Top 150 Hitters For Fantasy Baseball 2025: Week 5 – 4/30

I swear it’s the right guy in the image this time.

• As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, as that is typically the most popular fantasy baseball format. They will only factor in the five standard categories: Runs, RBI, Home Runs, Batting Average, and Stolen Bases.
• I would recommend not paying super close attention to the specific ranks of each player, and honing in more on the respective tiers that they’re in. Each tier represents a grouping of players that I think could arguably perform at a similar level, and/or carry similar levels of risk in terms of injury concerns or playing time obstacles. If Player X is ranked at No. 55 and Player Y is ranked at No. 65, but they’re in the same tier, it means that I personally prefer Player X, but think there’s a valid argument to be made for Player Y performing just as well.
• I take rankings like this as more of an art than a science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their own biases, strategic philosophies, determinations of risk, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked out well for me over the years, but it might not be a great fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your league mates’ player evaluations, or your current waiver wire, and if I could, it’d be weird. In a bad way.
• This is a safe space for me where I answer to no one but myself…and you if you leave a comment.
• I’m doing my best to use five starts or 10 appearances as the threshold for positional eligibility. I have not included presumed eligibilities based on likely new positions, but once those eligibilities are earned, I’ll add them in. This is just a maintenance thing and we will update eligibility throughout the season. Feel free to let me know if I’m missing any!

 

Ranking Philosophy

 

To keep things in the same ilk, here are a couple of notes on how I generally evaluate hitters before we dive in:

 

• In 12-team formats, I just don’t see much value in guys who only provide stolen bases. It’s an important category, especially in Roto, but in shallower formats, there are too many other (and better) ways to get the steals you need without sacrificing production in the other categories.
• If I want to get some insight on whether what I’m seeing is new or if it’s just normal fluctuation, I’d use my favorite tool—the rolling chart, which I’ll also reference as appropriate. You can also get rolling charts from sources like FanGraphs or Baseball Savant. If you have any questions about how to do that or how to read these charts, reach out to me!
• No stat is an island and they should all be taken in proper context. For ranking purposes, the primary starting points I use are plate discipline, wRC+, quality of contact metrics (also known as Statcast batted ball data), lineup context, and the skills we can measure using tools such as our PLV Hitter Attributes (available for PL Pro members). I also use various projections (some free, some I buy) and dollar value generators.
• Positional eligibility, and specifically multi-eligibility, is neat but also isn’t a huge factor in many 10- and 12-team leagues anymore due to the prevalence of multi-eligible players. It’s of more value in deeper contests like the NFBC, or in leagues with limited roster moves (draft and hold leagues, transaction limits/costs, extremely short benches, etc.), but even then the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.
• On a similar note, I don’t penalize players for only qualifying in the utility slot. At most, it is a mild inconvenience if a DH-only player is available at a great value and you already have filled your utility spots.
• Anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 to 100 at-bats—regardless of true talent. Heck, it could even last over a month with no change in potential or skill. It also could be wildly meaningful. We can’t and don’t know which of these will be true until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends can give us hints.
• If you’d like input on a player or have any feedback, your best bet is to reach out to me on the website formerly known as Twitter (@ifthechufits) or in the comments below!

 

Read The Notes

 

• These rankings talk about what I generally project for a player, but these rankings are not projections. They include projections but also take into account performance risk, injury risk, team context, ceiling, and floor.

 

Check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast featuring Scott Chu and Brett Ford, which also happened to be a finalist for Best Baseball Podcast of 2021 by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA)!

I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday starting around noon ET that lasts through the rest of the day and into the weekend, so feel free to join the fun and ask questions or make comments.

 

Tier 1

 

• As long as Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, and Bobby Witt Jr. are healthy, they’ll be in this tier.

 

Tier 2

 

• There are a number of ways you can shuffle around José Ramírez,  Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Elly De La Cruz, and Corbin Carroll and justify it with sound reason. I chose this way, which is ever so slightly different than last week.
• Yordan Alvarez remains my favorite “buy low” target if he is being made available in your league. He’s still hitting the ball extremely hard, seems healthy, and the Astros’ offense is going to turn around. Players of this caliber are rarely available and even when healthy he gets underrated by some managers.

