RoboScout’s Top Fantasy Prospects At Every Level So Far In 2025

Low-A Hitters

The Carolina Mudcats are the best team in Low-A. So it should come as no surprise that three of the level’s top four hitters are on the Brewers affiliate. 

However, the top name is not Jesus Made or Luis Pena but Braylon Payne, who has a 168 wRC+ with two home runs and 11 stolen bases. Extrapolating out his 58 plate appearances, Payne projects as a .264/.364 hitter at peak with 22 home runs and 31 stolen bases. That plays in fantasy. In fact, he already seems like a Top 100 fantasy prospect.

D-backs 2024 first-rounder Slade Caldwell also projects to have a wRC+ above 100 in the major leagues at his peak. In 58 plate appearances, the pesky table-setter has a 212 wRC+, a home run and three stolen bases. The strikeout rate of 29% but only 5% swinging strike rate highlights his early passivity, which is supported by his 26% walk rate. We’ll be curious to see how he performs at higher levels against better pitching. 

Mets outfielder A.J. Ewing is slashing .429/.517/.633 amid another excellent debut. The 20-year-old has a 203 wRC+ after 60 plate appearances with a home run and 10 stolen bases. Ewing’s early performance projects him as a league-average major league hitter with 15 home runs and 30 stolen bases. 

Low-A Pitchers

To say it’s early is an understatement. Starting pitchers have averaged only three starts so far. Still, there are already some loud debuts. 

Athletics lefty Wei-En Lin and Dodgers righty Sean Linan have the only Low-A performances that project to a sub-4.00 ERA in the major leagues at peak. Lin, a 19-year-old Taiwanese lefthander, has a 60% strikeout rate with zero walks over 12 innings, which caught our attention a couple days ago. Again, it’s a dozen innings and he only sits in the low 90s right now, so it’s a speculative add. But it’s been eye-opening in the California League to say the least.

Linan ticks off more boxes of a traditional pitching prospect. Above-average stuff, check. Starting pitcher’s arsenal, check. Young for the level, check. High strikeouts and low walks, check. Dodgers, check. Goes deep into games, check. With a 46.4% strikeout-minus-walk rate, Linan trails only Lin among pitchers who have thrown at least 10 innings. I’d probably bid on Linan if I had to choose between the two pitchers. 

Blue Jays righty Khal Stephen and Red Sox lefty Brandon Clarke have nearly identical performances to Linan. However, both are 22 years old compared to the 20-year-old Linan, and the age-curve regression, especially with limited innings, significantly lowers their peak projections. As the adage goes, a college pitcher should be carving up Low-A hitters. Still, with the stuff and performance they have shown, it’s likely only a matter of time before they have accrued enough innings to supersede the model’s regression to league-average weighting. Both should be added in leagues of up to 200 prospects.

High-A Hitters

Red Sox outfielder Yophery Rodriguez and Dodgers outfielder Zyhir Hope occupy the top two spots. Rodriguez, part of the return in the Quinn Priester trade, has a 177 wRC+ with one home run and two stolen bases over 51 plate appearances in his age-19 season. With more walks than strikeouts and a .275 ISO, Rodriguez is showing the makings of an above-average major league hitter with 20-homer pop and 10 stolen bases. Last year, his 90th percentile exit velocity was 102 mph as an 18-year-old, and with the Red Sox hitting development program, it’s natural to wonder if this will improve substantially.

Hope has carried over his preseason helium with four home runs and four stolen bases in 65 plate appearances with a 193 wRC+. His massive power has been well-documented and he looks like a 25-home-run major league bat. If he can maintain his conditioning, it looks like he might be a threat to steal 15 bases as well. 

At this point last year, former Dodgers infielder Jeral Perez was one of the top early-season performers. Weirdly, he seemed to get some prospect fatigue after the White Sox acquired him in the three-team Tommy Edman and Erick Fedde deal. Under the hood last year, the infielder showed above-average contact and exit velocities. In his first 59 plate appearances with High-A Winston Salem, he has four home runs. His 29% strikeout rate is a bit of a concern, but it’s still playable for a 20-year-old in High-A and suggests a potential .230 or .240 hitter in the big leagues. That will work if he’s a 20 to 25-homer bat, as his data suggests.  

Mets catcher Chris Suero is another notable performer. The 21-year-old has has five home runs, four stolen bases and a 209 wRC+ in his first 50 High-A plate appearances. The one home run every 10 plate appearances for his age at High-A does correspond to a 25 to 30-home-run bat in the major leagues. Unfortunately, he does have a 36% strikeout rate and a 20% swinging strike rate. That correlates to a .220 to .230 batting average at peak, meaning he is a fringy major league left fielder or first baseman if he can’t stick at catcher.

High-A Pitchers

Pirates righty Antwone Kelly pops up once again in the early going. Kelly’s slider already registered a 115 STF+ in 2024, and he has since added 4 mph to his fastball to boost his arsenal to new heights. Mets lefty Zach Thornton is in second place. Although he’s 23, he has a starter’s arsenal and looks like he could fit into the back of a major league rotation, if not more.

D-backs righty Daniel Eagen and Yankees righty Ben Hess are a pair of 22-year-old college arms who have performed exceedingly well with the stuff to back it up. Eagen throws from a high over-the-top slot and at Presbyterian in 2024 his 94 mph fastball had over 20 inches of IVB paired with a hard downer curveball. He’s punching out batters at a 41% clip so far with High-A Hillsboro. 

Hess has performed even better than Eagen and looks worthy of the first-round pick the Yankees used on him last year. The 6-foot-5 starter has massive extension and a 47% strikeout rate. He sat 94 mph and touched 98 last year with Alabama and has a five-pitch mix. He looks like a midrotation starter if he can keep his walk rate (currently at 8%) in the single digits. 

