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
Top 10 Hitting Prospects to Stash
1. Luis Lara, OF – Milwaukee Brewers
2026 MiLB numbers
While the Brewers’ top prospect, Jesús Made, has been the talk of the league this week with Konnor Griffin officially graduating from his prospect status, Triple-A Nashville outfielder Luis Lara has been swinging an extremely hot bat since the start of May that has mostly gone unnoticed.
Since May 1st, Luis Lara has put up a scorching, red-hot slash line of .395/.544/.535, along with a 22.28% walk rate, 12.3% strikeout rate, two home runs, nine RBI, and four stolen bases over his last 57 plate appearances.
The Brewers have had plenty of other talented names surrounding Lara at Triple-A Nashville to start the year, in Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt. Both had cold starts to the season, with Williams making the turnaround of late, while Pratt is still cold. The Brewers have a crowded 40-man roster as is, but if Lara keeps up his hot start to May for the next few weeks and some more, he could find himself in the majors sometime later this summer.
2. Braden Montgomery, OF – Chicago White Sox
2026 MiLB numbers
The prized prospect the Red Sox sent over to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet, Braden Montgomery, has been living up to the expectations placed on him this season after putting together a mixed bag of results in his first season of pro ball.
Montgomery put up a .313/.429/.606 slash line with one home run, nine RBI, and a stolen base, 16.7% walk rate, and 25.1% strikeout rate in 27 games at Double-A Birmingham.
The White Sox recently promoted him to Triple-A Charlotte, and he has a .310/.370/.452 slsah line through his first 10 games, but his walk rate has taken a drastic drop, going down to 6.5% in his first 10 games with the Knights. It’s still an early going for the 23-year-old at Triple-A, but once he regains his composure with his plate discipline, he’ll be doing more damage in the White Sox lineup and making it up to the White Sox lineup soon.
3. Pedro Ramirez, 3B/2B – Chicago Cubs
2026 MiLB numbers
With a Cubs infield that has had some ups and downs at the plate this season, Pedro Ramirez has been a bright spot at Triple-A Iowa’s lineup all year. Ramirez has been especially hot in May as he’s put up a .321/.403/.434 slash line with a home run, nine RBI, and six stolen bases.
Ramirez may seem more like a contact-type hitter with his 5’9″, 165 lbs frame, but he’s put up plenty of power at the plate with nine home runs on the year, along with 40 runs batted in. Mix in his 17 stolen bases, and he makes for an excellent under-the-radar stasher to have on any fantasy roster.
While many power hitters have a wide gap in their strikeout and walk rates, that hasn’t been the case for Ramirez. He still strikes out a bit more frequently than he walks, but any sort of power hitter that can keep their strikeout rate below 20 percent is one to keep an eye on.
4. Edwin Arroyo, SS – Cincinnati Reds
2026 MiLB numbers
A recent arrival to MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospect list with the graduation of division rival Konnor Griffin, Edwin Arroyo has continued to swing a hot bat since arriving on the stash list last week.
In his last eight games, Arroyo is hitting a white-hot .548/.576/1.161 slash line with five home runs 11 RBI, 12 runs scored, two stolen bases, and just two strikeouts.
Sal Stewart has recently bought himself some time turning things around at the plate, but if Arroyo keeps this hit streak up, he could be earning himself some playing time over Matt McLain and bolster a Reds team that has gone 4-6 in their last 10 games.
5. Charlie Condon, 1B/OF – Colorado Rockies
2026 MiLB numbers
Charlie Condon’s numbers may be dropping on the year, but his stock as the best first base prospect to stash has not. Over his last 10 games, Condon has hit .200/.319/.300 with no home runs or RBI, six walks, and 16 strikeouts.
Every hitter has their cooling-off period on the season, and as of right now, this looks to be Condon’s. This doesn’t mean it’ll remain that way forever. Condon is at least riding a mini-four-game hit streak going into Sunday afternoon’s game against Sugarland, and it seems to be the start of a better turnaround from the previous 10 games.
