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We have crossed over the halfway point of the MLB season, one week away from the All-Star Break, and we are back with another installment of our fantasy baseball prospects rankings series, reviewing MLB prospects to make fantasy impacts in 2022.
In the past week, Jonathan Aranda and Matt Brash were called up and will not be on the rankings this week. Also, Roansy Contreras was sent down to manage his workload, but because he has crossed over the 50 innings pitched threshold, he is not considered a prospect anymore and will not be on the list either. He will come back up with the big league club down the stretch, so I would not drop him unless you absolutely have to.
For those who are not familiar, below you will find our updated list of the top-25 fantasy baseball prospects rankings to make an impact for the 2022 fantasy baseball season, which RotoBaller will be updating weekly. You’ll find quite a few well-known prospects on the list — as well as some lesser-known players that could nonetheless provide key contributions to your fantasy league teams this season. As always, this weekly list is updated to reflect rest-of-season fantasy baseball values, and near-term impacts that these MLB prospects can make. Players who are playing in the minors but graduated from prospect status will also not be in the rankings.
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Top MLB Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball
The list below is for 2022 fantasy baseball redraft leagues. These are MLB prospects, rookies, and call-ups to potentially make a rest-of-season fantasy baseball impact in 2022. As prospects are called up, they are removed from the rankings. You can also see our top-250 fantasy baseball dynasty prospects for longer-term outlooks.
| Ranking | Player | Pos | Team | Age | ETA |
| 1 | Miguel Vargas | 3B | LAD | 22 | July |
| 2 | Alec Burleson | OF | STL | 23 | July |
| 3 | Esteury Ruiz | OF | SD | 23 | July |
| 4 | Max Meyer | SP | MIA | 23 | July |
| 5 | DL Hall | SP | BAL | 23 | July |
| 6 | Kyle Stowers | OF | BAL | 24 | July |
| 7 | Spencer Steer | 2B/3B | MIN | 24 | July |
| 8 | Kyle Muller | SP | ATL | 24 | July |
| 9 | Ryan Noda | 1B/OF | LAD | 26 | July |
| 10 | Gabriel Arias | SS | CLE | 21 | July |
| 11 | Gunnar Henderson | 3B/SS | BAL | 20 | July |
| 12 | Ryan Pepiot | SP | LAD | 24 | July |
| 13 | Ethan Small | SP | MIL | 25 | July |
| 14 | Peyton Burdick | OF | MIA | 25 | July |
| 15 | Hunter Brown | SP | HOU | 23 | July |
| 16 | Nick Pratto | 1B/OF | KC | 23 | August |
| 17 | Francisco Alvarez | C | NYM | 20 | August |
| 18 | Ken Waldichuk | SP | NYY | 24 | August |
| 19 | Corbin Carroll | OF | ARI | 21 | September |
| 20 | Ezequiel Duran | 3B | TEX | 23 | September |
| 21 | Mason Martin | 1B | PIT | 22 | September |
| 22 | Michael Busch | 2B | LAD | 24 | September |
| 23 | Cal Mitchell | OF | PIT | 23 | September |
| 24 | Triston Casas | 1B | BOS | 22 | September |
| 25 | Oswald Peraza | SS | NYY | 22 | September |
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #1-5
This order is very similar to last week. The biggest change is Gabriel Arias has moved down to No. 7 and DL Hall has moved up to No. 5. This top-five is the group of players most likely to make an impact down the stretch fantasy-wise if they do get the opportunity to be called up. It's a shame that someone like Alec Burleson has a .380 OBP, 16 home runs, and 62 RBI in 72 games played and can't get a shot because the outfield in Saint Louis is crowded.
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #6-10
These are all guys that are performing well but it is unclear when they will come up.
Kyle Stowers has a .350 OBP and .270 ISO in Triple-A, including 15 home runs in 67 games played. Anthony Santander-Cedric Mullins-Austin Hays are a pretty good trio of outfielders. If this Hays injury ends up being more serious than day-to-day, I could see Stowers get another chance.
Kyle Muller is an injury or trade away from being impactful. He should not be in Triple-A. He has a 3.39 xFIP, 2.95 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate, and a 7.4% walk rate in Triple-A this year.
Ryan Noda has a .383 OBP, batting .266 with 12 HR and 11 SB in 76 games in Triple-A. Chris Taylor is hurt and while Lux has a good batting average, he is a liability in the outfield. Noda has played 16 games this season in LF. He probably doesn't get called up but in the event a Taylor injury is not coming along as fast as anticipated it could.
Gabriel Arias continues to fall down my board. Long story short: I am not seeing the kind of season he had at the plate in 2021 happening in 2022. His strikeout rate went from 22.8% last year to 33% this year. His walk rate has cut from 8.1% last year to 4.6% this year. His on base percentage is .266. He needs more time in Triple-A to try to turn things around.
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #11-15
Now we are getting into even more speculative territory.
Gunnar Henderson continues to play well in Triple-A. The Orioles keep winning. Keep an eye on him if the Orioles can stay competitive this month.
Ethan Small has put together two good starts in his last three. On June 25th, he pitched seven innings, struck out 10, and allowed just one run. On July 1st, he had a tougher outing pitching six innings, striking out just one, and allowing three runs. Then he came back on July 7th and threw five innings, got eight strikeouts, and allowed just one run. In those three starts, he went 18 innings and got 19 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.50. We probably need to see a couple more starts here but if he is figuring things out and improving, he could help solidify the Brewers rotation.
Hunter Brown has moved up the rankings as he is now starting again. He could easily be a long relief type of a guy this season. Jake Odorizzi is the only pitcher in that rotation who isn't very good, so it might be hard for a young pitcher to be impactful on this club this year.
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #16-18
There is no spot for Nick Pratto, and his strikeout rate is now up to 30.4%. If the Royals get rid of several veterans by the deadline, he could get some time with the Royals in the last two months of the season. Stay tuned for trade rumors that could create a domino effect for Pratto to come up. Until he improves his strikeouts, he will be a risk.
Francisco Alvarez I did not think would come up, young catchers are hard to project. But James McCann is out. If it ends up being just a 10 day deal, that's one thing. If it ends up being longer, I could see the Mets giving Alvarez a chance. He was recently promoted to Triple-A and has played five games so far.
Ken Waldichuk has a 2.52 ERA with a 33.1% strikeout rate in Triple-A. His walk rate is 10.2% -- something I'd like to see come down. The Yankees have a solid rotation that does not need help, so a call-up for him might only happen if there's an injury.
Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #19-25
These are guys that I am not counting on coming up but the list goes to 25, so here we are.
Corbin Carroll was recently promoted to Triple-A. In Double-A he had a .430 OBP, .330 ISO, 16 HRs, 20 SBs, and 62 Rs in just 58 games played.
Triston Casas continues to fall. I do not think we see him this year in the big leagues unless it's a meaningless September game to get the regulars rested. He still has not played in a game since May 17th. The Red Sox need help at 1B with Franchy Cordero and Bobby Dalbec not being the answers there, and I bet they look to make a trade instead of counting on Casas to come up. I could see them trying to acquire an expiring contract like a Josh Bell and giving Casas a chance next year to be their guy at first.
Honorable Mentions: Pedro Leon, SS/OF; Cade Cavalli, SP; Caleb Kilian SP;
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