Three other teenagers–Manuel Rodriguez (Brewers), Charlee Soto (Twins), and Alex Clemmey (Nationals)–also appear in the top 10 for the level. All should be long gone in leagues of up to 300 prospects.

Double-A Hitters

Reaching the majors is a near-certainty for 19-year-olds who appear in Double-A. Here are some of the 50 players who accrued at least 50 plate appearances in Double-A as teenagers since 2006: 

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• Mike Trout
• Ronald Acuna Jr.
• Francisco Lindor
• Heliot Ramos
• Keibert Ruiz 

Only 31 of them managed a wRC+ above 100 and Rangers shortstop Sebastian Walcott currently sports a 125 wRC+ with one home run over 61 plate appearances. It’s not all rosy, as he does have a 25% strikeout rate. But from that same cohort, Ronald Acuna Jr. had a 23% strikeout rate, Fernando Tatis Jr. had a 28% strikeout rate and Giancarlo Stanton had a 29% rate. All that to say, RoboScout sees Walcott as a .261/.342 hitter with an above-average wRC+ and 20+ home runs.

Those familiar with 2024 RoboSCout shouldn’t be surprised that White Sox infielder William Bergolla appears in the top five for the level on account of his excellent bat-to-ball skills. With his minuscule 4.8% swinging strike rate–and his double-plus 88% contact rate last year–Bergolla should run .260 to .270 batting averages in the major leagues. Although he doesn’t have a home run yet over 43 plate appearances, he hasn’t been caught in five steal attempts, proving to be a 25-steal threat in the majors.

Guardians first baseman C.J. Kayfus has also been excellent in the first month with a 255 wRC+ in his first 55 plate appearances. Despite just one home run, he has a respectable .289 ISO. RoboScout projects him to have a 110 wRC+ in the major leagues but with 12 to 15 home runs, which is a bit low for a first base-only profile. Kayfus is probably a better real-life prospect than fantasy prospect unless he can add some strength.

Double-A Pitchers

Rockies righty Blake Adams has been the best Double-A pitching prospect so far. He’s averaging five innings through two starts with a scintillating 53% strikeout rate and a minuscule 3% walk rate. In 2024, Adams had a four-pitch mix highlighted by a 92 mph four-seam fastball with 18 inches of IVB, a tight mid-80s gyro slider and a curveball and changeup which both elicited more than 30% whiffs and 30% chases. Although he’s at a higher level than all the lower-level pitchers mentioned and has a better park-neutral peak projection, I’m less inclined to bid on him because Coors Field would be his home. 

Marlins lefty Robby Snelling, Red Sox righty Yordanny Monegro and fellow Boston lefty Connelly Early all have ERAs projected below 4.00 so far. The common refrain so far is that it’s still very early, but these are noteworthy performances. The Red Sox pair both have 50% strikeout rates over seven-plus innings each. 

Triple-A Hitters

Unsurprisingly, RoboScout views Nick Kurtz and Roman Anthony as two of the top three Triple-A hitters in 2025. They both project as above-average MLB bats who can hit 20+ home runs and both have sky-high dynasty value given they aren’t in their mid 20s yet. 

Cubs catcher Moises Ballesteros has a higher wRC+ than both of them, and the 21-year-old projects to be a .270 big league hitter with around 20 home runs. It’s only a matter of time before he joins the big league club. The outstanding fantasy question is whether he will retain catcher eligibility for 2026 and beyond. Thus far in 2025, he’s played 12 games behind the plate, four games at DH and one game at first base. He will be a fascinating case.

The next few players–Jordan Lawlar, Luis Campusano and Chase Meidroth–have all reached the majors already. But 26-year-old Guardians prospect Will Wilson is also in the top 10 with a 201 wRC+ and six homers. The 2019 Angels first-rounder was traded to the Giants in the Zack Cozart salary dump. Cleveland took him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft this winter and he has been a revelation so far. 

In 2024, Wilson had a 108 mph max exit velocity and a 102.8 mph 90th percentile exit velocity. But only 10% of his batted balls exceeded 102.8 mph. This year, his max is already at 108.3 mph and 25% of his batted balls have exceeded 102.8 mph. Of course, it’s been fewer than 40 batted balls, but it does look like the now-third baseman has potentially added some consistent in-game strength. There probably isn’t a spot for him on the big league club right now, but if he sustains this level of performance, he might force the issue.

Triple-A Pitchers:

As is often the case, the top Triple-A pitchers are either well-known prospects or major leaguers. This is also the case thus far in 2025 as the top six names are: J.T. Ginn (Athletics), Spencer Strider (Braves), Zebby Matthews (Twins), Bubba Chandler (Pirates) and Caden Dana (Angels). I’m quite sure that these players are rostered in your dynasty leagues.

The next two names are where it gets interesting.
Luinder Avila (Royals) has added 2 mph to his four-seam fastball and has a 23% strikeout-minus-walk rate as a 23-year-old. A.J. Blubaugh (Astros) has also added 2 to 3 mph of velocity, now sitting 95 mph on his four-seam fastball, and his sweeper, which has over a foot of horizontal break, has added a few ticks. We’ve seen this show before from Astros pitchers where their fastballs play up via unexpected ride or extension from a low slot, paired with one or more breaking pitches that they can land for strikes or elicit above-average chases. If you’re in a league that rosters 200 or more prospects and Blubaugh is available, I’d pick him up, especially if you could use the performance this season, as he will most likely be up for Houston at some point in 2025.