 

Tier 3

 

• Gunnar Henderson appears to be turning a corner and only falls in rank here because Pete Alonso is a monster.
• Mookie Betts‘ exit velo is down, though it is slightly better over the last two weeks. I wouldn’t say I am worried about him yet, but the level of talent in the top tiers right now means any hesitation can have a guy fall a couple of spots. It’s certainly not an actionable slide.

 

Tier 4

 

• Over his last 25 games, Rafael Devers is hitting the ball hard with great plate discipline and plenty of on-field results. Everything is right with the world.
• Jarren Duran is unlikely to hit 20 home runs again, but 12-15 with 35-40 steals is more than enough for me.
• Kyle Schwarber’s strikeout rate is just 22.5%, and he’s given us the best 20-game rolling strikeout rates we’ve seen from him since the start of 2020.
• Oneil Cruz has an average exit velocity of 101.3 mph over his last twelve games, along with six home runs and four steals. Whoa.

 

Tier 5

 

• Over his last 60 games dating back to mid-August of last year, Wyatt Langford has 16 home runs, 12 steals, and a .952 OPS. If he did that for a full 150 games, it’d be a 40-home run, 30-steal season. Obviously, Langford can’t get to 150 games in 2025 (he’ll tap out around 130-140 if he stays healthy, and injuries have been an issue early in his career), but that’s the upside everyone is so tantalized by.
• Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna seem to be getting pitched around, as the two of them have a combined 48 walks while the rest of the team has a combined 55. Hopefully, the impending return of Ronald Acuña Jr. helps ease that up.

 

Tier 6

 

• Hooray Riley Greene! Over his last 12 games (not even including his 3-3 performance today), his strikeout rate is below 20% with a line of  .277/.333/.489. It was an ugly stretch with plenty of strikeouts, but Greene has shown the ability to dig out of deep holes quickly so far in his career.
• Christian Yelich got off to a miserable start but has turned it around in a big way.
• Junior Caminero has a bit of a ground ball problem, though, as long as he can keep that grounder rate below 50%, he should be able to unlock more than enough power to be a high-end third baseman.

 

Tier 7

 

• Zach Neto is hitting close to the top of the order (first or second for the last eight games, including today), and that’s what we’ve all been waiting for. One minor complaint is that the Angels, who surprised everyone by finishing 12th in stolen bases in 2024, are currently 29th. Reaching 30 steals again may be a challenge, but seeing as how they let Neto swipe three in a game recently, it may not be too big of a deal.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong has made serious strides in making contact on pitches in the zone, and it makes me feel a lot more comfortable in projecting a sub-25% strikeout rate for the rest of the season. The 42.7% chase rate is a bit annoying, but I suspect this mostly comes from the fact that he’s extremely aggressive early in the count. I mean, he’s also aggressive late in the count, but not as much. PCA isn’t much of a decision-maker and it may leave him vulnerable to volatility in performance, but we can now easily see what the hot version of Crow-Armstrong can do over extended periods, and it’s going to be well worth holding him through slumps.
• Anthony Santander is likely going to be fine. Streaky power hitters gonna streak, you know?

 

Tier 8

 

• It’s possible that Adley Rutschman is more a victim of bad luck than anything else, as his expected stats (.277 xAVG and .502 xSLG per our PLV metrics) are much better than the true results, but his continued struggles against breaking pitches has me concerned enough to drag him down a bit in the ranks. He’s too good to drop, and I wouldn’t want to sell low either, but it may be a good time to recalibrate his ceiling and floor.
• Bryan Reynolds has an 80 wRC+ over his last 75 games dating back to last season, and while his slumps have been quite long of late, he seems to find a way to get to his steady and consistent numbers for each of the last few seasons
• Matt McLain continues to strike out at an unsavory rate (32.6% heading into this doubleheader, and he struck out twice more in the first game) and I’m not sure there’s a path to long-term success with that kind of strikeout rate even if he is walking more than 10% of the time. We already expected a significantly lower batting average in 2025 due to a drop in his line drive rate, but if this strikeout rate continues, he may be more of a .220-.230 hitter than a .240-.250 one.

