We have made it through another week of the MLB season. There were some awe-inspiring performances.
As usual, there were some great showings and some rough ones to dig into. This weekly fantasy baseball column will help highlight some hot and cold players, risers and fallers. Some players are already rostered in many places. Other players may be widely available in fantasy baseball leagues, making a potential waiver wire claim a possibility.
This week, I will highlight some known and lesser-known players. So, let’s see some of the risers and fallers for fantasy baseball Week 3 (4/7-4/13).
- Fantasy Baseball Research & Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Analyzer
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Assistant
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
- Rest-of-Season Projections
Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers
Fantasy Baseball Risers
James Wood has been off to a great start to his sophomore campaign. He hit safely in four games this past week for a .333 batting average. Wood had five extra-base hits, a double and four home runs to go with a .619 ISO and 282 wRC+.
Wood was locked in with a 37.5% barrel rate while walking 27.6% of the time, with a 17.2% strikeout rate. Wood has looked great and appears to be a fantasy winner already to start the season.
After a slow start to the season, Isaac Paredes got his bat going this past week. He finished the week hitting safely in the final five games for a .320 batting average. He hit three home runs with five runs scored and five RBI.
Paredes showcased strong plate discipline with a 10% walk rate and 17.9% strikeout rate. He hit his three home runs at home, which we should expect with the short porch, and it is hopefully a sign of things to come when Paredes is playing games at home.
Kyren Paris is off to a breakout start to his 2025 season. This past week, he hit safely in four games for a .300 batting average. Paris hit a double, three home runs and recorded a steal as he continues to showcase a nice power and speed profile.
Paris continues to showcase a great quality of contact metrics with an 18.8% barrel rate and 62.5% hard-hit rate this past week. Paris has been one of the best waiver wire adds this season. Weeks like this will continue to make those who took an early chance on Paris quite happy.
Ty France has been quite the surprise this season, and this past week was a major reason why. He hit safely in six out of seven games for a .440 batting average. He hit two doubles and two home runs while driving in six runs.
France walked 7.1% of the time without striking out to go with a 12% barrel rate and 48% hard-hit rate. The 30-year-old has not put together a full fantasy season in a while, but the start of the season is making some fantasy managers quite optimistic that this is the year.
Geraldo Perdomo was a glove-first player in his early career, but he is showcasing a nice offensive skill set this season. Perdomo hit safely in four games this past week with a home run and a .375 batting average. He did not strike out this week while walking 37.5% of the time.
Perdomo was locked in with an 11.8% barrel rate and a 58.8% hard-hit rate. Perdomo is hitting near the top of the Diamondbacks’ lineup with Ketel Marte on the injured list (IL). Perdomo is taking full advantage of the situation for fantasy managers.
Fantasy Baseball Fallers
Alec Bohm has been off to a rough start to the season, which did not improve this past week. He collected two singles over six games for a .080 batting average. Bohm did not drive in a run while scoring twice and striking out 32% of the time.
Bohm did barrel the ball 5.9% of the time with a 41.2% hard-hit rate, but a 37.8% O-Swing and 64.7% O-Contact are not going to help things. Bohm may get things going as the summer heats up, but for now, he’s a tough start in most fantasy formats.
Entering the season, there was optimism that Andrew Vaughn could bring a safe fantasy return. That has yet to happen, and this past week was no help. Vaughn hit .043 over six games with a single. He also struck out 30.8% of the time with a 39.4% O-Swing.
Vaughn did barrel the ball 20% of the time with a 40% hard-hit rate, which should give some optimism, but weak results and a poor supporting cast limit the total upside for Vaughn.
Riley Greene had a nice start to the season, but that hot start came crashing down this past week. Greene hit .043 with a single over six games. He did not collect a barrel with a 60% ground ball rate and a horrible 52% strikeout rate.
This may just be a bad streak for Greene, but the ground ball and strikeout rates should leave some fantasy managers slightly concerned.
Jordan Westburg (2B, 3B – BAL)
Jordan Westburg only played four games last week, missing a few games due to a lingering injury. In the four games he played, Westburg hit .067 with a single.
Westburg did record a 12.5% barrel rate, but a 25% hard-hit rate is less than ideal with a 50% ground ball rate. Westburg also struck out 41.2% of the time, just adding insult to a bad week.
After one of the hottest starts to the season, Eugenio Suarez came crashing back down to Earth last week. He hit .095 last week with two hits, one being a double. He did not score a run or drive one in, striking out 37.5% of the time.
Suarez had a 50% hard-hit rate, but zero barrels to go with an alarming 62.2% contact rate. Suarez is a streaky bat, but you hope to avoid a down week this bad.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | SoundCloud | TuneIn
