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Top Fantasy Prospects for the Rest of the Season, Week 9

A surprising name comes off the list this week with Eduardo Rodriguez staying in the rotation. Who are the top fantasy prospects still in the minors who can make an impact in redraft leagues?

By Jason Hunt
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

It's a bit of a truncated Buy and Hold this week, as the duties surrounding the rest of my life took up slightly more time than anticipated this week. With that in mind, here's a look at the three prospects called up this week, along with the usual top 10 fantasy prospects still in the minors.

Eduardo Rodriguez - Rodriguez was called up for what was supposed to be a spot-start, and was excellent in his debut against the Rangers. He went 7.2 innings, striking out 7 and allowing just five base runners en route to the win. He pitched well enough that the Red Sox have opted to keep Rodriguez up and go with a six-man rotation for the time being. It may be a short stay for Rodriguez depending on what the team decides to do on the next go-around, but I can't honestly see them sending Rodriguez back down if he pitches well again.

Chi Chi Gonzalez - The Rangers announced that Gonzalez will be starting today against Boston on Saturday, and that he should have a long leash to keep that spot, at least according to his general manager Jon Daniels. I expect that Gonzalez will run with it, and is worth an add in nearly all formats. He's doesn't have the ceiling that some of the names below do, but he should be a solid #4/#5 fantasy starter for the rest of the year.

Michael Feliz - Feliz was the subject of some roster tomfoolery right before the Rule 5 deadline this past offseason, and was eventually added to the 40-man roster and protected before the final deadline. The Astros put Scott Feldman on the disabled list, but brought Feliz up to work out of the bullpen rather than as a starter. He could be a high strikeout reliever, but is probably only worth an add in very deep redraft formats right now because of the role.

So who's next? Which prospect is still worth holding onto now for when they are called up to the majors later?

Graduates

Week 3: Kris Bryant, Yasmany Tomas
Week 4: Carlos Rodon, Addison Russell, Kevin Plawecki
Week 5: Dilson Herrera, Blake Swihart
Week 6: Noah Syndergaard, Austin Hedges, Eddie Rosario, Preston Tucker
Week 7: Maikel Franco, Lance McCullers Jr.
Week 8: Rusney Castillo, Wilmer Difo
Week 9: Eduardo Rodriguez, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Michael Feliz

Rk Player Team Pos. LW Level ETA Comments
1 Carlos Correa HOU SS 2 AAA 5/31 Well, Sunday is 5/31, and at this point I'm not convinced that the Astros bring up Correa by then. But you should still take a look at this monstrous home run he hit a couple days ago, and look forward to when he arrives, which really could be any day now it seems.
2 Andrew Heaney LAA LHP 1 AAA 6/15 Heaney has made two starts since last week's article, the first pretty good, and the second one pretty horrible. The rest of the Angels rotation keeps plugging away well enough that the path for Heaney seems a bit less clear.
3 Hector Olivera LAD 3B/2B 3 XST 7/1 The Dodgers essentially cleared a space for Olivera when he is ready with the trade of Juan Uribe to the Braves. While Olivera isn't expected to be ready for another month or so, he's likely to represent a better option than Justin Turner or Alex Guerrero.
4 Corey Seager LAD SS/3B 4 AAA 6/15 Seager had a pretty good week at AAA Oklahoma City, hitting .519 with 3 home runs and a 6 hit game as well. I am fairly firm in the belief that when he gets the call, it will be to play shortstop and not third at this point.
5 Rob Refsnyder NYY 2B 5 AAA 6/15 This week in Stephen Drew: 1 for 22, with the 1 hit being a home run and giving this week's line of .045/.045/.162.
6 Aaron Nola PHI RHP 6 AA 7/1 I'll keep waiting for the Phillies to decide it's time for Nola rather than Jerome Williams, and the fact that they cut loose Grady Sizemore this week gives me hope it might actually happen.
7 Daniel Norris TOR LHP NR AAA 6/15 A new addition to this week's list, Norris continues to struggle with his command in AAA Buffalo. With that in mind though, it's not like Marco Estrada has been exactly tearing up the place with the rotation spot right now.
8 Francisco Lindor CLE SS 7 AAA 6/15 The guys on the Raw Projection podcast over at Baseball Prospectus speculated that Lindor could stay down for a majority of the year,and the farther the Indians fall out of the division race, the more likely that could become.
9 Steven Matz NYM LHP 8 AAA 7/15 Timothy Finnegan talked about Matz this week, and I would check out that post.
10 Luis Severino NYY RHP NR AAA 7/15 Severino was just promoted to AAA Scranton this week, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was in the Yankees rotation after just a few starts there.