, 36 RBI, 40 stolen bases, a 6.7% walk rate, and 4.7% strikeout rate over 125 games. Bergolla is by no means a power hitter, but his speed on the base paths and strong strike zone discipline make him a middle-infield candidate to keep an eye on this season. He may have the latest ETA to the Majors of anyone on this list, but his 10-game start to his Triple-A career makes him a good player for fantasy owners to follow throughout the season.
10. Ryan Waldschmidt, OF – Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 MiLB numbers
The Diamondbacks roster continues to be hit with injuries, but they’re still taking their time to develop Ryan Waldschmidt at Triple-A instead of rushing him up to the Majors. Waldschmidt continues to swing a hot bat in the PCL, putting up a .321/.433/.589 slash line with two home runs, and 12 RBI over 63 plate appearances. He’s still striking out often, with 18 on the year, but is beginning to draw a bit more walks each game, totaling 10 on the year.
While Jordan Lawlar is the first of the Diamondbacks’ injuries to land on the 60-day IL, if any other player lands on the IL for a 60-day stint, then the Diamondbacks may finally pull the trigger to call up Waldschmidt and add him to their 40-man roster to bolster their depth after a start of the season full of more injuries than they’d like to have.
On The Bubble
Here are the next five hitters considered for inclusion on this week’s list in no particular order.
Cooper Pratt, SS – MIL
Jasson Domínguez, OF – NYY
Jimmy Crooks, C – STL
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF – MIN
Jesús Made, SS – MIL
Stash List
