Updated MLB Prospects Rankings - Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects (Week 8)

Welcome back RotoBallers to our weekly fantasy baseball prospect rankings. We have had several call-ups this week and as a result, the following players who will not be on the rankings this week that have been in the past are Adley Rutschman, Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Roansy Contreras, Oscar Gonzalez, and Royce Lewis. Royce Lewis was called up and then injured, but nevertheless will not be on the list this week.

Additionally, players who are playing in the minors but graduated from prospect status will also not be in the rankings. These players include Jarred Kelenic, Jo Adell, etc.

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.

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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.

 

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #1-5

Everyone in this tier I feel good about them being a regular contributor when they are called up. Some might be on rosters in your fantasy league already, but if not, they should be added. Royce Lewis is off the list, so Grayson Rodriguez is back to No. 1. Rodriguez continues to dominate Triple-A, including a seven-inning, 10 strikeout game on May 27th. For the season, he has a 39.2% strikeout rate and a 2.51 xFIP in Triple-A.

Oneil Cruz continues to turn things around, bringing his average above .200, and now has six home runs and 10 steals in 40 games... That is on pace for 19 home runs and 32 steals in a 600 plate appearance season. Remember, this ranking is for fantasy, and the combination of home runs and steals is premium, especially in rotisserie leagues. This has been frustrating for those who have drafted him, hoping that he'd be an everyday player from the first game. He did suffer an ankle injury just yesterday (Sunday), and news around this injury will be important for his ranking. Right now the indication is that it is minor, but if it requires an IL stint, that will push back his call-up date.

Riley Greene has played two games in Single-A. Depending on how it all goes, he should be up sometime in June.

Vinnie Pasquantino is arguably the best hitter in Triple-A but some problems exist. First, the Royals are going nowhere this season. Second, they are paying Carlos Santana $10.4 million this season and going to continue to put him in the lineup for now. Third, even if they move on from Santana sooner rather than later, Pasquantino is NOT on the 40-man roster while Nick Pratto is. Pratto was a Gold Glover at first base last season in the minors. On merit, Pasquantino should be up soon and he will be ranked high until there is an indication of what the Royals will do with Santana. Unfortunately, not everything is based on merit and this is a business as well. We should see Pasquantino up when there is roster expansion later in the season, but hopefully, we see him earlier than that.

Shane Baz has started two games and pitched 4.2 innings so far in Triple-A. He'll be in the Rays' rotation as soon as he's ready but may be limited in terms of pitch count initially.

 

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #6-10

These are all players that are just kind of "there" in the minors and could come up but the big league clubs do not seem in a rush to bring them up unless there is an injury.

Triston Casas is someone who should be up soon after he gets off the IL with a sprained ankle. Bobby Dalbec is struggling, and Casas is now hitting .248 with six home runs in 36 games.

Edward Cabrera is expected to start on Tuesday, May 31 against Colorado. He is at No. 7 because I am skeptical of how well he will pitch in the majors given he isn't exactly dominating Triple-A (3.66 xFIP, 11.9% walk rate). If he does pitch well, he could stay up which is why I had to put him in the Top 10.

In 15 games, C.J. Abrams is hitting .265 with four home runs and five steals. The Padres are giving Robinson Cano at-bats, but Abrams should be back up in the bigs soon.

Rounding out the Top 10 is Alec Burleson. Burleson is hitting .327 with 10 home runs and three steals in 40 games in Triple-A. Meanwhile, Corey Dickerson continues to get at-bats for the Cardinals.

 

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings #11-25

Max Meyer is the pitcher that could tumble down or off these rankings entirely. They are saying he has a nerve issue and that it isn't serious but we will see. He is supposed to start throwing this week.

Nick Pratto has moved up the most, for reasons I outlined earlier, as he is on the 40-man roster for the Royals.

Caleb Kilian tumbles down to the bottom of the list and likely will be off the list next week. Kilian is not going to be called up to help the Cubs with their nine games in seven days problem. This is similar to the Royals situation with Vinnie Pasquantino where Kilian is not on the 40-man roster and the team isn't going anywhere, so there is not a rush to bring him up. 

Heliot Ramos will likely be off the list as well next week too. He is batting .192 with three home runs and two steals in 39 games in Triple-A. That is not what was expected of Ramos at this point in the season.

New to the list is Peyton Burdick (seven home runs, five steals, but just a .218 average) and Jonathan Aranda (.327 average, six home runs, four steals).

Honorable Mentions: Ryan Pepoit, SP; Korey Lee, C; Michael Busch, 2B; Pedro Leon, SS/OF;  Brennen Davis, OF; Cade Cavalli, SP; Jared Koenig, SP; Jonathan Aranda, 2B; David Villar 3B; Darick Hall 1B

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