The Stash 4/23: Ranking The Top 10 Hitting Prospects To Stash

Every weekend, I will be posting about the minor leaguers you should be stashing on your team. This list will be arranged by impact for this year only. Players that will be called up sooner will be ahead of players with more talent who might only be called up late in the year.

Anyway, let’s get to the other prospects:

1) Yoan Moncada, Chicago White Sox AAA, ETA: June

Number one in your heart and number one on this list. Yoan turned it up this week going six for 21 with six runs, two HRs, and two Sb. He still needs to work on his plate discipline but he is doing everything you want for a future superstar.

Stats: .300, 13 R, 4 HRs, 5 RBIs, 4 SB

2) Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers AAA, ETA: May

Since last week’s rankings, Bellinger has hit three homeruns and has seven RBIs and Runs. He continues to establish himself as one of the top bats in the minors. He makes me wonder if the Dodgers would keep him down until the Super Two. They seem to have a plethora of money to hand out. The Dodgers are employing Andrew Toles and Enrique Hernandez in LF as a platoon. Hernandez is destroying LHP but Toles has struggled as of late going two for 13 the last week. I might add Bellinger sooner rather than later.

Stats: .333, 13 R, 5 HR, 14 RBIs, 4 SB

3) Franklin Barreto, Oakland Athletics AAA, ETA: June

Barreto is quickly rising on this list. Two weeks ago, he was not on it. Last week he was 7th and this week he is 3rd. He did not get the call when Marcus Semien was injured as the Athletics elected to go with Chad Pinder instead. This tells me that the cash strapped A’s will not call him up before the Super Two deadline is passed and it tells me they think Barreto is the real deal. Barreto is doing his part to assure us he is great putting up some impressive hitting stats.

Stats: .351, 8 R, 2 HR, 10 RBIs, 1 SB

4) Austin Meadows, Pittsburgh Pirates AAA, ETA: June

This week Starling Marte was suspended for 80 game and the Pirates elected to not promote Meadows. He is not off to an impressive start to the year, but even if he was, I doubt he would be up right now. The Pirates will keep him down until the Super Two deadline has passed. I am not too worried about his slow start; he was slow out the gates last year. He should be up in mid-June.

Stats: .196, 5 R, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 SB

5) Clint Frazier, New York Yankees AAA, ETA: June

Frazier has a .244 BABIP this season, which has him off to a slow start in AAA. He is still swinging the bat and generating a lot of pop as he has seven XBH in his eleven hits. He is a future star in the Yankees outfield but will likely need a couple more months in AAA. The Yankees have done much better this season than most predicted and therefore they can wait to bring him up.

Stats: .224, 7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, 2 SB

6) Rhys Hoskins, philadelphia Phillies AAA, ETA: May

Hoskins was on the notable mention last week but he has hit his way into the sixth spot. A spot he could soon occupy for the Phillies as they are desperately in need of a 1B bat. Tommy Joseph and Brock Stassi are both under .600 OPS and have a combined 21 strikeouts in 74 ABs. Hoskins is tearing up AAA hitting .320 with four HRs, and is walking at an impressive 15% rate. He should be up very soon if Joseph and Stassis troubles continue. He isn’t an immediate add in most formats but he is a big powerful bat that hit 38 HRs last year and could be a good add in big roster or big team leagues.

Stats: .320, 11 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB

7) Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves AAA, ETA: June

Albies is up to seven stolen bases on the year, which is second to Jorge Mateo for the most swiped bags of the Top 100 prospects. A 20 year old in AAA, Albies continues to hit and now has nine extra base hits. He could be a good 2B option when he gets the call for teams that waited on that position as he might have one of the more reliable bats on this list.

Stats: .282, 12 R, 0 HR, 7 RBIs, 7 SB

8) Amed Rosario, New York Mets AAA, ETA: July

Amed Rosario continues to get the bat on the ball and has a .387 average thanks in large part to his .436 BABIP. He can make consistent contact, the things that worry me from a fantasy stand point is his power and his caught stealing. He has swiped four bags on six attempts this year and has 45 bags on 68 attempts in his career. He has shown some speed but he needs to work on his base running. He is only successful 66% of the time he steals and that is a quick way to get a red light on the base path. Continue to watch him but know that his #3 prospect ranking is because of his defense. Fantasy Wise, he might be a SS ranked in the 8-15 range year in and year out even with the decent average.

Stats: .387, 7 R, 0 HR, 5 RBIs, 4 SB.

9) Lewis Brinson, Milwaulke Brewers AAA, ETA: July

Lewis Brinson reminds me a lot of Carlos Gomez. With Gomez you dont know if you are getting Cable version or the DirectTV version. Brinson i feel will be like that. He is a streaky hitter that can win you a week and then the following week be invisible. Well right now he isn’t invisible in AAA as he is hitting .395 and showing the power and speed combo you would love for an everyday guy. With Ryan Braun’s 10/5 rights coming up in 3 weeks, we will know very soon if Brinson will have a roster spot opening up soon.

Stats: .395, 10 R, 3 HR, 7 RBIs, 2 SB

10) Dominic Smith, New York Mets AAA, ETA: July

Duda suffered a hyperextended elbow against the Phillies on this week when Cesar Hernandez crashed into Duda’s glove with his shoulder while he was trying to field a throw. The Mets elected to not call up Dominic Smith to replace him instead they will move Bruce to 1B and give Conforto some more time. This is likely about Service Time because Dominic Smith is hitting quite well in AAA. He still is young and could use more seasoning in the minors but he could be a person to watch after June if Duda has another injury.

Stats: .318, 11 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB

 

Guys to watch: Christian Arroyo, SS SF and Derek Fisher, OF HOU