 

Tier 9

 

• Tommy Edman has been a hero to those who scooped him late in drafts, though he’s sporting a much more average .734 OPS over his last 60 plate appearances. Assuming he stays healthy, Edman should be good for something better than a 20/20 season, though how much better depends on how often he can tap into the heat he showed in the first two weeks of the season.
• Brice Turang has been fantasy’s best player at the keystone, and while he’s a little behind the 14 stolen bases he stole in April of last year, if he can avoid the deep craters in his performance (he had four stretches in 2023 and just one last year where he had a rolling OPS below .500 for an extended period) Turang should be able to match the overall value from last season or even exceed it.

 

Tier 10

 

• Kristian Campbell seems to be working himself out of his first “slump” and I love it.
• Willy Adames has been a bit better of late, but it’s harder and harder to see a season where he gets anywhere close to 32 home runs or 21 steals with just two and one of them, respectively, at the end of April. I’m hoping he can be better than what he was in 2023 when Adames finished as barely a top-125 hitter with 24 home runs, a .217 average, and no steals.
• Luis Robert Jr. has a 20% walk rate since April 19 because nothing makes sense, and this world is chaos. The three home runs and five steals in that stretch are something I can make sense of, though, because he’s more than capable of being a guy who hits 25-30 home runs and steals 30 bases.
• Spencer Torkelson, Ben Rice, and Tyler Soderstrom are all still hitting the ball hard (each has an average exit velocity above 92 mph since April 15) with very reasonable strikeout rates, though their overall production has slowed down compared to the first few weeks of the season. For Torkelson, his extreme fly ball rate combined with a lot of games in Comerica Park have hurt his batting average, though he’s taking a ton of walks to keep his OBP north of .330. For Rice, the walks have come down considerably, but his strikeout rate is fine, so I’m not concerned. As for Soderstrom, his new outfield eligibility in Yahoo is cool, though he’s not been good at all out there (granted, he has only three putouts so far), and I remain curious how long the A’s will keep trying this experiment.

 

Tier 11

 

• Here’s to hoping that the return of Langford will positively impact Adolis García’s production.
• Triston Casas has been trending in the right direction in both walk rate and strikeout rate, but he hit two home runs in the middle of last week, so I’m giving it one more week inside the top-100 hitters.
• Welcome back, Luis Arraez! Nothing really to add here, as he’s a weird player who mostly contributes to ratios and who is either very valuable to you or not really valuable to you at all based on your settings and roster construction.
• 132 plate appearances in, and Bo Bichette remains without a home run. The ratios are nice, as are the three steals, but a guy who hits fewer than 15 home runs and steals fewer than 15 bases needs to be a batting title contender and also score a lot of runs.

 

Tier 12

 

• Taylor Ward is still cold, and in 10-12 teamers with only three outfield spots, we are probably close to the replacement level.
• Xavier Edwards should steal more bases soon, but it’s a very fluky stat that is quite situation-dependent.
• Luis García Jr. still sits against lefties, but not ALL lefties, and is hitting .353 and slugging .471 over his last 10 games.

 

Tier 13

 

• With a bunch of good first basemen still being good about a month into the season, it was time for the streaky Jake Burger to fall outside the top-100 hitters.
• Alec Bohm will probably go on some crazy hot streak and make this fretting for naught, but when a 14-game on-base streak still has you batting eighth most nights, it’s time to accept that the floor is lower than we hoped.
• Jorge Polanco is hitting like a man possessed over the last six games, swatting six total home runs and piling up 20 combined runs and RBI with an almost comical OPS of 2.083 while in a full-time platoon. I expect the platoon to continue despite these results because, amazingly enough, he’s sat three times during this stretch, which began back on April 22.
• Chandler Simpson can definitely make contact with major league pitching enough to stick around, and some injuries in Tampa have cleared the path to full-time at-bats. Josh Lowe and Jake Mangum will likely return in the next two or three weeks, if not sooner, and that will give us a better idea of how much playing time to expect over the full season.
• Jonathan Aranda has gone eight games without an extra base hit, though he’s hit plenty of missiles in that span, albeit on the ground. He’ll need to find a way to get the ball back in the air to keep playing most of the time instead of a strict platoon.

