The 2024 fantasy baseball season is almost upon us, and with that comes a group of first-year players looking to make waves in the majors.
These prospect rankings are based on fantasy value, not on real-life value. Considering such, hitters generally weigh a bit heavier due to the injury risk and higher volatility of prospect pitchers. Proximity to the majors is also prominent in the equation, though these rankings are taking a longer-term/dynasty look on these guys (think of it more as a five-year plan).
If you are curious about the fScore ratings you can check out my fScore rankings and information on the fScores here.
Here is my overall Top 30 First-Year Player Draft Rankings. Below we dive into a few notable names from those rankings.
NOTE: I have updated some of these rankings post-Top 150 Prospect Rankings (see here) articles posted earlier in the month on FantasyPros, considering international signees and other factors.
First-Year Player Draft Rankings (2024 Fantasy Baseball)
Paul Skenes (SF – PIT)
2023 College: 122 2/3 IP, 209 Ks, 20 BBs, 1.69 ERA, 0.75 WHIP
2023 Rk/A/AA: 6 2/3 IP, 10 Ks, 2 BBs, 5.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP
Age: 21
ETA: Early 2024
fScores: 45 fPDurability, 111 fStuff, 104 fControl, 112 fERA
Comp: Justin Verlander
Prime Skills: Skenes is more curve than slider, but his fastball is insane and his command is impeccable, especially the fastball. He throws high heat and has shown he’s durable and consistent. He has a good shot to spend most of 2024 at the major league level.
Ranking Explanation: Pitchers are almost always going to get a nudge down compared to a hitter, because of the potential volatility mostly due to injuries. Pitchers have an approximately 20% greater chance of an injury to position players. I’m interested to see how the stuff plays against major league hitters.
Kyle Teel (C – BOS)
2023 College: .407/.475/.655, 13 HR, 5 SB
2023 Rk/A+AA: .363/.483/.495, 2 HR, 3 SB
Age: 21
TBD: Opening Day 2025
fScores: N/A
Comp: Buster Posey
Prime Skills: He’s an athletic catcher with a big hit tool. He gets some comps to J.T. Realmuto, but I think he is more of a high average hitter who will get on base more than the primarily power and speed threat of Realmuto.
Ranking Explanation: A solid catcher bat is always valuable, though not as valuable as some of the higher ceiling players. While Clark has a higher ceiling, I’ll give Teel the edge due to being a catcher and proximity – because he could make his debut in 2024.
Brock Wilken (3B – MIL)
2023 College: .345/.506/.807, 31 HR, 1 SB
2023 Rk/A+/AA: .285/.414/.473, 5 HR, 4 SB
Age: 22
ETA: Early 2025
fScores: N/A
Comp: Austin Riley
Prime Skills: This dude has massive power, but the question is if the hit tool can be average enough to allow him to mash 30-40 homers.
Ranking Explanation: Chris Welsh came on my podcast and was like, “Dude, I’m surprised you aren’t higher on Wilken” and made me rethink my ranking of him. If I think he could be Riley, he’s already hit AA and is a college guy that could advance quickly in a nice ballpark, then why wouldn’t I be higher on him? This is a guy who will be much higher in my latest ranking update, I think he’s going to be a force.
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