Fantasy baseball hitter add/drops: Time to move on from Yainer Diaz, add Moises Ballesteros?

We’re solely three weeks into the MLB season, so it’s not time to panic a few sluggish begin to your fantasy baseball season. However, we additionally don’t need to wait too lengthy to decide up gamers who’re beginning to emerge, so we will’t simply sit idly by and do nothing. For me, meaning not surface-level stats however stats I consider are indicators of continued manufacturing and seeing who is prospering or struggling.

I performed that train for myself after which determined to publish it as an article, so this isn’t going to be a significant deep dive. However, I created a customized leaderboard on FanGraphs that checked out hard-hit price, chase price, swinging strike price, zone contact, and EV90 (a metric measuring a batter’s top-end energy by calculating the velocity of their batted ball hit higher than 90% of their different batted balls). I pulled the league common numbers after which made a listing of gamers who had been beneath league-average in basically all these standards and above common in all these standards. That will get us our tough lists for provides and drops.

Obviously, it’s not so simple as slicing the gamers on the dangerous record and including the gamers on the great record, however I feel that is an attention-grabbing place to begin for choices on the backside of your fantasy rosters, so let’s dive into it.

Baseball is again on NBC: MLB returns to NBC and Peacock in 2026! In addition to changing into the unique dwelling of Sunday Night Baseball, NBC Sports will broadcast MLB Sunday Leadoff, “Opening Day” and Labor Day primetime video games, the primary spherical of the MLB Draft, your entire Wild Card spherical of the postseason, and rather more.

Cleanup man Sal Stewart climbs additional and Mets rookie Carson Benge debuts.

Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Drop

Now, we should always get it out of the best way proper from the beginning that MY RECOMMENDATION IS NOT TO DROP ALL OF THESE PLAYERS. However, all of them certified for this record and are value mentioning a bit right here.

For starters, I might go forward and reduce Willi Castro for those who nonetheless have him on your staff, and I might additionally reduce Jose Caballero if you’re going properly in stolen bases. The solely purpose he’s actually rostered in 60% of leagues is his velocity, however he may lose his job when Anthony Volpe is again in 3-ish weeks. Maybe you grabbed a David Hamilton-type participant off waivers, or may, and you may move on from Caballero.

I’d additionally in all probability reduce Heliot Ramos. He slumped actually exhausting within the second half of final yr, and there have been some feedback he made that advised the hunch was psychological and was linked to some defensive points. However, he has not seemed good in any respect to start this season, and I don’t consider he’s so good when he’s on that you just want to maintain him and miss out on a strong hitter on the waiver wire.

I’ve additionally by no means been huge on Colson Montgomery, so I don’t really feel the necessity to maintain him. I do know that he had an enormous energy surge when he was referred to as up final yr, however his swing choices should not good, and his contact has all the time been a significant query mark. Plus, he’s on one of many worst offenses in baseball, which is able to restrict his counting stats.

I’m MAYBE nonetheless holding Ezequiel Tovar, however it’s shut. He has all the time swung far an excessive amount of out of the zone and swung-and-missed too typically, however he had good zone contact charges and performed in Coors Field. Now, pitchers simply aren’t throwing him strikes, and he retains swinging. I don’t see him ever hitting above .250-ish once more with this method, and he doesn’t actually steal bases, in order that’s powerful to take from your center infielder.

Yainer Diaz is regarding me. He had a reasonably mediocre season final yr and is off to a very dangerous begin to this yr. He makes tons of contact within the zone, however he additionally expands the zone an excessive amount of, swings and misses loads, and likewise makes weak contact as a result of he swings at a lot out of the zone. There are at the very least three catchers on the record beneath I’d moderately have than Diaz proper now.

I’m not but prepared to move on from Salvador Perez, however we do have to acknowledge that he’s 36 and has loads of mileage on his legs. We might be on the cliff. The hard-hit and barrel charges are nonetheless ok that I’m not going to panic but, however the exit velocities haven’t been the identical as we’ve seen earlier than, and the bat velocity is down. Perez has all the time been anyone who chased, and if he’s now not in a position to deal with loads of the pitches he used to have the ability to, that might be a problem.

Jarren Duran just isn’t anyone you possibly can simply reduce, however I feel we’re nonetheless residing in 2024, which appears increasingly like an outlier season. Duran has good hard-hit and barrel charges, and he has loads of velocity, so there’s potential right here nonetheless. However, he expands the zone a bit an excessive amount of and swings and misses far too typically for a non-power hitter. Perhaps he’s wanting to pull the ball an excessive amount of this yr and is getting out in entrance, however I feel he wants to be on your bench proper now, and I might not purchase low.