 

Tier 14

 

• What a huge game by Brandon Nimmo, though it likely happened on a lot of benches in shallower leagues. It doesn’t really change much about what we think of Nimmo, though.
• Nick Kurtz has not hit the ground running, and that’s OK. For now, I am assuming the fact that he was benched against a lefty was just a day off and not an indication of a platoon. The strikeouts will go away eventually, but how long it will take is always the difficult question. I’m holding him in most leagues if I can, but in shallower leagues with short benches and where you already have a solid first baseman, you can keep an open mind depending on what’s available on the wire.
• J.T. Realmuto might be less of a locked-in catcher for fantasy and more of a streamer.
• Eugenio Suárez became the 19th player in history to hit four home runs in a single game, which is cool, but “very streaky power hitter” was already the scouting report on him. He moves up as a correction, but note that roughly six to eight spots of the bump stem from attrition in this part of the list, which is extremely volatile.
• Noelvi Marte looks like a different man compared to the guy we saw in 2024.
• Not a bad start for Agustín Ramírez, eh? The batting average is going to come down as some of these line drives turn into fly balls, but it’s not completely insane to think he could finish the year with 17-18 home runs and a .260 average. Keep in mind, though, that is more of a ceiling than a floor.
• Welcome back, Francisco Alvarez! He’s appeared in five of the six games for the Mets since his activation, and as we expected, he’s hit the ball hard and also swung and missed a lot. There’s a lot of power upside in Alvarez’s bat, but whether he makes enough contact and puts the ball in the air enough to unleash it is an open question.

 

Tier 15

 

• Masyn Winn can rise up a bit more if this move up in the batting order sticks around.
• Yes, you can drop Vinnie Pasquantino in 12-teamers, assuming you have a viable option at first base. The strikeouts are the concern for me, as strikeout avoidance was one of the key strengths he brought to the table.
• Spencer Steer seems to have gotten his playing time back.
• Andy Pages’s bat is on fire, and it should secure his playing time for another couple of weeks at least, if not longer.
• Michael Toglia is hitting better, but he’s probably just an extremely streaky power hitter who also has some speed.
• Jordan Beck makes the list for his great weekend, but like Toglia, I expect more volatility than anything else.
• Ryan O’Hearn is a solid hitter who is perpetually in a platoon.
• Zach McKinstry continues to hit near the top of the Tigers’ batting order, so if you need runs and OBP or someone to fill multiple positions, go ahead.
• TJ Friedl is leading off regularly for the Reds, and when he was in the Taxi Squad, I said I’d start to care when that happened. This is me caring.
• Hoping Austin Hays can avoid the IL and get some more action in his home park before the next road trip.
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr., JJ Bleday, and Jorge Soler take a serious tumble in the ranks because, well, you probably have enough options on the wire in a standard league to just stream instead of holding these guys right now. Sure, they all have upside, but there are plenty of guys like that in the outfield.
• Cam Smith is back to being benched multiple times a week, and that’s hard to work around when he’s also not hitting.
• I almost put Marcus Semien right on the Taxi Squad, but this felt more dramatic. I just can’t imagine holding him in 12-teamers right now. Go ahead and stream away.

 

Rank	Hitter	Position	Change
1	Aaron JudgeT1	OF	+1
2	Shohei Ohtani	DH	-1
3	Bobby Witt Jr.	SS	-
4	José Ramírez T2	3B	-
5	Kyle Tucker	OF	+1
6	Juan Soto	OF	-1
7	Fernando Tatis Jr.	OF	-
8	Elly De La Cruz	3B, SS	-
9	Corbin Carroll	OF	-
10	Yordan Alvarez	OF	-
11	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	1B, 3B	-
12	Jackson Chourio T3	OF	+1
13	Francisco Lindor	SS	+1
14	Pete Alonso	1B	+3
15	Austin Riley	3B	+1
16	Gunnar Henderson	SS	-1
17	Mookie Betts	2B, SS, OF	-5
18	Rafael Devers T4	3B	+1
19	Freddie Freeman	1B	+1
20	Jarren Duran	OF	+1
21	Kyle Schwarber	OF, DH	+3
22	Bryce Harper	1B	-
23	Oneil Cruz	SS, OF	+4
24	James Wood	OF	+1
25	Julio Rodríguez	OF	-7
26	Brent Rooker T5	OF, DH	-3
27	William Contreras	C	-1
28	Cal Raleigh	C	+3
29	Wyatt Langford	OF	+3
30	Manny Machado	3B	-2
31	Marcell Ozuna	DH	-2
32	Matt Olson	1B	-2
33	Trea Turner	SS	+1
34	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	3B, OF	-1
35	Josh Naylor	1B	-
36	Seiya Suzuki	OF	+2
37	Ozzie Albies T6	2B	-
38	Jose Altuve	2B	-2
39	Riley Greene	OF	+5
40	Ian Happ	OF	+2
41	Teoscar Hernández	OF	+2
42	Christian Yelich	OF	+11
43	Lawrence Butler	OF	-4
44	Junior Caminero	3B	-4
45	Willson Contreras T7	C	+1
46	Will Smith	C	+1
47	Salvador Perez	C, 1B	+1
48	Mike Trout	OF	+1
49	Alex Bregman	3B	+3
50	Steven Kwan	OF	+4
51	Matt Chapman	3B	+5
52	Zach Neto	SS	+14
53	Pete Crow-Armstrong	OF	+21
54	Randy Arozarena	OF	+3
55	Anthony Santander	OF	-4
56	Anthony Volpe	SS	+9
57	Adley Rutschman T8	C	-16
58	Christian Walker	1B	+3
59	Shea Langeliers	C	+8
60	Cedric Mullins	OF	+8
61	Bryan Reynolds	OF	-16
62	CJ Abrams	SS	+UR
63	Michael Harris II	OF	+9
64	Matt McLain	2B	-5
65	Brenton Doyle	OF	-15
66	Nick Castellanos	OF	-11
67	Isaac Paredes T9	1B, 3B	+2
68	Yainer Diaz	C	-5
69	Dylan Crews	OF	+6
70	Mark Vientos	3B	+6
71	Tommy Edman	2B, SS, OF	+15
72	Brice Turang	2B	+10
73	Cody Bellinger	1B, OF	-11
74	Jung Hoo Lee T10	OF	+3
75	Kristian Campbell	2B	+10
76	Jeremy Peña	SS	-5
77	Willy Adames	SS	-17
78	Luis Robert Jr.	OF	+10
79	Spencer Torkelson	1B	-1
80	Ben Rice	1B	+12
81	Tyler Soderstrom	1B	+10
82	Kerry Carpenter	OF	+7
83	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	+4
84	Heliot Ramos T11	OF	-1
85	Adolis García	OF	-21
86	Triston Casas	1B	+7
87	Bryson Stott	2B	+9
88	Dansby Swanson	SS	-15
89	George Springer	OF	-10
90	Luis Arraez	1B, 2B	+UR
91	Bo Bichette	SS	-21
92	Lars Nootbaar T12	OF	+8
93	Taylor Ward	OF	-13
94	Gleyber Torres	2B	+10
95	Xavier Edwards	SS	-14
96	Michael Busch	1B	+5
97	Luis García Jr.	2B	+13
98	Brendan Donovan	2B, 3B, OF	+9
99	Byron Buxton	OF	+9
100	Victor Scott II	OF	+9
101	Jake Burger T13	1B, 3B	-11
102	Logan O’Hoppe	C	+13
103	Yandy Díaz	1B	+13
104	Kyle Manzardo	1B	+8
105	Jasson Domínguez	OF	-2
106	Nico Hoerner	2B, SS	-
107	Alec Bohm	1B, 3B	-23
108	Austin Wells	C	+9
109	Xander Bogaerts	2B, SS	-4
110	Jorge Polanco	2B, 3B	+15
111	Nathaniel Lowe	1B	+8
112	Nolan Arenado	3B	-14
113	Chandler Simpson	OF	+13
114	Carlos Correa	SS	+7
115	Jonathan Aranda	1B	-4
116	Maikel Garcia T14	2B, 3B	+7
117	Sean Murphy	C	+11
118	Brandon Nimmo	OF	+16
119	Rhys Hoskins	1B	+11
120	Nick Kurtz	1B	-6
121	Jacob Wilson	SS	+6
122	Pavin Smith	1B, OF	+7
123	J.T. Realmuto	C	-21
124	Eugenio Suárez	3B	+16
125	Andrés Giménez	2B	-28
126	Wilyer Abreu	OF	+7
127	Noelvi Marte	3B	+18
128	Agustín Ramírez	C	+14
129	Francisco Alvarez	C	+UR
130	Masyn Winn T15	SS	+7
131	Vinnie Pasquantino	1B	-37
132	Spencer Steer	1B, OF	+UR
133	Gavin Lux	2B, OF	+16
134	Hunter Goodman	C, OF	+10
135	Andy Pages	OF	+UR
136	Michael Toglia	1B, OF	+UR
137	Trevor Story	SS	+4
138	Wilmer Flores	1B	+10
139	Josh Jung	3B	-7
140	Jordan Beck	OF	+UR
141	Ryan O’Hearn	1B, OF	+UR
142	Zach McKinstry	2B, 3B, SS, OF	+UR
143	TJ Friedl	OF	+UR
144	Austin Hays	OF	-13
145	Eli White	OF	+UR
146	Lourdes Gurriel Jr.	OF	-24
147	JJ Bleday	OF	-27
148	Jorge Soler	OF	-49
149	Cam Smith	3B, OF	-36
150	Marcus Semien	2B	-55

