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The prospect parade continued over the past week as the month of May seems to be the time when teams will choose to promote their top prospects under the league’s new incentive rules. As such, a trio of debuting players rate among fantasy baseball’s top prospective pickups.
Note that all three of these options are slightly stronger additions in rotisserie than our standard points-league format. Still, even in the latter, all three have the level of upside to warrant at least a stash or short-term fill-in status.
Henry Bolte, OF, Athletics (8.5% rostered): We’ll start, oddly enough, with the lowest rated of the three from Kiley McDaniel’s (and industry consensus) preseason prospect rankings, but that’s partly because of the adjustments Bolte has made as well as the MLB situation in which he has found himself.
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A 2022 second-rounder, Bolte hit a modest .268/.369/.433 with a scary 32.8% strikeout rate across five competitive levels over his first four professional seasons. Following an offseason in which he had a cleanup procedure on his right wrist — an injury that hampered him throughout 2024 — and improved both his swing path and plate discipline, he hit .348/.418/.658 with 12 home runs and a massively improved 22.0% strikeout rate over his first 37 games for Triple-A Las Vegas.
Oh, and did I mention Bolte’s speed? He stole 40-plus bases in both of the last two minor league seasons and 17 in those 37 games for Las Vegas. He already grades out in the 91st percentile in Statcast’s sprint speed over his first week in the bigs.
He’s a five-category rotisserie contributor dropped directly into one of the game’s most hitter-friendly environments, and it’s not like the Athletics are teeming with outfielders to stand in his way for at-bats, as their .290 team wOBA from the outfield ranks just 24th overall. Bolte could eventually be a top-30 fantasy outfielder (even in points leagues) and is certainly worth starting, for now, in all home games.
Keep your eye on Colt Emerson, the Seattle prospect who debuted for the team on Sunday. Steven Bisig-Imagn ImagesColt Emerson, SS, Seattle Mariners (11.8% rostered): The highest profile of the three promoted prospects, Emerson probably has the clearest path (of the trio) to every-day at-bats for the remainder of the year. He signed an eight-year, $95 million contract with the Mariners on April 1, a move that made it a matter of “when” and not “if” he’d be promoted.
Emerson’s minor league numbers were the least impressive of the bunch, as he hit a mere .255/.347/.469 with seven home runs and 10 stolen bases in his 38 games for Triple-A Tacoma, but he has perhaps the most balanced skill set of the three, with above-average contact, plate discipline, power and speed.
He’ll probably handle third base until at least the point that Brendan Donovan returns from a groin injury, but he’ll almost assuredly find regular time either there or at his natural position of shortstop thereafter. That means he’ll likely earn dual eligibility quickly, with a chance at a top-10 fantasy point total at either/both spots.
A.J. Ewing, OF, New York Mets (17.7% rostered): Here’s my favorite of the three, but I’m always a fan of speedy, elite discipline, extra-base production types. A 2023 fourth-rounder, Ewing tore through both Double- and Triple-A games in fewer than 20 games apiece this season, batting a combined .339/.447/.514 with more walks (22) than strikeouts (20) and 17 stolen bases over 30 games.
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While the Mets seemingly promoted him out of a hint of desperation coming off a highly disappointing start to 2026, Ewing has certainly “looked the part” as the team’s starting center fielder. His 22 fantasy points over his first six days in the majors tied for 23rd most among hitters and he had better-than-90th-percentile rates in the chase, Barrel and hard-hit departments.
We’ll see what the eventual returns of Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco mean for Ewing’s rest-of-season role, but the rookie seems to be an ideal fit for points-league play, and his speed is plenty useful in rotisserie scoring, too.
Christian Scott, Mets (5.2% rostered): Week 8’s two-start crop is a bunch of proven, top-shelf options, with the pickup pool having more of a dart-throw flavor, but Scott is one from the latter group who stands out in my book. Although he has yet to throw as many as 90 pitches or pitch into the sixth inning in any of his four MLB starts to date, he has done a fine job of missing bats and minimizing hard contact in each, averaging 8.3 fantasy points per outing.
Scott and his suddenly red-hot Mets now hit the road for a seven-game week of contests they very much can win, beginning with four against the Washington Nationals and finishing with three against the Miami Marlins. The Nationals do represent a matchups challenge, placing first in the majors in runs per game (seriously, look it up!), but that Marlins matchup in a pitcher-friendly environment sure looks appealing.
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Deep (12-team mixed): JJ Bleday, OF, Cincinnati Reds (37.1% rostered): A hitter who could even be valuable in ESPN standard points league play, Bleday has started each of the Reds’ last 18 games and hit .292/.403/.631 with five home runs in them — good for an average of 3.94 fantasy points per game.
No, he hasn’t yet realized the potential that made him the No. 4 overall pick of the 2019 draft through three professional organizations and five years of MLB time. Still, he’s now a prime-age 28 and (again, as he played in Sacramento last year) in a hitter-friendly home environment that could help him remain within range of those solid recent hitting rates. Bleday is, at the very least, a streaming play for home games and righty starters.
Deeper (15-team mixed): Zebby Matthews, SP, Minnesota Twins (4.6% rostered): Another personal favorite, Matthews’ name is one you might remember from my preseason “Kings of Command” column. Since then, he failed to make the Twins’ Opening Day roster after a lackluster spring training, then posted a mere 4.72 ERA across seven starts for Triple-A St. Paul. However, a barrage of injuries to the team’s MLB rotation presented him a chance to shine once again.
Matthews did just that in his 2026 debut against the Marlins, tossing seven shutout innings with five strikeouts, throwing a lower-velocity curveball that helped keep hitters more off-balance than usual. Though his fastball velocity is down this year — his 94.8 mph average in that start was well beneath last year’s 96.2 — his good control and diverse pitch repertoire could make him a useful option in leagues of this depth.
Deepest (AL/NL-only leagues): Endy Rodriguez, 1B/C, Pittsburgh Pirates (0.4% rostered): A bat-first catching prospect who has had major injury issues over the past few seasons, Rodriguez got the call and a pair of starts behind the plate during the past week after Joey Bart landed on the IL due to a foot infection. Rodriguez went 2-for-7 with a double and a pair of walks in those games and, while he’ll probably split starts with Henry Davis in the short term, his offensive potential is far greater than what Davis has to offer.
Rodriguez hit .323/.407/.590 with 25 homers in his most recent fully healthy season in the minors (2022). While he hasn’t approached those rates since — he hit only .221/.326/.301 to begin the year for Triple-A Indianapolis — such are the dart throws we must make in leagues this deep. He’s catcher-eligible in ESPN leagues, and warrants a look as a high-upside second backstop.
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