I may also promote low on Rafael Devers. His hard-hit and barrel charges are strong, and sure all the time will probably be, however they’re not fairly at ranges we’re used to seeing from Devers. As was pointed out on Twitter, Devers has fallen from the 68th to the thirty third percentile in bat velocity from 2023 to 2026, and his hard-hit charges have decreased as properly. I preserve that enjoying in San Francisco has not been good for him. Devers hit .236/.347/.460 with 20 dwelling runs in 90 video games with the Giants final season, hanging out 29.4% of the time and pulling the ball 45% of the time, which is 8% increased than his profession common. This yr, his assault path is even farther in the direction of the pull facet than he’s had in his profession, and I feel he’s struggling to alter to not having the ability to slam line drives off the Green Monster. He’s not going to be this dangerous, however for those who may commerce Devers for, say, Sal Stewart and possibly get an intriguing pitcher with some upside added to that as properly, I might possible try this deal.

Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Add

Both Wyatt Langford nd Jac Caglianone are rostered in too many leagues to “add,” as in a waiver declare, however they’re gamers I might be concentrating on in trades. Based on feedback I’m getting on Twitter, lots of people are wanting to reduce or commerce them, and I feel that’s too rash. They’re each making exhausting and constant contact and exhibiting good swing choices. I feel sturdy stretches are coming.

On Monday, I tweeted about Trent Grisham proper earlier than he had a two-home run recreation. That appears like a pleasant little bit of validation for this record.

Gary Sanchez, Francisco Alvarez, and Ryan Jeffers are the important thing provides at catcher proper now. Sanchez needs to be the close to daily designated hitter in Milwaukee with Christian Yelich out, in order that’s going to give him a few month of enjoying time. Alvarez was anyone I liked coming into this season based mostly on his success within the second half final yr after he modified his swing in Triple-A. Jeffers has been a little bit of an underrated hitter in recent times, however he’s not splitting time as a lot as he has previously, and he’s crushing the ball proper now.

Moises Ballesteros is a harder add as a result of he has no actual place, which makes his enjoying time and fantasy roster building powerful. That being mentioned, he’s the Cubs’ DH in opposition to all right-handed pitchers, and his high quality of contact is off the charts. I had thought there is perhaps an opportunity that Matt Shaw pushes Ballesteros to the bench, however that doesn’t appear possible now. Ivan Herrera is in an identical boat, as he’s catcher-eligible in Yahoo codecs however nowhere else but. Herrera just isn’t off to as sizzling a begin as Ballesteros is, however his underlying high quality of contact and swing choices are good. I feel the manufacturing is coming.

Carlos Cortes is an attention-grabbing title to seem on right here as a result of he has stepped into Brent Rooker’s spot within the Athletics’ lineup. We don’t have an enormous MLB pattern measurement for Cortes, however he was good in Triple-A final yr, and his high quality of contact has been nice this season. He additionally appears to have a very good sense of the strike zone and makes a ton of contact within the zone. If you pair that together with his nice dwelling park, it’s exhausting not to get somewhat enthusiastic about this.

Both Nick Yorke and Ryan O’Hearn have emerged as near-every-day gamers for the Pirates. It’s clearly simpler to consider in O’Hearn as a result of he has a greater monitor document and higher present manufacturing, however Yorke has a better-than-league-average hard-hit price and EV90 numbers whereas making an elite degree of contact. This may flip into one thing in deeper codecs.

Most of you’ve got possible rostered Eduoard Julien or Curtis Mead earlier than. They each now discover themselves in new conditions and have began the season with intriguing batted ball metrics and good plate self-discipline. Julien didn’t actually qualify for this record based mostly on his EV90, however his hard-hit charges are good, and enjoying his dwelling video games in Coors Field goes to assist him. Mead just isn’t but a full-time participant in Washington, so he doesn’t want to be added proper now, however I do consider there’s a robust likelihood it occurs within the subsequent few weeks.

Ramon Urias is one other participant who just isn’t in a full-time job proper now, however I needed to preserve his title on this record as a result of it might not be loopy to see him take Nolan Gorman’s job.

I’ve already written up Colt Keith and Jake Bauers just a few occasions this yr, so their presence on this record shouldn’t shock you an excessive amount of. However, Ryan McMahon being on right here shocked me. I’m not even positive if I consider it, and it casts a cloud on this record. That being mentioned, he has a 54% hard-hit price, an 8% barrel price, actually sturdy zone contact charges, and league-average chase and swinging strike charges. I’m not saying he’s going to flip issues round to such an extent that he carries your fantasy staff, however that additionally doesn’t look like the profile of a participant who’s struggling this a lot.

Padres teammates Xander Bogaerts and Miguel Andujar are sometimes afterthoughts in fantasy nowadays, however each of them made this record in all standards and are additionally off to first rate begins. I do know the counting stats aren’t splendid, and that will restrict them to 15-team leagues, however they deserve somewhat extra love.

Miguel Vargas is one other participant whose stats don’t counsel a ton of success, however he makes actually good swing choices and has above-average batted ball high quality with a 42% hard-hit price and 9% barrel price. He hit .267/.354/.436 in 45 video games within the second half final yr, and possibly he simply wants a while to totally warmth up.