 

Taxi Squad

Players are listed in no particular order. This list is not every single interesting guy out there, but a running list of players who either almost made the list or who have been topics of interesting conversation.

 

Catcher

• Carson Kelly (C, CHC) — He’s unlikely to get the necessary playing time to be relevant, but when he does play, he’s been fantastic.
• Miguel Amaya (C, CHC) — See above.
• Joey Bart (C, PIT) — Has some nice stretches for the Bucs after leaving the Giants and is a solid streamer when the matchups work out.
• Alejandro Kirk (C, TOR) — Points league catcher.
• Dillon Dingler (C, DET) — The injury to Jake Rogers makes Dingler the everyday catcher for at least a little while.
• Pedro Pagés (C, STL) — He’ll get the everyday backstop duties while Herrera is out.
• Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — We will probably see stretches where he reminds everyone he can hit the ball hard, but he’s replacement level.
• Austin Wynns (C, CIN) — The ratios are cool but the fact he plays twice a week is not.
• Drake Baldwin (C, ATL) — Plenty of promise here long term, but the playing time isn’t enough for single-catcher leagues.
• Gabriel Moreno (C, ARI) — Points league catcher.
• Keibert Ruiz (C, WSN) — Points league catcher.

First Base

• Andrew Vaughn (1B, CWS) — The replacement level at first base has changed dramatically since draft day, and Vaughn is firmly below it in too many leagues.
• Nolan Schanuel (1B, LAA) — Points league contributor who would need to reinvent himself to hit more home runs.
• Matt Mervis (1B, MIA) — As with many other guys in this part of the article, he’s a free-swinging masher with severe contact issues. The home runs will come and go, and when they go, it will be very ugly.
• Eric Wagaman (1B/3B/OF, MIA) — This contact ability is cool, but this still just feels like a hot streak.
• Ryan Mountcastle (1B, BAL) — The explosion of first base talent makes Mountcastle expendable in 12-teamers.

