There have been endless poems and quotes written about spring — everything begins again, including rampant prospect speculation and card releases. Emerson wrote something about that, I think, in his “Collection of Minor Leaguers I Like to Collect” (1873).
Lost in the hustle and bustle of trying to find “the next big thing” is the art of uncovering lesser-known prospects right under our noses. And as the worlds of fantasy baseball and card collecting run almost perfectly parallel, we wanted to take a microscope to four minor leaguers with great numbers but no MLB stardom… yet.
Brewer Hicklen, OF, MIL
The Card: Hicklen actually has a good amount of cards. His 2019 Pro Debut has a great aesthetic to it:
What if I told you there existed a ready-to-start outfielder with a path to playing time, who hit 22 home runs last season in the International League, with 44 steals and a .363 OBP? And what if I told you that happened in 115 games? And thennn what if I added the fact that he has a season of 28 homers in 130 games, has stolen 35 or more bases four other times in his career, and has a career OBP of .358? You’d be all over this guy, right?
Brewer Hicklen has never made a prospect list and his Average Draft Position (ADP) at the NFBC hasn’t even cracked the top 1000. So what’s the problem?
Hicklen is 29 years old. But that can’t be it, right? We asked Mike Kurland, a fantasy baseball expert and high stakes player whose Spring Training Lineup Tracker is one of the most brilliant and useful tools in all of fantasy prep land.
“According to the tracker, Hicklen has only started five games this spring and often with the B-lineups,” Kurland explains. “He’s shown some flashes with a power/speed combination in the minors and got a few games with the Brewers last year but playing time seems unlikely without an injury or two.”
Chad Patrick, SP, MIL
The Card: 2023 Bowman Chrome
Chad Patrick shouldn’t be “little known” — he was the International League Pitcher of the Year in 2024. And yet here we are — the 26 year-old Patrick, with a shot at making the rotation, is the 962nd player taken, on average, in NFBC spring drafts so far.
Patrick figured something out last year in Nashville, putting up a 2.90 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and striking out 145 batters in 136 ⅓ IP. His career up until 2024 had been forgettable — he showed some flashes in 2022 in the Arizona system (3.30 ERA and 1.25 WHIP), but that was over just 46 ⅓ innings.
Patrick has yet to make any top prospect lists — even for his own organization. And Steamer projects him for a relief role in 2025, with almost a K per inning, with a 4.02 ERA. But Steamer has been wrong before!
Carson Palmquist, SP, COL
The Card: 2022 Bowman Chrome
We’re probably not going to need an expert to tell us why a starting pitcher with an 11.9 K/9 over three minor league seasons (in 211 innings, he has struck out 279 batters) isn’t being taken in many drafts, or is even on many “top prospect” lists.
Carson Palmquist, for all his accomplishments, is eventually headed to Colorado as a major leaguer.
Sure, trades can happen and fortunes can change, but Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez are the only two Rockies pitchers in the last five years to post sub-4.00 ERAs on the season as full-time starters, And that was the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The humidor isn’t helping!
MLB Pipeline has Palmquist as the Rockies’ No. 23 prospect, and his majors ETA is this season. And while MLB.com notes that Palmquist’s fastball tops out at around 93 m.p.h. as a starter, it “often plays better than average because of the funk and deception in his delivery.”
Jose De Léon, RP, BOS
The card: 2017 Topps Archives (with that 1982 retro look)
José De León is a 32-year-old former top prospect, who was as high as No. 23 on Baseball America’s list. He’s had two Tommy John surgeries. He’s been converted to reliever and back again. And yet…
In this year’s Winter League, De León had a 1.32 ERA and struck out 15 batters in 13 ⅔ IP. The Red Sox signed him to a minor league deal and De León has a chance to see some innings in 2025. Not immediately, but he could excel in the minors and come into Boston as relief or spot start help. One big clutch performance? He gets some chatter at Cask N’ Flagon. A few more? He’s a Red Sox folk hero.
Can it happen? YES. Will it?
De León posted elite minor league control and strikeout numbers before injuries derailed him. We saw him shine in the 2023 WBC, leading Puerto Rico’s group no-hitter and being pulled for pitch count limits. He’s battled with high walk totals since his MLB debut, but he’s still just 32 years-old, he has talent, and he’s pitching in an organization with holes he can fill. Kurland offers little help (“I have nothing on De León,” he laughs), but we believe that hope springs eternal this time of year (and don’t we all want a feel-good story to cling to?). Plus, worst case, that 1982 retro look is just a very cool card, aesthetically.
