Fantasy Baseball Today - The 10 BIGGEST Prospect Promotions in September! (09/03 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

The Orioles called up Luis De Leon while the Blue Jays promoted Ricky Tiedemann. John Peck of the Tigers is kind of interesting! Leo Bernal should get some run with the Cardinals. Yohandy Morales homered in his Nats debut! Lazaro Montes also homered in his Mariners debut!Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Ranking the 10 best September promotions. Up next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Welcome into MPC Express on Thursday, September 3rd. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White and rosters recently expanded as we turned the calendars to September. And we did get some promotions here, Scott, so we'll count down the top 10. And at number 10, you have Cameron Cawley of the Rangers. Yeah, these aren't necessarily the best prospects.

period that were promoted. It's more about how useful they could be in fantasy down the stretch. So Cameron Colley, technically he doesn't. It qualifies a prospect anymore because he was up on the roster for too many days earlier this year

and didn't do much with that time. But he performed well in the minors this year, 14 home runs and 35 deals in 346 at bats. He is probably going to be more of a defensive replacement in center field, a pinch runner type for the Rangers

who are still very much fighting for a playoff spot. I don't know that Cameron Calley has, like it doesn't look like he has good enough exit velocities or pitch recognition, but he hit the ball over the fence a decent amount at AAA, and with his speed, if he gets enough playing time, he could surprise. Number nine on this list,

we have a left-handed pitcher, Luis, DeLeon of the Orioles. Yeah, so as you could tell, the back of the list, guys who probably aren't going to be that useful in fantasy, Luis de Leon is an example because it seems like the Orioles are going to use him more as a reliever.

For now, with a plan still to resume his development as a starting pitcher next year, the numbers at AAA won't blow you away, ERA approaching 5, whip approaching 1.5, but the stuff is very good. and over his minor league career a near 60% ground ball rate.

So it's really just he needs to throw more strikes. That was once true for Christopher Sanchez, too. And I make that comparison on purpose because I think a lot of Luis de Leon's profile is similar. Obviously, that's a very high part of me and he's unlikely to meet it, but there is talent here for Luis de Leon.

Number eight is a name that we have heard for a long time in the prospect community. That is Ricky Teeteman of the Blue Jays. Similar to Luis de Leon, Ricky Tiedeman is serving more as a reliever for the Blue Jays, the left-handed reliever, but still with an eye on making him a starter eventually. A big reason why Tiedemann is being used in relief

is because he only recently returned from Tommy John's surgery, which he had in 2024, and is still building up to a starter workload. So they're just letting him do it in the majors. It's going to be shorter outings. he has yet to throw even two innings between the majors and minors this year. But he was on a similar trajectory to Andrew Painter a few years ago and that he reached AA as a 19-year-old, showed up really high on rank lists.

Unlike Painter, Teeteman still seems to have the effectiveness of his fastball, which pushes 98 miles per hour, gets a lot of extra movement because he has low delivery. A couple strong secondary offerings for Teeteman, too. Don't give up on them in Dynasty leagues. Probably not going to be terribly useful this year. Number seven on the list, we have John Peck infield prospect for the Tigers, and he is someone that you raved about quite a bit on our Full Lane podcast. Yeah, I kind of think he's too low here, but we are getting into a range of players who I think could possibly matter in fantasy,

the relative long shots. What has surprised to me about Peck, a couple things, so far, just in two games. as a major leaguer, first of all, he started both. That's a surprise as a shortstop. The Tigers, of course, have Kevin McGonigle, but they had McGonigle play DH one day. They had him play third base the next day. Peck was at shortstop both times and brings a lot of defensive value,

which makes it more plausible he's going to get playing time. And then you look at his number in the minors. We don't have a lot of stat-cast data because he only played six games at AAA before his promotion. but combining all the stats, mostly at AA, 11 homers, 22 steals and just 70 games. So let's double it.

22 homers, 44 steals. That was the kind of pace he was on. I was most curious to see how hard he hit the ball since we didn't have that stack cast out at AAA. Well, his second start in the majors on Wednesday, he hit a home run, uh, I'm sorry, a double,

109.9 miles per hour. and then had a lineout that was 105.9 miles per hour, both of those were harder hit balls than Max Clark, the big prospect, has ever hit in the major so far. So I think Peck has real juice as a hitter and obviously a great defender, and I'm definitely curious to see what he does this September. Number six on this list is Ben Ross of the Twins. I'll be honest, Scott.

I don't know anything about this guy. What do we need to know? So I'd probably flip him in Peck today because I'm less convinced of Ben Ross's playing time. But it's a similar profile to Peck and that stands out most for his defense but had a breakout season offensively this year in the minors. 2020 guy in the minors this year. OPS near 900 because he walks a lot.

