Week 11 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Watch: Roman Anthony, Jacob Melton Lead Outfielders

Emerging outfielders Roman Anthony, Jacob Melton, and others are making their case for MLB playing time and potential fantasy value as roster shake-ups loom.

Worcester left fielder Roman Anthony runs on a fly ball against the Durham Bulls May 23. | Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With outfield spots in flux across several MLB rosters, young talents like Roman Anthony, Jacob Melton, Esteury Ruiz, Jake McCarthy, and MJ Melendez are inching closer to fantasy relevance. Whether due to trade rumors, injuries, or breakout performances at AAA, each of these players could become impact adds in the coming weeks.

Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox

Over the past week, I’ve seen a couple of reports indicating that Boston is willing to trade Jarren Duran this summer. This could be the hint or opening that Anthony needs to earn a major league starting job.

His bat faded over his last 11 games at AAA (9-for-45 with seven runs, three home runs, and 14 RBIs), with a wider gap between his walks (6) and strikeouts (14).  Anthony dropped below .300 after going 0-4 on Wednesday. He’s hitting .296 with 42 runs, nine home runs, 24 RBIs, and three stolen bases over 203 at-bats this season. 

“Every day Roman Anthony’s not in the big leagues that’s a day that he could have won a game for this team.”@JeffPassan questions the lack of urgency from the Red Sox to call up Roman Anthony. pic.twitter.com/p8lIdEW1x8

— Section 10 Podcast (@Section10Pod) June 5, 2025

Jacob Melton, Houston Astros

Melton is no longer in the minors after the Astros called him up last Saturday. I haven’t written about him this year due to an early-season back issue (IL stint), and quiet stats over his 17 games at AAA (.254/11/2/7/3 over 59 at-bats). 

Over four years in the minors, Melton hit .251 with 164 runs, 44 home runs, 129 RBIs, and 84 stolen bases over 942 at-bats. His overall counting stats suggest he is a 20/40 type player, assuming his results are repeated at the major league level. Melton had a favorable walk rate (9.9), with some work needed to lower his strikeout rate (23.1).

With the Astros, he has one hit over eight at-bats with one walk and five strikeouts. Melton has 232 at-bats of experience at AAA (.259 with 38 runs, seven home runs, 27 RBIs, and 14 steals), with a slight pullback in his strikeout rate (24.2). Houston called him up after placing Zach Dezenzo and Chas McCormick on the injured list.

A learning curve in the majors should be expected for Melton, making him more of a follow until he starts producing on the field. His speed should be ahead of his power early in his career, but he can’t steal bases without more hits. 

Esteury Ruiz, Los Angeles Dodgers

Tommy Edman has been battling an ankle injury recently, and the Dodgers may place him on the injured list after sitting out his matchup on Wednesday night. With him out of the lineup, Hyeseong Kim should be rewarded with the most playing time. 

Esteury Ruiz is hitting .274 with 16 XBHs, 20 RBIs, 27 SBs and an OPS of .791 in AAA. It'll be great to see what he can do with the Dodgers.

Bad news: He would be replacing someone on the roster. Could be unrelated, but Tommy Edman is out of the lineup for a second straight day. https://t.co/iBwCWyfXaW

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) June 4, 2025

Los Angeles may call up Ruiz to replace him on the roster. Over his last 14 games at AAA, he has 18 hits over 60 at-bats (.300) with 15 runs, one home run, seven RBIs, and eight stolen bases. He also took six walks while striking out 13 times. 

Ruiz has been productive for LA at AAA (.274/35/3/20/27 over 168 at-bats), something that Michael Conforto has been in the majors (.165 with 24 runs, three home runs, nine RBIs, and one steal over 170 at-bats).

Jake McCarthy, Arizona Diamondbacks

Over his last five games at AAA (four starts), McCarthy went 6-for-18 with two runs and one steal. His batting average (.290) this year in the minors has been an asset, but he doesn’t have a home run over 138 at-bats with only eight RBIs and eight steals. 

McCarthy had a splash 99 games with Arizona in 2022, leading to a .283 batting average with 53 runs, eight home runs, 43 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases. Last year, he was also helpful when in the Diamondbacks’ lineup (.285/66/8/56/25 over 442 at-bats). McCarthy could be part of a trade deal for a starting pitcher over the next month, potentially getting him back in the majors.

MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals

After a disappointing start to the season with the Royals (4-for-47 with one solo home run and 20 strikeouts), Melendez repeated his failure over his first 77 at-bats at AAA (eight runs, one home run, and six RBIs with 27 strikeouts). 

His bat started to turn the corner over his last 17 games, leading to a .288 batting average with 11 runs, six home runs, 13 RBIs, and nine steals (wow) over 66 at-bats. More importantly, Melendez had a much lower strikeout rate (18.1) over this span. 

John Rave is 3-for-15 with a run and six strikeouts in his first experience in the majors. If the Royals ship him back to AAA, Melendez could be the next man up.