A.J. Ewing, Colt Emerson are priority adds and more fantasy baseball takeaways

Mets top prospect A.J. Ewing has hit the ground running since his promotion last week, and he's not likely to last long on the waiver wire. Jim McIsaac / Getty Images Share articleThe Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is a special edition of The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox. Early major league success can be a fragile thing, but Mets prospect A.J. Ewing is certainly looking like a guy who won’t need to spend another hour in the minors. Ewing reached base four times in his debut last week, drilling a run-scoring triple for his first MLB hit. On Thursday, he launched his first homer in the bigs, and it wasn’t exactly a wall-scraper: First MLB homer for @Mets top prospect A.J. Ewing! 110.5 mph | 405 feet pic.twitter.com/LV6DnvlJup — MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 14, 2026 We are one week into Ewing’s New York experience and he already kinda feels essential to this very silly team. He’s slashing .294/.500/.588 through six games, he’s stolen one bag, scored five runs, driven in three (from the bottom-third of the order) and drawn seven walks. Also, the Mets have gone 5-1 with him on the squad. Not such a bad showing for a 21-year-old. Ewing swiped a combined 70 bags last season in the minors at three different stops, plus he stole another 17 this year before the call-up. This is a player with significant fantasy appeal who is not yet universally rostered. It probably wouldn’t be the worst idea to survey your fantasy portfolio today in search of opportunities to add Ewing. This will serve as last call. Seattle promoted Emerson, a consensus top-10 prospect, ahead of Sunday night’s game against San Diego. According to general manager Justin Hollander, this is not merely a short-term roster patch: Colt Emerson will be the Mariners’ primary third baseman moving forward, per Justin Hollander. Brendan Donovan will receive a PRP injection in the groin strain, as well as a different injection in his adductor. They’re hopeful he can get back to baseball activity in 2-3 weeks. — Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 17, 2026 Emerson is only 20, so we should obviously not expect immediate five-category fantasy relevance. He’s been plenty good at Triple-A this season — 7 HR, 10 SB, .816 OPS — but he’s struck out 46 times in 38 games. But let’s remember that a 20-year-old who can simply tread water at Triple A is doing great. Emerson showcased speed and power along with the ability to handle left-handed pitching (.853). He’s a priority add on upside alone. Listen, some of us are simply desperate for speed in NL-only leagues, and we needed Carrigg in the majors last week. The sooner he reaches Coors Field, the better. Carrigg was unreasonably good throughout spring training for Colorado, going 12-for-31 (.390) with six extra-base hits before being reassigned to minor league camp. He’s been spectacular in the early weeks for Triple-A Albuquerque, slashing .353/.404/.533 with four bombs and an outrageous 26 steals. Carrigg stole 99 bags in the minors over the previous two seasons and he now seems to have leveled up in terms of on-base ability (albeit in a very friendly hitting environment). This freak recently hit safely in 22 straight games, so it doesn’t seem as if he has been appropriately challenged. Carrigg’s time is no doubt coming soon, because Colorado’s outfield is not exactly loaded. He’s an obvious stash for anyone with speed needs. Perhaps it’s still too early in the season for anyone to victory lap their best fantasy baseball decisions, but, speaking broadly, it seems reasonable to say that Zero SP drafting was absolutely the way to go. Anyone who chose a different path was a cowardly, unthinking herd animal. Fair? Sometimes the truth can sting a little. It has simply not been a great season for the early-round starting pitchers, which should not come as a great surprise to any of you. The risk/reward calculation on luxury starters has changed dramatically over the years. Major league pitchers are now among the most delicate creatures in nature. It has never made less sense to burn early draft capital on this roster position. Of the 14 starting pitchers who were commonly selected inside the opening five rounds in NFBC drafts back in the spring, six are currently injured. Various others have underperformed. Only Paul Skenes, Chris Sale, Cristopher Sánchez and Jacob deGrom have actually met expectations. Full credit to them, but four success stories out of 14 early picks is not ideal. Of course, the reason Zero SP has been so effective this season isn’t really about the top-of-draft misfires, but rather all the mid- and late-round wins. Eight of the current top-12 starting pitchers in the year-to-date ranks had an average draft position (ADP) outside the top 120, including four who were routinely drafted beyond the top-300 picks. It wasn’t all that difficult to imagine ace-like breakout seasons from Cam Schlittler (SP1), Jacob Misiorowski (SP6), Chase Burns (SP7) and Jose Soriano (SP9), because all four offered extreme velocity and unmistakably superior stuff — easy calls for the Zero SP crowd. Parker Messick (SP11) and Shota Imanaga (SP12) might have been somewhat trickier to identify, although both have experienced prior MLB success. Davis Martin (SP4) and Bryce Elder (SP10) were … well, OK, they were frankly not foreseeable unless you happen to be a visitor from the future. Every season has its versions of Martin and Elder, however, just as it has fresh Schlittlers, Sorianos and Messicks. We promise you can construct winning fantasy rotations without shopping in the luxury pitching tiers. Some of you maniacs eschew starting pitchers in all draft ranges — early, middle and late — because you prefer to live dangerously on the wire each week. *Leonardo DiCaprio cheers meme* For you, these are the new leads: A version of this article appeared as part of The Athletic’s newsletter, The Windup. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms