Nothing but Neto
Zach Neto (LAA): 2-4, 2B, HR, R, RBI.
Patrick Corbin and the Rangers held the Angels to all zeroes until the ninth inning, but Neto would not be denied. In the ninth inning against Danny Coulombe, Neto uncorked his 23rd homer of the season and finished the night with multiple extra-base hits.
Yeah, the shortstop position might be the most loaded in baseball, but Neto is starting to stand out. He’s now behind only Francisco Lindor in home runs at the position in just 113 games (offseason shoulder surgery delayed his arrival until April 18th). He also has 23 steals to go with his 23 homers and could threaten the 30/30 range if he stays hot. Not bad for a player barely drafted in the top 200!
Neto was drafted in the first round out of Campbell University as the 13th overall pick in 2022, and played in just eleven games in the Minors in 2023 before getting the call (he was batting .400 after fifty plate appearances). He hit just .225 in his rookie season but showed promise with seventeen doubles (he is also elite at getting plunked, finishing top ten in the league in HBP’s).
Neto played in 155 games in his second season and netted thirty steals and took a big step forward in the power department, finishing with 58 extra-base hits. He also flashed his speed with 30 steals, which was 25 more than he had in his rookie campaign. And now this year, he’s taken the next step. So, how’s he doing it?
Neto’s a pure pull hitter with a high fly-ball rate, meaning any short porch in left is a prime target (he’d have 29 homers if he played in Houston every day). He’s also upped his Average EV a whole 2.5 mph this season, from 88.5 to 91.0 (which is 73rd percentile). He’s also sporting a 13.9% Barrel Rate, which is in the 87th percentile. All of this results in an xSLG that’s 26 points higher than his real Slugging Percentage, .513 (88th percentile) to .487.
So basically, all his stats are earned. Now, Neto doesn’t play as well in points leagues due to his >20% K-BB rate, but he’s still very useful. And in a categories league, he’s become a top-5 Shortstop. He’ll likely be underrated again, but it might be for the last time.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday:
Ozzie Albies (ATL): 3-5, 2B, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Ozzie’s 2025 season has not gone as many drafters hoped. Considered a bounce-back candidate by many, Albies carried a top-60 ADP even after he underperformed the previous year with a .251 average and just ten homers. And his performance dropped from there after a broken wrist in July, when he hit just .182 in a September return.
So why he was drafted in the top 60 this year is a bit of a mystery, but until recently, he was a second baseman who could net you thirty homers and fifteen steals. His metrics tell the story:
In 2025, he has nose-dived in the barrel department to a rate in the ninth percentile. His xSLG and xWOBA are both in the seventh percentile. And as a switch-hitter, Ozzie’s power is completely sapped on the right side, with no homers in 139 ABs and a .600 OPS.
That is, no homers until last night. But first, batting from the left side and facing Sandy Alcantara in the fourth inning, Albies yanked a moonshot into the upper deck near the foul pole in right. And then in the ninth inning, Albies stepped in against a lefty and finally got his first RHB homer. Both round-trippers clocked in at exactly 105.6 mph.
George Springer (TOR): 4-5, 2 HR, 4 R, 2 RBI.
Springer has come back from his concussion-related IL stint on a mission. Already in the midst of an age-defying comeback season, he’s reached another level in his last ten games with a .359 batting average, six homers, and 1.188 OPS. His twin bombs (against the Twins, natch) both came off Bailey Ober and went a combined 878 feet. Each clocked in at over 112 mph as well. Springer also had a sharp single in the first at 107.6 mph off the bat. So, the Renaissance continues—it will be interesting how drafters treat him next Spring as he should finish in the top 30 overall player rankings, but his age (35) might make them balk. I say he’s still got it.
Trevor Story (BOS): 2-4, HR, R, RBI, SB.
Speaking of a Renaissance, Story just reached 20/20 territory for the first time since he was in Colorado. Still, given the metrics, I would easily take Springer: Story is lucky to be hitting .250 with a 28% K-rate and below-average bat speed. His OBP is barely over .300 (Springer’s is .387), and his plate discipline is still poor after ten years in the league. But let’s not discount what’s turned into a stellar bounce-back campaign for many who had written him off—Story’s playing like a top-50 player and hits in the middle of a deep Red Sox lineup. He could top 100 RBIs for just the second time in his career. Most importantly, he’s only missed three games all season after playing in a combined 161 games over the last three years.
Giancarlo Stanton (NYY): 2-3, 2B, HR, R, 5 RBI.
We have the Springer-aissaince, the Story-aissaince, and now the Stanton-aissaince. Stanton smashed his seventeenth home run in just 51 games, which is a 54-homer pace over a full season. He’s also sporting a .313 batting average, which is more than twenty points above his career high (in 2012!). After a slow start when he first came back from injury, Stanton is looking like the masher of old. The only problem? He’s still not playing every day, but go ahead and platoon him with Chandler Simpson or José Caballero when he’s off, you’ll net a 40/40 roster spot.
Pete Alonso (NYM): 4-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI.
Soto and Lindor are both special, but make no mistake: Pete Alonso is the Mets’ MVP this season. Perhaps driven by some extra motivation in a contract year, his Average EV is now above 93 mph, and his barrel rate is 18.6%. On a four-hit night, including a bases-loaded double that sparked a five-run inning, all he did was hit the ball hard, with two hits clocking in at 110 mph. He’ll finish the year as the best fantasy First Baseman in the league.
Jakob Marsee (MIA): 2-4, RBI.
Marsee has been a revelation since his promotion to the Marlins. A former Arizona Fall League MVP, he came to the Miami organization in the trade for Luis Arraez. In the minors, he’s consistently had an OBP that’s hovered around .400 and been an opportunistic base-stealer as a Marlin, with seven swipes in just twenty-five games. His metrics, albeit from a low sample size, are above the 90th percentile in Average Exit Velocity, Hard Hit Rate, Whiff Rate, and Sweet Spot %. He didn’t do much last night except get a couple of knocks, but if you need an Outfielder, give him a look.
Riley Greene (DET): 2-5, HR, R, 4 RBI.
Greene’s been in a bit of a rut since the All-Star Break (batting just .220), but he’s showing signs of a turnaround with four homers in his last eight games, including last night’s Grand Slam. He still strikes out too much for my taste (he had a 40:4 K:BB rate in July, in just 94 ABs), but he’s topped thirty homers and is now second in the American League with 99 RBIs. However, you might want to sit the two-time All-Star when he faces LHPs—his OPS is a full 300 points lower than it is against righties.
Rafael Devers (SFG): 1-4, RBI.
Devers had a .272 batting average and a .905 OPS before he was traded to San Francisco, and in the 60 games since, he’s had a .226 average and a .742 OPS. Things were looking brighter earlier in the month, but he has only three RBIs since August 11th, and his season average is about to dip below .250. Hopefully, when Boston traded him, you did too.
