2026 Fantasy Baseball: Top 10 prospects to stash include Konnor Griffin, Bryce Eldridge, Ryan Waldschmidt

When the pickings are slim, a little speculation can go a long way

The 2026 season is shaping up to be a banner one for prospects. Already, Kevin McGonigle, JJ Wetherholt, Carson Benge, Justin Crawford, Chase DeLauter, and Andrew Painter have been confirmed for the opening day roster, and that's not even counting the ones that already debuted at the end of last year.

But what about the ones that didn't make the cut? Are any worth stashing in anticipation of their midseason arrival?

The short answer is yes, but with a caveat. Not every league is cut out for stashing. If you play in a typical Head-to-Head points format where stuffing your bench with pitchers makes sense from a streaming standpoint or a daily lineup league where you need a stable of substitutes from one day to the next, your bench space is too valuable to devote to a hypothetical. Even in a typical Rotisserie league, with its more stagnant lineups, I'd only be fully committed to stashing the top two from this list. For a prospect stash to make sense, particularly this early in the game, your league needs to be of some depth and your bench space of some superfluity.

But I'll offer up 10 names regardless, if only for argument's sake. You'll want to make note of them so that you can act quickly as the conditions for their promotion become closer to being met.

Note that only actual prospects were considered here and not anyone ticketed for the minors. Jasson Dominguez and Dylan Crews would rank third and fourth, respectively, if they qualified.

1) Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates

2025 minors: .291 BA (454 AB), 18 HR, 21 SB, .894 OPS, 79 BB, 127 K

Baseball fans, fantasy or otherwise, held their collective breath this spring to see if Griffin would become the first 19-year-old since Ken Griffey Jr. to make an opening day roster, all the while knowing it would take a magnificent spring for him to do so. When he homered three times in his first six games, it seemed like it might just happen, but then he went 4 for 27 (.148) with one home run and 11 strikeouts the rest of the way, making the Pirates' decision to send him down completely defensible. There's still only Nick Gonzales (or perhaps Jared Triolo) blocking his path, so Griffin is setting his own timeline, and seeing as he had no letup across his three-level surge last year, which ended with a .337/.418/.542 slash line at Double-A, I would expect him to throttle Triple-A right away. My guess is that April doesn't end with him still there.

2) Bryce Eldridge, DH, Giants

2025 minors: .260 BA (384 AB), 25 HR, .843 OPS, 42 BB, 127 K 2025 majors: 3 for 28 (.107), 22 B, 7 BB, 13 K

Eldridge's place on the Giants roster seemed like a foregone conclusion (just check out who's in line to play DH for them now if you don't believe me), but while the power that brought him to the majors as a 20-year-old last September was still evident this spring, the decision-makers ultimately decided he was still too rough around the edges, with manager Tony Vitello citing defense and baserunning as areas for improvement. Eldridge hasn't taken the news lying down, though, hitting a 444-foot home run against the big club while wearing a Triple-A Sacramento uniform Sunday and following it up with an opposite-field blast Monday. He's another who would seem to control his own timeline, and because he already convinced the Giants he was worthy of a promotion once (last September), it wouldn't take much for him to do so again.

3) Payton Tolle, RP, Red Sox

2025 minors: 3-5, 3.04 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 91.2 IP, 23 BB, 133 K 2025 majors: 0-1, 6.06 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 8 BB, 19 K

Connelly Early was one of the biggest standouts of the spring and simply beat out Tolle for a rotation spot, but not by as much as you may think. Tolle's final two starts saw him throw a combined seven shutout innings, striking out 12 and walking just one. His fastball is among the best of its kind and a bat-misser in its own right, but he began working in a sinker and a curveball to some effect this spring. He may be second in line for the next rotation opening, behind Johan Oviedo, but with as common as pitching injuries are, his chance will likely come within a matter of weeks. He has top-of-the-rotation upside, and his RP eligibility makes for an extra incentive in Head-to-Head points leagues.

4) Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, Diamondbacks

2025 minors: .289 BA (484 AB), 18 HR, 29 SB, .892 OPS, 96 BB, 106 K

Waldschmidt did what he could to keep himself in the running for the starting left field job, not only batting .302 (13 for 43) with a homer, five doubles, and a stolen bases but also hitting six balls harder than 110 mph, with a max exit velocity of 115.6, but he was sent down pretty early regardless. I knew his plate discipline was something to behold, but seeing him deliver such high-quality contact went a long way toward relieving my concern that his power last year was partly a product of him spending half the season at hitter-friendly Double-A Amarillo. Jordan Lawlar is still hardly a sure thing, and I dare say the Diamondbacks have seen enough of Alek Thomas by now. Even with Lourdes Gurriel on the mend from a torn ACL, it wouldn't take much to get Waldschmidt in the big leagues.

5) Charlie Condon, 1B, Rockies

2025 minors: .268 BA (365 AB), 14 HR, .820 OPS, 52 BB, 112 K

The version of Condon that showed up this spring was the best we've seen since the Rockies took him third overall in the 2024 draft. It's not just that he hit .385 (15 for 39) with three homers and a 1.174 OPS. It's that he kept his strikeout rate under 20 percent while showing the power upside that made him such a high draft pick, impacting two balls as hard as 115 mph. The performance might have been enough to earn the 22-year-old the starting first base job, something the Rockies said he was in the running for, if not for the fact that TJ Rumfield had an even better spring. Rumfield, who the Rockies acquired from the Yankees in the offseason, is already 25, giving him less time to demonstrate if he deserves to be part of the team's long-term plans. He's a disciplined hitter, but his exit velocities as recently as last year were highly suspect. If he proves to be a Quadruple-A type, the Rockies could quickly pivot to Condon.

6) Logan Henderson, SP, Brewers

2025 minors: 10-4, 3.59 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 77.2 IP, 24 BB, 87 K 2025 majors: 3-0, 1.78 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 25.1 IP, 8 BB, 33 K

The Brewers have signaled at every turn that they don't regard Henderson as a particularly big deal, first by being quick to send him down after each banger start he delivered last season and then by unceremoniously cutting him from camp even as the pitcher injuries began to pile up. Those who remember his five glorious starts last year can't help but wonder what Kyle Harrison has on him, but there will come a point sooner than later when the Brewers have to turn to Henderson again. And if past is precedent, we'll like the result. He relies on just two pitches, basically -- a changeup and a not-so-fast fastball -- which may be the Brewers' reason for pause, but he's made it work at every stop as a professional, majors included.

7) Robby Snelling, SP, Marlins

2025 minors: 9-7, 2.51 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 136 IP, 39 BB, 166 K

If you had asked me to rank Snelling here without showing me his spring results, I'd have probably placed him third. The back of the Marlins rotation is pretty gnarly, and the left-hander closed out last season by embarrassing his Triple-A competition with a 1.27 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 11.5 K/9 in 11 starts. He had a legitimate chance to claim a spot if he brought his A-game this spring, but instead, he pitched to a 7.56 ERA and 1.92 WHIP. Even more concerning was his 9 percent swinging-strike rate, which was a far cry from the 15 percent rate he put together during that 11-start stretch.

So why include him at all here? Well, his velocity seemed fine, which is notable because during his last rough stretch while still in the Padres organization, it dropped a couple ticks. Ultimately, 13 bad spring training innings shouldn't rewrite the book on a pitcher who seemed like he was overdue for a promotion last September. If he's legitimately as he seemed then, though, it's just weird that he'd flounder so badly in what seemed like a real chance to compete for a role.

8) Harry Ford, C, Nationals

2025 minors: .283 BA (374 AB), 16 HR, 7 SB, .868 OPS, 74 BB, 88 K 2025 majors: 1 for 6, 1 RBI, 3 K

In retrospect, leaving Nationals camp to represent Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic may have eliminated whatever chance Ford had of cracking the opening day roster. It wasn't simply a matter of him beating out Keibert Ruiz for the starting role, after all, but also learning an entirely new pitching staff after coming over from the Mariners in the offseason.