Second Base

• Luis Rengifo (2B/3B, LAA) — I’ve waited long enough to see if the steals are coming back. They aren’t, apparently.
• Jackson Holliday (2B, BAL) — The strikeout issues appear to be behind him, so now we wait for improved quality of contact. No need to hold in redraft, but in dynasty, he’s a clear hold.
• Hyeseong Kim (2B, LAD) — The improved performance of Andy Pages makes it harder to see how they get Kim into the lineup as a regular.
• Edouard Julien (2B, MIN) — All that decision-making is for naught if he can’t connect on pitches in the zone.
• Travis Bazzana (2B, CLE) — How long will the Guardians stick with Arias and Schneemann at second if the division is as competitive as it was last season?
• Colt Keith (2B, DET) — Hitting the ball a little harder, but the walks are entirely gone. That gaudy walk rate all comes from the first week or so of the season.
• Kyren Paris (2B, LAA) — He’s been the worst fantasy asset over the last two weeks due to the poor performance over full-time volume.
• Brooks Lee (2B/3B, MIN) — The upside is fairly limited unless he moves up to the top of the order, which I don’t really expect in the near future.
• Christopher Morel (2B/3B/OF, TBR) — The production is here but the strikeout rate is out of control. I don’t trust this.
• Jonathan India (2B/3B/OF, KCR) — Leading off for the Royals sounded like a great gig in March, but the team currently has a 71 wRC+ (worse than the White Sox!) and India himself has an OPS under .600.
• Brandon Lowe (2B, TBR) — Between being platooned, striking out a ton, and not hitting, it’s hard to justify rostering him in 12-teamers.
• Luisangel Acuña (2B, NYM) — He’s sitting more than I’d like to see, but if that gets fixed he can make it back to the list.

Third Base

• Joey Ortiz (3B/SS, MIL) — Does just enough in four of the five hitting categories to be relevant. If this list were for OBP, he might crack the end of it.
• Matt Shaw (3B, CHC) — No need to hold in 12-team redraft leagues. Shaw could be successful, but quality of contact is a tricky demon to slay.
• Connor Norby (3B, MIA) — Expect power and tons of strikeouts, assuming the oblique is fully healthy. You’re hoping for a better version of Nolan Gorman. If the zone contact rate can stay above 80% consistently for a little while, I will re-examine his upside.
• Gabriel Arias (3B, CLE) — He’s an aggressive hitter with extreme contact issues in the zone. It’s a tale as old as time and almost always turns out the same way (a streamer when hot and a drop when not).
• Dylan Moore (2B/3B/SS/OF, SEA) — He’s a part-time player with speed, some pop, and contact issues. Classic guy where you’ll be trying to catch lightning in a bottle and should probably only try against left-handed pitching.
• Jace Jung (3B, DET) — He’s playing daily and walking a ton, but he’ll need to actually hit before I care.
• Caleb Durbin (3B, MIL) — Solid points league play (if you lose points for strikeouts) as he’ll put a ton of balls in play and he has the upside to steal 15-20 bases, but the power is very limited and it may take some time before Durbin shows decent ratios.
• Max Muncy (3B, LAD) — You can keep holding in deeper OBP leagues if you’d like.

Shortstop

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B/3B/SS, PIT) — He plays every day and doesn’t strike out a ton. If the Pirates continue to steal at insane rates, IKF might be more interesting than we’d have normally expected, but remember that the ratios are generally pretty neutral and he doesn’t have power.
• Jordan Lawlar (SS, ARI) — Absolutely raking in the minors but doesn’t have a clear everyday role int he majors yet. Worth stashing.
• Geraldo Perdomo (SS, ARI) — The plate discipline and contact ability remain strong but the results have fallen off (live by BABIP, die by BABIP). If he drops to the bottom of the order, it would be a sign Lawlar might be coming.
• Tyler Fitzgerald (SS/OF, SFG) — He’s still at the bottom of the order and still missing too many of the strikes he swings at.
• Javier Baez (SS/3B/OF, DET) — Don’t look now but Javy is doing stuff and is not the worst decision-maker in the league. He’s not a GOOD decision-maker, but he’s not the worst.

