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.
I’m back on the Stash List this week after a week off, as I finished up another demanding week of school. I cannot thank Matt enough for taking over for me last week, as it took a ton of stress off my shoulders. Matt and I hold similar opinions on how the list should look, especially at the top of the board. However, there is some movement this week from 5-10 for a variety of reasons. Keep reading for ten prospects fantasy managers should consider stashing as we inch closer towards the summertime.
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
Stash list regular Coby Mayo was called up by Baltimore. More on him below.
The Mariners called up 25-year-old outfielder Rhylan Thomas to their major league roster. The amount of fantasy value he possesses is minimal, but his profile is pretty unique. He’s hitting .319 with a 5.8% walk rate and 3.8% strikeout rate. His contact rates are through the roof, but a 32% hard hit rate isn’t particularly exciting. There may be some OBP or steal value here, but unless he breaks out in a big way, he’s not worth a stash.
Top 10 Hitting Prospects to Stash
1. Roman Anthony, OF – Boston Red Sox
Boston. I am begging you. CALL HIM UP. The numbers that Anthony has put up so far in 2025 are nothing short of mind-boggling. Going into Wednesday, Anthony was on a six-game hit streak, with two multi-base hit games. Unfortunately, he’s gone 1-9 since then, dropping his average by 16 points. That said, Anthony’s showing superstar-level tools. His average exit velocity (97.0) would still be the #1 mark in MLB. Not convinced? Anthony’s 62.3% hard-hit rate ranks #3 in the league, between Shohei Ohtani (161 wRC+) and Rafael Devers (120 wRC+).
Will Anthony immediately put up that Ohtani/Devers-level production in his first taste of MLB action? Probably not, but he has the talent level to hit the ground running at the next level. The one minor gripe one could make about Anthony’s performance so far is the sub-70% contact rate and 3% boost in strikeouts. However, the immense offensive potential that he carries outweighs those concerns by a lot. Make no mistake, if you (somehow) can still get your hands on Anthony, do it now. Don’t think twice.
2. Jordan Lawlar, SS – Arizona Diamondbacks
In a similar vein to my thoughts on Anthony, the D-Backs need to get this man on the first flight to New York so he can join the team for their series against the Mets. If you took Lawlar’s current level of production and projected it for 150 games, he’d hit 32 home runs and steal 64 bases. That level of production doesn’t just get you onto an MLB roster. It puts you among the elite players of the sport. It is incredibly unlikely that Lawlar gets anywhere close to this level of production once he reaches the big leagues, but this performance should be good enough to get him back on Arizona’s roster.
Matt said it best last week when he called Lawlar a “worthy stash for anybody who needs help at shortstop.” His average exit velocity (88.9) and hard-hit rate (41.2%) are both significantly higher than his marks in previous AAA stints. The issue, as is the case with almost every prospect listed, is playing time in the majors. Geraldo Perdomo is playing like an All-Star (134 wRC+), and Eugenio Suárez is tied for the league lead in homers with ten. Should one of these two performances slip, then the D-Backs could be pressed to promote their top prospect.
3. Coby Mayo, 3B – Baltimore Orioles
I’ve been on the Stash List now for ~30 editions. If I had to guess, Mayo’s featured on at least 20 of them. After a slow start, the 23-year-old has found his groove at the plate. He’s registered three multi-hit games in his last five outings, including a 3-5 day on Wednesday with two homers. My main concern with Mayo during the first four weeks of the season was the drop-off in exit velocity. That issue has been rectified, as his 91.5 average is almost identical to his 2024 AAA mark. Additionally, Mayo’s contact rate (73.9%) and whiff rate (27.5%) have both marginally improved between this season and last.
Another factor working in Mayo’s favor is that he’s already been exposed to major-league-level pitching. While his .098 AVG and -6 wRC+ indicate it was not a fruitful spell, those 17 games exposed Mayo to the trials and tribulations of a big leaguer. When he returns to the roster, he will do so without having to experience everything for the first time, with the added bonus of a hot start in AAA to boost his confidence.