The fact he even places on this list shows how deep a Fantasy league needs to be in order for stashing any of these prospects to be a viable strategy. Ford has something to offer, of course, boasting superlative on-base skills and some rare base-stealing ability for a catcher, but the position is so deep right now that most drafts end before all the interesting options are taken. Stashing Ford makes more sense, though, in 15-team leagues that use traditional Rotisserie lineups with two catcher spots to fill. Catcher is deep, but it's not 30 deep. If your second one is a scrubby Liam Hicks or Freddy Fermin type, Ford represents your best chance at an upgrade.

9) Colt Emerson, SS, Mariners

2025 minors: .285 BA (506 AB), 16 HR, 14 SB, .842 OPS, 71 BB, 105 K

Emerson was floated as an opening day possibility from the start and hardly made a fool of himself this spring, slashing .268/.340/.488 with two homers and a steal. The fact he was sent down, though, even as J.P. Crawford continues to contend with a shoulder injury that's sidelined him for most of camp, tells me he was never a serious contender. He's only 20, which makes the decision a sensible one, but since he's set to begin the year at Triple-A, there's only one more place for him to go once he realizes his potential there. He's gotten some exposure to second and third base and could even replace Crawford outright, given that the latter is in the final year of a five-year deal.

10) JR Ritchie, SP, Braves

2025 minors: 8-6, 2.64 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 140 IP, 54 BB, 140 K

The Braves rotation was full of question marks even before losing Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and now Spencer Strider (hopefully for a shorter period of time) to injury. Its No. 2 at this point is probably Grant Holmes. Bryce Elder is the definition of organizational depth, and Reynaldo Lopez has come back from shoulder surgery, throwing 3 mph less. Quite simply, the Braves are going to need more. You could argue Didier Fuentes is next in line after his terrific spring, but it seems like they want to slow-play him, having him begin the year in the bullpen. Ritchie might actually be the choice to meet their next rotation need, and his impact could be even beyond what Waldrep's was last year. He's reminiscent of Nolan McLean in his willingness to juggle six pitches and knack for generating weak contact on the ground. Maybe he won't be as big of a bat-misser, but I suspect there's more potential there than he showed last year.

Five others to consider

Joshua Baez, OF, Cardinals 2025 minors: .287 BA (418 AB), 20 HR, 54 SB, .884 OPS, 59 BB, 103 K Baez is the elite prospect not everyone knows about yet, and the Cardinals don't have a single fixture in their outfield, unless you're still willing to call Jordan Walker that.

Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians 2025 minors: .245 BA (302 AB), 9 HR, 12 SB, .813 OPS, 66 BB, 91 K Bazzana had an impressive enough spring to suggest he could push for either Brayan Rocchio's or Gabriel Arias' job sooner than later, hitting three home runs and delivering much higher exit velocities than he showed during his brief time at Triple-A last year.

Spencer Jones, OF, Yankees 2025 minors: .274 BA (438 AB), 35 HR, 29 SB, .932 OPS, 58 BB, 179 K Jones put his upside on full display this spring with six home runs and four stolen bases while managing to keep his strikeout rate under control. Unfortunately, the Yankees already don't have room for Jasson Dominguez in their outfield.

Jonah Tong, SP, Mets 2025 minors: 10-5, 1.43 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 113.2 IP, 47 BB, 179 K 2025 majors: 2-3, 7.71 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 9 BB, 22 K Tong's fastball was the key to his success in the minors, but major leaguers aren't whiffing at it at nearly the same rate, whether down the stretch last year or in spring training this year. He'll get a look for the Mets at some point again soon, but I'm becoming fearful of a Quadruple-A outcome here.

Thomas White, SP, Marlins 2025 minors: 4-3, 2.31 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 89.2 IP, 51 BB, 145 K Could White actually beat Robby Snelling to the majors? He's the more talented of the two, but he's also less built up and has a control hurdle to overcome first.