Fantasy Baseball Minors Report: The top 25 prospects to stash for Week 7

It seems like fantasy baseball managers can’t take their eye off Minor League news for a second, not as teams are relying on prospects to fill holes on their rosters more than ever before. The first week of May was another busy one for debuts, promotions and breakout performances, so let’s run through a few before unveiling this week’s version of the top 25 prospects to stash for fantasy baseball.

Prospect report for Monday, May 8

Gavin Stone, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Well, that didn’t go great. Stone got hammered by the Philadelphia Phillies in his MLB debut last week, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks over four innings while striking out just one. The Dodgers immediately sent him back down to Triple-A, where he’ll look to continue honing his arsenal and regain some of the fastball velocity he had last year. Stone remains a talented starter and a worthy stash, but he’ll need to develop more around his changeup if he wants to get Major League hitters out.

Vaughn Grissom, 2B/SS, Atlanta Braves

Grissom didn’t even last until Orlando Arcia returned from injury, as the Braves decided to send him down in lieu of the more defensively-minded Braden Shewmake last week. It seems pretty evident now that Grissom is stretched at shortstop, and while the bat is better than he showed in this 19-game audition, it’s hard to see where exactly he fits on this Braves roster with Ozzie Albies ensconced at second base. Grissom isn’t on the list below as he’s no longer a prospect, but even if he was, I’m not sure he’d make the cut.

Mark Vientos, 3B, New York Mets

If you’ve spent any time in a Mets reporter’s Twitter mentions over the past couple of weeks, you’ve likely seen some howling for Vientos to get the call from Triple-A. With good reason: The former second-round pick, who got a brief taste of the Majors last season, has slashed .339/.424/.696 with 10 homers in 31 games so far this season at Syracuse. The problem, though, is positional, as the Mets don’t want to cut into Brett Baty’s playing time at third (and Vientos would be stretched there anyway) while Pete Alonso obviously isn’t moving off of first base any time soon. But as long as Vientos just keeps hitting and hitting for power, the calls will continue, and he should get his chance at some point this summer.

David Hamilton, SS, Boston Red Sox

Hamilton has been a staple on our Top 25 all season, but he gets a big boost this week — thanks both to his own performance and the news that second baseman Christian Arroyo has landed on the IL with a hamstring strain. Hamilton has run absolutely wild at Triple-A Worcester, with a .955 OPS and whopping 20 steals in 28 games, and while he certainly won’t slug .557 in the Majors, that speed will play anywhere. Boston will inevitably get sick of its revolving door at the middle infield spots — another Enrique Hernandez cold spell is due any day now — and when it does Hamilton will be in high demand.

Matt McLain, SS, Cincinnati Reds

The Louisville Bats have as many fantasy-viable prospects as any team in baseball right now, with Elly de la Cruz looking like a five-category stud while Christian Encarnacion-Strand just keeps swatting dingers. And now you can add McLain to the list, as the 2021 first-round pick is putting up video-game numbers in his first taste of Triple-A: .333/.448/.667 with nine homers and eight steals so far. Most importantly, the shortstop — who struck out 127 times in Double-A last year — has cut his K rate more than eight points, down to 20.3%. Jose Barrero has struggled mightily at the plate, and Kevin Newman is nothing more than a stopgap, so we could see McLain in atop the order in Cincy sooner rather than later.

Ricky Tiedemann, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

We’ve had our eye on Tiedemann as a fast mover through Toronto’s system for a while, and his goofy strikeout numbers so far at Double-A didn’t dissuade us in the slightest. Alas, those plans might be on hold, as the lefty was forced to exit his last start with what’s being called a biceps injury. We’ve yet to hear back on the results of Tiedemann’s MRI, but for now, he’s hard to consider — especially given how far away he currently is and how careful the team will be even if it turns out that there’s nothing structurally wrong.

Chase Silseth, SP, Los Angeles Angels

With Jose Suarez now on the IL for the foreseeable future after suffering an arm injury over the weekend, the Angels now find themselves with a hole in their rotation — one that Silseth may be best-qualified to fill. The Halos have seemed determined to stick with a six-man rotation in an effort to keep Shohei Ohtani healthy and rested, and that means they need someone else to step up. Silseth has been in the L.A. bullpen for the past couple weeks, but the team could stretch him back out if need be, and the righty was sensational as a starter down in Triple-A in April.

Top 25 prospects to stash for fantasy baseball