Fantasy Baseball Draft Prospects: Shota Imanaga, Colt Keith, Victor Scott (2024)

These prospect rankings are based on FANTASY value, not real-life value. Considering such, hitters generally weigh a bit heavier for me due to the injury risk and higher volatility of prospect pitchers. Proximity to the majors is also prominent in these rankings since we are looking at guys for only 2024.

Rather than getting into writing little bios on all of these hitters, I’ve decided to keep my rankings simple. I’ll provide the 2023 stats of each player across all levels, a player comp, a small blub on the player’s prime skills for fantasy, and an explanation of my ranking with expectations for 2024 with ATC projections and my thoughts on these projections. I’ve also included fScores for any players I expect to debut in 2024, which highlights what my fScore projections believe the player is capable of at the pro level for immediate impact.

If you are curious about the fScore ratings, you can check out my fScore rankings and information on the fScores by following THIS LINK.

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs or 50 IPs at the Major League level. I did opt to include the foreign imports in this equation but did not include Shane Baz (who would be ranked 5th behind Chourio) or Mason Miller (who would rank 14th).

Top Prospects to Target for Redraft Leagues

Shota Imanaga (SP – CHC)

2023 NPB: 148 IP, 174 Ks, 24 BBs, 2.80 ERA, 1.05 WHIP

Age: 30

ETA: Opening Day 2024

fScores: 88 fPDurability, 105 fStuff, 106 fControl, 93 fERA

Comp: Lesser, mini Nick Lodolo with a splitter

Prime Skills: Excellent control without the killer stuff and arsenal of Yoshi Yamamoto. He’s known for the IVB on his fastball, which produces some nice ride from the left side, a solid slider, and, of course, the Japan staple, the splitter – which doesn’t match the Yoshi or Senga splitters, though I feel there aren’t many left side splitters in the MLB right now, so that will be interesting to see.

Projections (ATC): 142 IP, 143 Ks, 40 BBs, 3.84 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

Ranking Explanation: These projections actually play out a bit better than what I would expect. I see a similar innings and K/BB as projected, but I think we will be looking at more like a 4.20 ERA with those totals. He’s breaking camp from Opening Day as an import, which is what helps to push him up the rankings a bit here.

Colt Keith (2B,3B – DET)

2023 AA/AAA: .306/.380/.552, 27 HR, 3 SB

Age: 22

ETA: Opening Day 2024

fScores: 98 fContact, 96 fDiscipline, 96 fPower, 70 fSpeed, 77 fDiscipline

Comp: Josh Donaldson

Prime Skills: Solid hit tool at 3B and an aggressive power-hungry swing. The plate skills are excellent, but the hope is he can get to more power and raise the EVs and barrels before he makes his major league debut.

Projections (ATC): .262/.328/.431, 8 HR, 2 SB (67 games)

Ranking Explanation: The projections were obviously pre-contract, but now that Colt Keith has signed a long-term deal, it looks as if he will break camp as the starting 2B for the Tigers and bring 2B / 3B multi-position eligibility to the table. I would project a slightly higher OBP and slug in the .340/.450 range with 18-22 homers and 3-5 steals over the course of his rookie season.

Victor Scott (OF – STL)

2023 A+/AA: .303/.369/.425, 9 HR, 94 SB

Age: 23

ETA: Mid 2024

fScores: 96 fContact, 84 fDiscipline, 69 fPower, 269 fSpeed, 72 fDurability

Comp: Esteury Ruiz with more power and a better glove

Prime Skills: Speed and contact; he has limited power, but it’s not nothing. He will instantly be a top 5 runner in baseball once he’s up and should have more value than Esteury Ruiz once he is up and established into the Cardinals lineup with a regular role.

Projections (ATC): .253/.312/.359, 1 HR, 2 SB (9 games)

Ranking Explanation: Scott’s value is all going to be based on when he is promoted. The Cardinals love him, and he’s a future gold glove type in CF. I believe his future is pretty tied to the rest of the OFs. Do the Cardinals trade Edman, Carlson, or Burleson? If they do, then Scott could be up sooner. My guess is they do make some trades at some point and Scott could be up as early as Opening Day, but most likely he’s up post trade deadline. How many steals can he get in about 60 games? Will he start all 60 games? Probably not… I’m going to be conservative on this one and say he does the following in about 40 games: .280/.335/.390 with 2 homers and 15 steals. If the Cardinals trade some OF depth, then jump on Scott before the rest of your league does because the speed could be league-changing.

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