Fantasy Baseball Prospect Report – Bubba Chandler Makes His Mark

Many of the fantasy baseball prospect notes below will look at how top prospects are performing after making their debuts in the Major Leagues. With top prospects, we often get stuck in confirmation bias and tell ourselves they will be great, just like in the minor leagues. But too often, that is not the case (think about Jackson Holliday last season or Mick Abel this season).

These decisions of who to pick up in the last month of the season are crucial, so tread lightly when thinking you will pick up all the hot rookies to bolster your batting roster or pitching rotation.

As players graduate to the Major Leagues, new names will always take their place as the season goes along, but for now, some prospects are just starting to get their first shots. All stats are as of games completed on August 24th. Today’s piece will focus on the most relevant prospect news from around the minor leagues, focusing on the biggest names in the 2025 Top 100 list and those who have a small sample of MLB games under their belts.

Now, with just about 30 games left for most teams in MLB, let’s take a look at some of the Top 100 prospects and how they are performing in the big leagues so far.

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Report

Owen Caissie, CHC, OF

Outfielder Owen Caissie has fared well in his first eight games, hitting .263/.300/.474 with one home run and four RBI. He has no steals yet, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is a gross 5:1, but this is to be expected from someone with 10 days’ experience in the big leagues. However, Caissie may find himself on the bench more often now that Kyle Tucker has returned and seems to be hitting better. With Tucker, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, and Pete Crow-Armstrong, the outfield and DH spots are spoken for.

Samuel Basallo, BAL, C/DH

The Orioles think so much of 20-year-old Samuel Basallo that a report came out this week that former Baltimore top catching prospect Adley Rutschman might be on the trading block this winter. Basallo signed an 8-year, $67 million contract last week and is hitting .261/.320/.348 with two doubles and five RBI in seven games since his call-up to Baltimore.

Kyle Teel, CHW, C

Teel has recently graduated from prospect status, and you can tell he is hitting his stride after 50 games. Currently, Teel is hitting .283/.375/.409 with four home runs, 21 RBI, and even a couple of steals already. He is one of many young pieces the Chicago White Sox hope will provide a core nucleus for some time. Teel is still only 23 years old and is in the Major Leagues to stay.

Carson Williams, TBR, SS

The first couple of games of 22-year-old Carson Williams’ career could not have gone much better. After being called up by the Rays, Williams is hitting .429/.500/1.000 with a home run, a stolen base, three RBI, and four runs. Even after an underwhelming 111 games at AAA this season, Williams has shown the stage isn’t too big for him after his first eight plate appearances.

C.J. Kayfus, CLE, 1B

After Josh Naylor was traded away, C.J. Kayfus was given the shot at first base, and it has mostly been a mixed bag so far. He is hitting .220/.282/.424 with two home runs and eight RBI in 19 games. A left-handed batter, Kayfus has had a hard time against southpaws so far, so he has been sitting against them lately. He was on the bench Monday night when Tampa Bay started a left-handed pitcher.

Nolan McLean, NYM, SP

Nolan McLean is the latest young pitcher for the New York Mets to come up and dominate. He pitched seven innings with only two runs allowed to the Atlanta Braves. He struck out seven batters and did not walk a man. With Nolan McLean now up, and Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat not far behind, it’s beginning to feel like the Matt Harvey-Jacob DeGrom-Noah Syndergaard years all over again.

Hurston Waldrep, ATL, SP

Hurston Waldrep is now 4-0 in the Major Leagues after shutting out the White Sox with seven strikeouts in seven innings last Wednesday. The young Braves prospect now has a 0.73 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP with 24 strikeouts in 24 innings so far since his call-up. In what has otherwise been a horrific year for the Braves, Waldrep stands out as a bright spot and something they can look forward to in 2026.

Dylan Beavers, BAL, OF

Dylan Beavers started eight straight games for Baltimore after being recalled, before finally getting a day off on Monday night against Boston. Through eight games, Beavers is excelling, hitting .296/.441/.482 with a home run, a stolen base, and seven walks in 34 plate appearances. He should see regular time the rest of the year as the Orioles embrace the full youth movement to close out the 2025 season.

Jonah Tong, NYM, SP

The Mets officially decided to call up another promising young pitcher, Jonah Tong, to make his MLB debut against the Marlins at home on Friday. This means the Mets will move to a six-man rotation as they make the stretch run for the playoffs. Tong has the most strikeouts in the minor leagues with 179 in 113.2 innings. So far in the minor leagues this year, Tong has a 1.42 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 2025.

Mick Abel, MIN, SP

The horrible debut season for Mick Abel continued this past weekend, even in his new home of Minnesota. Abel lost to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday when he allowed six runs in three innings, with only two strikeouts. That’s now a 6.42 ERA and 1.54 WHIP this season in just under 30 big league innings. The trade away from Philadelphia hasn’t helped his control and command, and he has a lot of work to do this offseason to learn how to stick with a team.

Jhostynxon Garcia, BOS, OF

The Boston Red Sox rookie Jhostynxon Garciawas was brought up, but went 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts against the New York Yankees. But then on Tuesday night, Garcia was not in the lineup against right-handed pitcher Kyle Bradish. It appears this might be a situation where Garvia plays against all left-handed pitchers, and is only sometimes played against right-handers. Garcia has plenty of pop and some speed to show Boston he is ready for the big show.

Bubba Chandler, PIT, SP

Paul Skenes (who is likely winning the Cy Young award) is not the only dominant, young Pirates pitcher. Prized rookie Bubba Chandler got off to a marvelous start in his Major League debut this weekend. Chandler pitched four innings of scoreless relief and struck out three with no walks. He also touched 100 miles per hour on the radar gun, and it looks like he belongs with the big leaguers already. It was a long wait to get him up to The Show, but he looks great.