And the exit velocities aren't very good, but he makes up for them with a 91st percentile pull air rate. it's it's pretty similar to what lukechel was doing in the miners i wouldn't say ben ross's plate discipline is quite as good as quichels but it's good plate discipline and maxing out power with a high pole air rate and unlike lukechel ben ross brings a lot of defensive value so i think i think there's some legitimacy here but i suspect he'll just be a utility player down the stretch all right let's take a quick break we'll be back right after this welcome back fbt express we are counting down the top five September promotions.

And at number five, we have Leo Bernal, a catcher with the Cardinals. So this is where we start getting into highly rated prospects, I would say. Bernal was kind of overshadowed in the Cardinals organization, Jimmy Crooks, and of course, Ivan Herrera was recently graduated to the majors. But Bernal is probably the most well-rounded. catcher prospect of all of them. He's a good defender, good receiver,

framer, all of that. And he hits well. I wouldn't say the exit velocity, the plate discipline, none of them are like superlative, but they're all pretty good. He's a switch hitter,

and he started both games since reaching the major. So I think already Leonardo Bernal is worth using in two catcher leagues. And Leo Bernal on Wednesday hit his first career home. It came off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who's one of the best pitchers in baseball. So pretty impressive stuff there from Leo Bernal. Number four on this list is Sean Keyes with the Blue Jays.

Sean Keyes was up a couple times earlier this year, didn't do much. Six for 36. I think he had a pinch hit here Wednesday, so now he's seven for 37. But you look at what he did in the minors this year. 294 batting average 28 home runs, a 1019 OPS, good exit velocities, good plate discipline readings, both. 85th or high, like 80th percentile average eggs of velocity and 91st percentile pull-air rate.

So the guy's swing is attuned to home runs. He reached base at a 417 clip with that good play discipline. Seems like he had trouble hitting breaking balls in his first couple stints in the majors, but John Schneider, the Blue Jays manager, pointed out that it's looked better in the last month at AAA. He can play third base. He can play first base. He can play left field, play DH.

and so I think we're going to see more of Sean keys down the stretch than we saw in his first couple stints. Number three, we have Johandi Morales of the Nationals, and I actually heard one of the broadcasters and the minors call him Yo-Yo Morales. I kind of like that.

I think we should go with it. Yo-Yo-Morales. Yo-Yo-Morales. And he had a big 407-foot home run in his Major League debut Tuesday as a DH was in the lineup again Wednesday as a first baseman. Can also play third base.

So I think the nationals are going to give him an honest look down the stretch. Average XIVA at AAA was 91.5 miles per hour. Max was 113.1. Those are readings comparable to Luis Garcia or Drake Baldwin. Definitely power here for Morales. Difficult path as a right-handed corner man with defensive challenges and subpar plate discipline and maybe strikeouts will get the better of Yon. Bondi Morales in the long run.

But legit power and he's going to get a look. Number two, we have Ethan Salas of the Padres, another name that we have heard about for a long time. Yeah, he's probably the best pure prospect on this list. I wasn't willing to put him at the top of the list because I'm not convinced he's going to play a ton for the Padres down the stretch. Beatwriter A.J. Casavelle for MLB.com wrote, For now, they envision him as a third catcher type

and a useful left-handed bench bat. So it sounds more like it's going to be an apprenticeship chance to let the 20-year-old get his feet wet. By the way, Ethan Salas is the youngest catcher to debut since Savon Rodriguez in 1991. So that's part of the reason why they may not be ready to entrust him with the primary catcher roll yet. But he was in the lineup Wednesday, went over for with two strikeouts. So I don't know that he, I don't know that he earned himself more playing time with that performance, but there's at least got to be some starts for, for Salas. And, you know, there's enough offensive potential here to, to pay close attention down the stretch.

Number one promotion in September, that is Lazaro Montes of the Mariners who homered in his debut. Scott, how about this for a stat? 15 different prospects have homered in their debut in 2026. And that is a new Major League record. How about that? Wow. It seemed like a lot, but I hadn't been counting them up. That's impressive.

Yeah, he homered in his debut, and he had three hits in all, right? Yeah. It was a very strong debut. And then he was out of the line of Wednesday because the left-hander was on the mound. And that's going to be a difficult first hurdle for Lazaro, Lizarro. Zara Montas to overcome. Given that even in the minors this year, he hit 201 with a

692 OPS against lefties. So not sure how much he's going to play against them. And then, of course, strikeout concerns. 31% rate this year, also just a 72% zone contact rate. He hits the ball very, very hard, 94.9

mile per hour. Average exit velocity, 116. The whole profile looks a lot like Munataka Murakami, except Murakami's been doing it against major leaguers while Montes was doing it against minor leaguers. And even Murakami, his batting average, has slipped to about 2.15 for all the success he's had. So I would say it's a volatile profile here for Montez.

A lot of upside, particularly for home runs. But the contact turtle is a major one, and time will tell if he can make enough contact to deliver on his potential. All right, for more extensive fantasy baseball, coverage, listen to our full-lane podcast, Fantasy Baseball today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today Express, and we will be back again this weekend. Bye-bye. Podcasts.