Fantasy Baseball Prospects Report: Zebby Matthews has an opening and becomes the top choice to stash

Among the prospects who genuinely had a chance of winning a job this spring, the two nearest misses, most Fantasy Baseballers would agree, were Zac Veen and Zebby Matthews.

It took less than two weeks for the Rockies to right the wrong with Veen. They called him up Tuesday and have given him back-to-back starts in right field. What would it take for the Twins to do the same with Matthews?

We may already have our answer. They just placed ace Pablo Lopez on the IL with a strained hamstring, and while it’s expected to be a short-term absence, he’ll have to miss a couple of turns. And who lines up to take the first of those turns? None other than our boy Zebby.

But how much should we care, really? Matthews’ nine starts in the majors last year amounted to just a 6.69 ERA, after all. Ah, but there’s a reason why his near miss this spring was such a letdown for Fantasy, and that reason seems to have carried over to his two starts at Triple-A.

FIVE ON THE VERGE

(Here are the prospects most worth stashing in redraft leagues.)

2024 minors: 6-3, 2.60 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 97 IP, 7 BB, 114 K
2024 majors: 1-4, 6.69 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 37 2/3 IP, 11 BB, 43 K
2025 minors: 10 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 K

Yes, now that Matthews’ path is clear, I’m willing to call him the highest-priority stash. That’s how hopeful I am in him making good on his return to the majors. I thought the profile was plenty strong enough even for as poorly as it went last time. He was a strike-thrower of the highest order, issuing 0.6 BB/9 during his time in the minors last year, and generated whiffs at a good enough rate with a full complement of secondary pitches.

But then he showed up to spring training this year with another 2 mph on his fastball, and there’s no telling how high the upside is if he holds onto that. He struck out 12 while walking just one in 9 1/3 shutout innings this spring, then allowed just one hit over five innings in his season debut at Triple-A. His second start saw him strike out nine over five innings, and between the two starts, he’s issued just one walk.

In other words, the velocity boost doesn’t seem to have cost him anything in terms of control, and if I’m a betting man, I’m betting on him sticking around beyond Lopez’s return from the IL, bumping Chris Paddack or Simeon Woods Richardson from the Twins rotation instead. I’d also be rostering him over a boring innings-eater type like Luis Severino or Michael Wacha.

2024 minors: .368 BA (38 AB), 4 HR, 3 2B, 1.283 OPS, 12 BB, 10 K
2025 minors: .386 BA (44 AB), 6 HR, 5 2B, 1.335 OPS, 3 BB, 12 K

Another week, another three homers for Nick Kurtz to give him 10 in 22 minor-league games between this year and last. He’s exactly halfway to the number of games Wyatt Langford spent in the minors before the Rangers were forced to admit that he simply had nothing more to learn there. How close are the Athletics to doing the same with Kurtz? Well, considering they have yet to try him or designated hitter Brent Rooker in the outfield, I’d say to give it a little more time. An injury could move up the timetable, of course, and first baseman Tyler Soderstrom did leave Tuesday’s game with a right calf contusion. He was right back in the lineup Wednesday, though, and doesn’t seem like he’s going to need an IL stint. He’s off to nearly as hot of a start for the big club as Kurtz is for the Triple-A club, so that’s one less path Kurtz could take to the majors.

2024 minors: 10-7, 3.08 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 119 2/3 IP, 41 BB, 148 K
2025 minors: 6 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 12 K

After making just a couple brief appearances in spring training and looking rusty in his first start at Triple-A Indianapolis, Chandler finally gave us some length in his second start Tuesday and looked the part of an elite pitching prospect, striking out eight over four one-hit innings. He averaged 98.6 mph on his fastball, which peaked at 100.0, and had a 20 percent swinging-strike rate on his 61 pitches.

Again, that was on Tuesday, which was April 8. It was April 18 when Paul Skenes crossed the 60-pitch threshold for Triple-A Indianapolis last year en route to a May 11 debut. So would May 1 be a reasonable estimate for Chandler’s debut? The Pirates would certainly have an opening, and I think it’s mostly just a matter of building him up as long as his past control issues don’t resurface. Chandler doesn’t have quite the upside of Skenes, because nobody does, but it’s likely he’d be a must-start from the get-go.

2024 minors: .291 BA (454 AB), 18 HR, 21 SB, .894 OPS, 79 BB, 127 K
2025 minors: .167 BA (30 AB), 2 HR, 1 3B, 1 SB, 10 BB, 13 K

It’s true that after homering twice in his second game of the season, Anthony has done next to nothing for Triple-A Worcester. So I guess he’s no longer the top prospect, huh? Of course, he is, and he’s also still a priority stash even though I’ve deemed the chance for an immediate payoff from Zebby Matthews to be an even higher priority. Anthony isn’t new to Triple-A. He slashed .344/..463/.519 in his 35 games there last year, walking as many times as he struck out (31), so I wouldn’t say he has anything to prove there even though he’s been cold out of the gate. We just need him rolling by the time an opening develops in the Red Sox lineup, which doesn’t appear imminent with Wilyer Abreu having bolstered his claim to the right field job.