6. Leo De Vries, SS – Oakland Athletics
2026 MiLB numbers
Slowly but surely, the strikeout rate for Leo De Vries is dropping, but so too is his average. Over his last 10 games, De Vries is hitting .233/.250/.326 with one home run, three RBI, four stolen bases, and five runs scored. These are the sorts of numbers most expect a 19-year-old to have at Double-A, when the average pitcher age is 24.
That’s all this cold stretch could be for De Vries, though, a simple cold stretch. He’s still one of baseball’s best prospects, and even they find themselves in slumps as the year goes on. De Vries is still a player for fantasy managers who want to go big and bold this season, and keeping him stashed now will pay off in the end.
7. Max Clark, OF – Detroit Tigers
2026 MiLB numbers
At the start of the season, Max Clark was drawing more walks than strikeouts at nearly a 2:1 rate. Now, that’s no longer the case as the gap has widened between his walk and strikeout rates.
The Tigers’ top prospect has only walked three times and struck out 10 in his 12 games across May, a drastic drop off from his 15 walks and 17 strikeouts over the first month of the season. The drop in walks has also led to a drop in contact, as Clark is chasing more outside the zone and not providing enough pop for himself to help his case to earn his MLB debut soon.
8. Kaelen Culpepper, SS – Minnesota Twins
2026 MiLB numbers
| AVG | HR | SB | BB% | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.253 | 9 | 9 | 11.7 | 19.7 |
Kaelen Culpepper had a bit of an injury scare last Saturday against the Iowa Cubs after he was hit by a pitch on the shoulder and had to exit the game early. Fortunately, he would only miss one game and has had a hot week in Las Vegas, crushing two home runs, two doubles, and six RBI over his last five games.
With both Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez down with injuries, Culpepper is the Twins’ best prospect who is now close to major league-ready. Rodriguez’s stint on the IL is likely the minimum, though, as he sprained his thumb on a bad headfirst slide into first base a week ago. Still, both Culpepper and Rodriguez are making their case to join the major league roster sooner rather than later, as it’s getting late early for Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner, who have both struggled all season for Minnesota.
Wallner was optioned following Wednesday night’s 9-5 loss for the Twins, and Ryan Kreidler was called up in his place. If Rodriguez were healthy, then he would have earned the call-up himself, but with no extra infielders on the Twins’ 40-man roster as of now. Culpepper could very well be the guy to get the call-up if the Twins decide to option Lewis down this next week.
9. Colt Emerson, SS – Seattle Mariners
2026 MiLB numbers
Colt Emerson has been in a bad slump of late. He has a .200/.326/.543 slash line over his last nine games with a 16.3% walk rate and 32.6% strikeout rate over 43 plate appearances.
Even as the slump continues, the good news is he’s starting to turn a corner. The at-bats are being drawn out longer, getting deeper into counts. The power is beginning to show with three of his four home runs on the season occurring over the last nine games.
Emerson will still need to produce a higher average and cut back on his strikeout rate, but he’s putting himself in a better position to work his way into the Mariners’ plans before the calendar officially turns to summer.
10. Jesús Made, SS – Milwaukee Brewers
2026 MiLB numbers
MLB.com’s newest top prospect, Jesús Made, had himself a game on Saturday night, going 3-for-5, crushing two solo home runs in Biloxi’s 10-6 loss to Montgomery. It was still an encouraging game from Made, who had been in the midst of a two-week slump where he only hit .178/.229/.267 with one home run, five RBI, and three stolen bases.
Made’s two-home run game is putting him on the right track, but the 19-year-old still has plenty left to prove in the coming weeks if he wants to earn himself a promotion even to Triple-A. He’ll have to show that the two-home run game is not just a fluke and that he can be consistent enough at the plate to turn this slump around.
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
Jett Williams, 3B/SS – MIL
Tommy Troy, SS – ARI
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF – MIN
