Sterlin Thompson, Colorado Rockies, AAA (end of 2025), 61

Tell me if you have heard this before, a highly touted Rockies’ prospect hitter will finally put it all together into a fantasy relevant major league bat and will fly high on the back of a super boosted Coors Field in Denver. Never works out does it? Well, not so fast. The top-end, highly touted prospects to dream on may have fallen through the cracks, but the less heralded prospects with intriguing underlying data have taken leaps for the Colorado Rockies. Whether it is Brenton Doyle, Nolan Jones, or most recently Hunter Goodman, the Rockies definitely can have impactful bats for fantasy baseball once the prospects finally get a chance at the big league level. The next in line could very well be a prospect that has been hanging on each year to prospect relevancy, but has done so with intrigue. This time it is Sterlin Thompson. He isn’t a flashy prospect, but he is a much better player than he is given credit for around the industry and has been producing all the way up to Triple-A Albuquerque. Now, he may finally get a chance at the major leagues, something a similar prospect Hunter Goodman has done recently and taken full advantage of at Coors Field.

Thompson was drafted out of the University of Florida in 2022, 31st overall. After being taken in the draft, he began his professional career with 15 games at Rookie-ball and 11 at Single-A Fresno. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound outfielder hit the ground running to the tune of a .307/.351/.436 slash line, with two home runs. He would only strike out 28 times in the 26 games, but managed just five walks. The biggest takeaway from the small sample was his hit tool. That was his calling card in college and it was translating in a small sample in the minor leagues.

In 2023, Thompson started the year at High-A Spokane and made quick work of the level as he would continue to show the ability to get hits and begin tapping into his raw power. Over 60 games at High-A, he hit .323/.399/.520 with seven home runs, 22 doubles, and a wRC+ of 140. He was locked in at the plate and rarely struck out, showing a top-tier contact ability with only a 16% strikeout rate. He would finish the season at Double-A  Hartford as a 22-year-old, playing 34 games. He hit only .238, but managed seven more home runs in the small sample size, while having a 110 wRC+.

2024 would see Thompson repeat Double-A and he would struggle at times, only hitting .245/.319/.385 and piling up just 13 home runs. It was good for a 102 wRC+ and he saw his strikeout rate increase to 23.6%, with his walk rate dropping to just 8.3%. Maybe the most glaring issue he had was a lack of power, struggling to a .141 ISO.

Despite some hard times at Double-A, Thompson would move up to Triple-A last year and play in the PCL, a hitters’ paradise. Naturally his numbers improved, as he hit .296/.392/.519 with 18 home runs, 8 triples, and 28 doubles. He walked 10.3% of the time and only struck out in 20.9% of his plate appearances. It was a big leap forward after the down year at Double-A in 2024. He had a 118 wRC+ and was one of the best hitters at Triple-A.

Just looking at his player page from last year and it is hard to fathom that Thompson was in the 90th percentile or better in doubles (96th), triples (99th), home runs (95th), average (92nd), ISO (94th), wOBA (93rd), OBP (90th), SLG (96th), OPS (96th), and HR/FB (92nd).

The big question is, how well will those numbers translate to the big leagues? Some of it was boosted by PCL parks, as seen in his wRC+ being just 118, but overall Thompson did what you want to see from a prospect on the verge of the big leagues. He doesn’t strike out a lot, just 20.9% at Triple-A. He hits for power, extra bases, and does well when he hits the ball to the opposite field. He has a unique ability to hit the ball in the air to the opposite field and hit the ball very hard on pitches away from him. This should come in handy when he gets to the major leagues. He does hit the ball on the ground a lot to the pull side, but with a 85% in-zone contact rate he puts the ball in play.

Maybe the biggest sign of things to come from Thompson was how he closed the 2025 season. Over the last two months he hit an eye opening .370/.472/.655, with an OPS of 1.127, a wRC+ of 171, and eight home runs. He was magnificent in his push toward the major leagues. This also came with a 12.7% walk rate and only a 17.6% strikeout. He may be one call away from the big league club, even at the start of the 2026 season. If he gets a shot, he could provide rather good value for a prospect that has been forgotten about by many, but who keeps succeeding with his bat.

Look for Thompson to begin the 2026 season at Triple-A again, barring any wild decisions from the big league club. He should get his shot at some point in 2026 and take full advantage of it. The power may not be there at the start, but his hit tool could carry him until he adjusts and starts taking advantage of Coors Field. He may not be inside the Top 100 of prospects overall, but there is sneaky value here for a forgotten prospect still making noise.