2024 minors: .271 BA (420 AB), 26 HR, .896 OPS, 64 BB, 103 K
2025 minors: .278 BA (36 AB), 1 HR, 1 3B, .803 OPS, 5 BB, 15 K

The Dodgers were presented with an opportunity to bring up Rushing earlier this week. They lost their first baseman, Freddie Freeman, to an ankle injury, and it turns out Rushing had already been dabbling at first base. But instead of turning to the 24-year-old, they called up another catcher, Hunter Feduccia, who has hardly even played since then. That’s a blow to Rushing’s stashability, clearly, and now that Freeman is on the verge of returning, I wouldn’t say Rushing is any closer to getting the call.

He’s had an uneven performance at Triple-A, with a five-strikeout game and a four-strikeout game skewing his overall rate. He’s made one appearance in left field in addition to his starts at catcher and first base, and a hybrid backup catcher role would appear to be his best chance of breaking into the majors still unless the Dodgers use him as trade bait. The offensive profile remains enticing, but it’s not unreasonable to think some other prospect could overtake Rushing for the final spot in the Five on the Verge a week from now.

FIVE ON THE PERIPHERY

(Here are some other prospects doing something of note.)

2024 minors: .241 BA (116 AB), 2 HR, .690 OPS, 7 BB, 26 K
2025 minors: .333 BA (21 AB), 2 HR, 1.074 OPS, 4 BB, 5 K

Seeing as he’s only at Double-A, Caglianone wouldn’t appear to be on the verge of a major-league call-up, but by now, it’s abundantly clear that the Royals got a real one with the sixth pick in last year’s draft. His home runs don’t just clear the fence but the atmosphere, entering orbit at velocities in excess of 115 mph. 

Caglianone is going to be the sort of masher who breaks Statcast records, and unlike some of the others who fit that description, he has no real contact issues to speak of. If anything, he’s a little too good at connecting on pitches he shouldn’t swing at. Between the way he’s going at Double-A and his eye-opening spring performance (9 for 18 with three homers and five walks to four strikeouts), he’ll likely be pushing for a big-league job at some point this season. The health of Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez could have some say in it.

Chase Meidroth, SS, White Sox

2024 minors: .293 BA (437 AB), 7 HR, 13 SB, .837 OPS, 105 BB, 71 K
2025 minors: .267 BA (30 AB), 3 HR, 2 SB, 1.050 OPS, 8 BB, 5 K

While Meidroth reached base at .437 clip for the Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate last year, it wasn’t clear that his bat would be impactful enough to make him a major-league regular. But the White Sox were intrigued, making him a part of the Garrett Crochet deal, and already, they have the 23-year-old tapping into more power by elevating to his pull side. His exit velocity readings last year weren’t as bad as you might think (88.6 mph average and 108.1 mph max), giving him enough juice to put the ball over the fence with the optimal launch angle. I’m picturing something like Jake Cronenworth, only with more walks.

2024 minors: 7-6, 3.32 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 81 1/3 IP, 15 BB, 104 K
2025 minors: 2-1, 3.21 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 14 IP, 10 BB, 14 K

I wrote last week about how the Brewers may have no choice but to bring up Jacob Misiorowski to address their pitching needs, ready or not, but then the 23-year-old turned around and walked four in 3 2/3 innings, confirming why that’s just not feasible. So what about Logan Henderson? He doesn’t have the same prospect clout, but he delivered an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio between four minor-league stops last year, his fastball playing beyond its pay grade thanks to its low release height. He has a changeup that’s genuinely a plus pitch and seems to have filled out his arsenal with a cutter this year. After uncharacteristically struggling with control in his first two starts for Triple-A Nashville, his latest one saw him strike out eight over five no-hit innings. I’m guessing he ends up beating Misiorowski to the majors.

2024 minors: 8-4, 5.26 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 102 2/3 IP, 40 BB, 97 K
2024 majors: 1-1, 4.24 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 34 IP, 9 BB, 29 K
2025 minors: 11 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 19 K

Ginn was unremarkable in his eight appearances with the big club last year and had a ho-hum minor-league season as well. But he’s come back this year with an extra mile per hour on both his sinker and slider, and it seems to have made a world of difference. He struck out eight over five one-hit innings in his first start March 28 and followed it up with an 11-strikeout effort April 3. The 11 strikeouts were more than he had in any start last year, and only twice did he contribute as many as eight. His extreme ground-ball tendencies already gave him some hope, and he hasn’t sacrificed those in pursuit of more whiffs, boasting a rate of 56.3 percent, which is about as high as usual. The fifth spot in the Athletics’ rotation is up in the air right now, and while I’m fairly skeptical Ginn’s newfound swing-and-miss translates to the majors, he’s earned a look.

2024 minors: 9-4, 2.35 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 145 1/3 IP, 41 BB, 162 K
2025 minors: 10 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 15 K

Will this year be the year when Seymour debuts? The 26-year-old has consistently delivered formidable numbers in the minors since he began pitching there in 2021, but he’s had to bide his time, in part because of injuries but in part because he has a higher burden of proof than most pitching prospects. Any skepticism would be well founded given that he barely throws 91 mph, relying more on deception for his whiffs. But there are oh so many whiffs, his April 3 start at Triple-A Durham being just the latest example. He not only registered 10 strikeouts in five innings of work but also 20 swinging strikes on just 85 pitches. He’s a curious enough case for you to at least file the name away.