Author’s Note: Mayo was called up on Saturday after I’d submitted this weeks article.
4. Marcelo Mayer, SS – Boston Red Sox
Great news everybody! I jinxed Marcelo Mayer! The last time I wrote this column, Mayer was hitting .193 with two homers. Since then…well, you can see for yourself. In eight games, Mayer’s hitting .379 with four home runs and three doubles. After a slow start to the season, Mayer is showing why he’s one of baseball’s most hyped prospects yet to debut. With how competitive the AL East is as things stand, Boston’s going to need all of their best hitters in the lineup. Over the last week, Mayer is making his case to be considered as one of those.
The batted ball data is very encouraging so far. His average exit velocity (91.7) would rank second among MLB shortstops, and his hard-hit rate (51.9%) ranks third. His 86.7% zone-contact rate is also incredibly solid. The one area of concern I highlighted two weeks ago remains. Mayer is swinging and missing at 43.5% of the sweepers he faces, and his xBA sits at just .035 against the offering. Considering how many pitchers throw a sweeper, and how good most of them are at it, that’s a number that needs to improve. That said, if Mayer can keep riding this hot streak, Boston will have a hard time keeping him off the roster.
5. Dalton Rushing, C/OF – Los Angeles Dodgers
I feel like I’ve written this before, but I’ll write it again. If Dalton Rushing was on almost any other team in Major League Baseball, he’d be a big-league starter. The 24-year-old is one of my top “prospect crushes” that is yet to debut in the big leagues. After an 0-5 outing on April 23rd, he’s caught fire. Rushing’s gone 7-16 with a home run and two doubles in his last four games, and had a wOBA of .551 in that span. I know it’s a small sample size, but it gives managers a taste of what Rushing’s impact could be, especially in a lineup as talented at the Dodgers’
The question remains: How does he get into that lineup? The simple answer is that he doesn’t right now. Los Angeles won’t remove one of their veterans from the lineup unless there’s an injury. That means that Rushing’s value is out of his control. The factors that are in his control have been impressive. He possesses a 47.2% hard-hit rate and 141 wRC+. The strikeout rate is slightly higher, but the contact rates have been consistent, so I expect that to come down throughout the season. Rushing will have to wait to see how the MLB roster shakes out in the future, but if he gets to the show, he has the potential to be a very valuable asset.
6. Matt Shaw, 3B – Chicago Cubs
Craig Counsell could not have been clearer in his pregame presser on Wednesday, there just isn’t room for Moisés Ballesteros on the roster. Full disclosure, this spot was going to go to him until Thursday. On the other hand, third base is a major question mark at Wrigley Field. Jon Berti has been serviceable, and Nicky Lopez is “meh” at best as a backup. Despite a rough start to his major league career, Matt Shaw remains the Cubs’ best option at the hot corner. I know the results were bad, and he didn’t look like the player that we know from his minor league career, but he was only up for 18 games! Remember when everyone started panicking over Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 13-game sample size in 2023? Look at what he’s doing right now.
The only reason he’s not higher on this list is because he still has some things to figure out before coming back up. His average exit velocity in AAA so far (84.0) is still way down from his 2024 mark (89.3), and the hard hit rate differential (2024: 37.6%, 2025: 30%) doesn’t paint a pretty picture either. The good news is that the bat is starting to get hot. In his last three games, Shaw’s gone 8-13 with three extra base hits. His contact rate (83%) is up from his MLB mark (74.1%), which has contributed to a near 24% difference in strikeout rate between the two levels. Shaw’s not all the way back from his early struggles, but he could return to the majors soon with some more consistent output.
7. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF – Minnesota Twins
Matt made a compelling case for Rodriguez to be placed above Rushing last week, but I still have my question marks about how the former’s profile will play at the major league level. He’s hitting .197 in the month of April with a .329 OBP and 62 wRC+. A 16-game sample size is not enough evidence to completely judge a prospect’s future, but two extra base hits and a 35% strikeout rate in 61 at-bats is concerning.
The power is also yet to materialize. His hard-hit rate (41.0%) and barrels-per-batted-ball-event (10.1%) are way down from his 2024 marks, and the whiff rate has marginally increased. His average exit velocity (88.8 mph) is also down from his 2024 measure (90.1). I understand the upside that Rodriguez carries, and I do think that he will grow into a very valuable big league hitter. However, until the serious holes in his profile are fixed, I struggle to move him above any of the names that preceded him.
8. Alex Freeland, SS – Los Angeles Dodgers
Freeland is one of the most polarizing prospects in terms of on-field results I’ve come across in my time doing this list. His contact rate is way down (69.8%, was 80.2% in ’24), and it’s led to a massive uptick in his strikeout rate (28.7%). It’s impossible to ignore the strikeout issues, and his splits as a switch hitter aren’t encouraging (.171 vs. LHP, .375 vs. RHP). That said, his batting average is up by over 50 points from his mark last year, and his walk rate (11.0%) has remained consistent with his AAA numbers
Those numbers from last year include 18 home runs with 31 steals. That year, his exit velocity and hard-hit rate were 91.7 miles an hour and 45%, respectively. This year, both of those numbers are up by a significant amount. His 61.7% hard-hit rate leads all AAA hitters (min. 250 pitches), and his 94.7 mph exit velocity lands him 11th among that group. I know the Dodgers are loaded, but at some point, this level of production has to be rewarded, especially if he can make improvements in his approach at the plate.
9. Tyler Locklear, 1B – Seattle Mariners
This isn’t a flashy selection, but the 24-year-old first baseman could be the solution to the Mariners’ glaring hole at first base. Luke Raley is on the injured list with an oblique issue, and Rowdy Tellez is hitting .158, although he has paired that with seven homers. Locklear doesn’t possess a standout trait, but the former 2nd-round pick does everything pretty well. He holds a career .284 AVG in the minors with a .875 OPS. Additionally, he’s had at least a 10% walk rate at every level of the minors since 2022 in Single-A.
The reason Locklear launches himself onto the Stash List this week (apart from Seattle’s need for him on the roster) is the improvement in hard-hit rate this season. That number’s increased from 40% to 47% this year, and it’s led to a red-hot start. From April 24th to the 26th, he had three straight multi-hit games, including a 4-4 performance. Additionally, he’s shown an ability to hit for power and flashed some sneaky speed with two homers and five steals. Again, not a flashy selection, but with Seattle’s first base situation up in the air, he could provide some sneaky production.
10. Colby Thomas, OF – Oakland Athletics
I considered putting everyone that’s on the bubble into this spot, plus a couple more names, but ultimately opted to stick with Thomas. As opposed to some of the names on this list, Thomas is a high-floor, mid-to-low-ceiling prospect. Unless something drastic happens, he won’t put up massive counting stats or put himself among the elite of big league hitters. That said, his floor is pretty darn high. Thomas’ Z-Con% is up nine points (to 89.4%) this year, and it’s resulted in a boost in hard hit rate (40%).
He isn’t slugging as much as last year, and the strikeout numbers need to come down a bit. Otherwise, Thomas looks like a very solid MLB-ready bat. The biggest question with Thomas is how the A’s fit him into the lineup. Tyler Soderstrom made the move to left, and looks pretty good so far (look up his catch vs. TEX or his OF assist vs. CWS if you don’t believe me). That means JJ Bleday (86 wRC+) is the vulnerable one. Thomas hasn’t played center since 2023, but that may be his only path into the lineup.
On The Bubble
Here are the next five hitters considered for inclusion on this week’s list in no particular order.
Stash List