Outfield/DH

• Roman Anthony (OF, BOS) — He’s the top prospect in a top-heavy Boston system and should get a chance to play at some point this summer.
• Emmanuel Rodriguez (OF, MIN) — He’s possibly the most passive hitter I’ve ever seen, and it’s tough to make that work in the majors (especially if you have contact issues), but he hits the ball hard and has a lot of buzz right now.
• Jordan Walker (OF, STL) — If he ever hits the ball in the air, I’ll be interested. That is not what is happening as of right now.
• Jake Fraley (OF, CIN) — He’ll find a way to steal 20 bases again and hit .250-.260, but everything else is a crapshoot.
• Trevor Larnach (OF, MIN) — He’d be on the back of the list if he had a full-time role, but he doesn’t have the pop of Wallner to carry him through the off days.
• Mike Yastrzemski (OF, SFG) — The definition of a replacement-level fantasy outfielder in 12-teamers.
• Gavin Sheets (DH, SDP) — He’s a platoon bat who has power and contact issues. There are a lot of these guys in the league and he is certainly one of them. All of his stats are essentially from a single night.
• Zac Veen (OF, COL) — The Rockies gave him regular time, but Veen isn’t ready to hit major league stuff yet.
• Michael Conforto (OF, LAD) — Droppable in mixed leagues.
• Jake McCarthy (OF, ARI) — Every time we think we understand his trajectory, it changes dramatically.
• Daulton Varsho (OF, TOR) — I’m taking a wait-and-see approach on the volatile skillset of Varsho.

 

IL Stashes

Players are listed by position and not by projected value.

• Iván Herrera (C, STL) — He’ll be out for at least four weeks with a bone bruise on his knee. Tough to hold in a single-catcher league with limited IL, but in deeper leagues and two-catcher formats, it’s a must.
• Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN) — Probably won’t play as much or hit 19 home runs again, but should be useful most of the time.
• Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B, CIN) — He was about to get removed from the list. He’s now on a more permanent “prove it to me first” before he’s recommended again in any format.
• Spencer Horwitz (1B/2B, PIT) — He’ll be in the everyday lineup almost immediately on his return. Has enough plate discipline and contact to be roster-worthy.
• Jake Cronenworth (1B/2B, SDP) — No need to stash him unless you have a deep IL.
• Ketel Marte (2B, ARI) — He’ll be back Friday and will be somewhere around Tier 4 or Tier 5 in next week’s list.
• Thairo Estrada (2B, COL) — Should be the everyday guy again when healthy, and while it ain’t exciting, it’s honest work.
• Zack Gelof (2B, ATH) — He’ll likely steal bases when he’s back but the power will be questionable. He’s also ratio poison due to an inability to make contact.
• Ha-Seong Kim (2B/SS, TBR) — Should be back by June and ready to swipe bags.
• Nick Gonzales (2B, PIT) — I’m intrigued by the huge step forward he made with his strikeout rates last season.
• Royce Lewis (3B, MIN) — He’ll be worth rostering when he’s healthy, but goodness, this guy has bad luck.
• Matt Vierling (3B/OF, DET) — I have no idea how this Tiger lineup shakes out when he’s healthy, especially if Tork is hitting.
• Corey Seager (SS, TEX) — Hopefully, he’s back in the next three-ish weeks. Maybe even sooner, but his track record is less than stellar on being healthy.
• Ezequiel Tovar (SS, COL) — No longer a hold.
• Ronald Acuña Jr. (OF, ATL) — I think he can quickly make people forget that lackluster 2024. Let’s also not forget that he’s barely 27 and in the prime of his career.
• Parker Meadows (OF, DET) — Hitting the 60-day IL is rough, but he’ll play when he’s back this summer.
• Giancarlo Stanton (DH, NYY) — We have no idea when he’s even going to begin baseball activities, so he’s only relevant if you have unlimited IL spots.
• Colton Cowser (OF, BAL) — No longer a must-hold in 12-teamers with Mullins raking and the fact he can’t actually come back until at least June.
• Josh Lowe (OF, TBR) — Oblique strains are always tough, as if being on the Rays wasn’t enough of a challenge in terms of secure playing time.
• Victor Robles (OF, SEA) — Oof, he’s likely out until July. In leagues with a tight IL, he’s possibly a drop.
• Jonny DeLuca (OF, TBR) — Likely to miss two to four weeks, just enough time to make the Tampa Bay roster an even bigger mess than it is already.
• Jackson Merrill (OF, SDP) — Yet another man down with a hammy issue. Hopefully, it’s just a short stay and he’s back on the field.
• Matt Wallner (OF, MIN) — Hammys are always a little tricky. You don’t NEED to stash him if your IL is full, especially if it’s a format that only requires three outfielders (or four if it’s a 10-teamer).
• Lane Thomas (OF, CLE) — Not a must-hold at this time.

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