Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes

Position

Team

Framber Valdez Note
	16. Framber Valdez SP Framber Valdez continued his steady ways in 2024, starting 28 games and pitching 176 1/3 innings. He finished the year with a 2.91 ERA and 1.11 WHIP and struck out 169 batters. Valdez lives and dies by the ground ball, sitting in the 99th percentile in the ground ball rate at 61.7%. There is nothing particularly wrong with Valdez, though when he gets hit, he gets hit hard, and his xERA was a half-run higher at 3.41. The trick with him in fantasy is simply that he doesn't strike out as many batters as other pitchers drafted in the same vicinity. He does offer the safest floor, so depending on where else you want to take your risks, Valdez may be a worthwhile SP2 anchor to your staff. 3 weeks ago

Josh Hader Note
	17. Josh Hader RP Josh Hader signed his deal with Houston in the offseason and then went out and showed why he'd earned it. The 30-year-old appeared in 71 games, pitching exactly 71 innings and securing 34 saves while blowing only four. He struck out 105 batters and ended with a 3.80 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He still had a walk rate of 9%, but this was a vast improvement compared to his 13% rate in 2023. He maintains a superb K% (37.8), and batters still only hit .173 against him. The Astros are perhaps not the juggernaut they once were, but they have a top 5 closer with the ability to save 35+ games. When the initial run of closers begins, Hader will be among them and worth a pick if you want to target relievers early. 3 weeks ago

Hunter Brown Note
	39. Hunter Brown SP While the exact number of fantasy managers who dropped Hunter Brown early in 2024 isn't known, it would have been completely justified, given how he started the season. In his first eight starts, the 26-year-old had a 7.74 ERA and had allowed 21 walks in 37 1/3 innings. It was ugly. After that, though, he settled into the season and was great to spectacular the rest of the way. He struck out 179 batters in 170 innings and stopped walking everyone. Brown is the exact type of pitcher to target now that he seems to have a repertoire of pitches that works for him, including a powerful sinker that he developed last season. He has some sleeper and league-winning potential in 2025. 3 weeks ago

Spencer Arrighetti Note
	76. Spencer Arrighetti SP

Ronel Blanco Note
	85. Ronel Blanco SP

Bryan Abreu Note
	161. Bryan Abreu RP

Hayden Wesneski Note
	187. Hayden Wesneski SP,RP

Lance McCullers Jr. Note
	292. Lance McCullers Jr. SP

Luis Garcia Note
	326. Luis Garcia SP

Bryan King Note
	399. Bryan King RP

Ryan Gusto Note
	406. Ryan Gusto SP

Forrest Whitley Note
	425. Forrest Whitley RP

Tayler Scott Note
	430. Tayler Scott RP

Cristian Javier Note
	528. Cristian Javier SP

Kaleb Ort Note
	572. Kaleb Ort RP

Bennett Sousa Note
	598. Bennett Sousa RP

Luis Contreras Note
	603. Luis Contreras RP

Steven Okert Note
	608. Steven Okert RP

Nick Hernandez Note
	616. Nick Hernandez RP

Miguel Castro Note
	654. Miguel Castro RP

Colton Gordon Note
	656. Colton Gordon SP

Logan VanWey Note
	668. Logan VanWey

AJ Blubaugh Note
	680. AJ Blubaugh SP

Miguel Ullola Note
	690. Miguel Ullola SP

Blake Weiman Note
	710. Blake Weiman

Rafael Montero Note
	712. Rafael Montero RP

Shawn Dubin Note
	738. Shawn Dubin RP

J.P. France Note
	779. J.P. France SP

Brandon Walter Note
	970. Brandon Walter RP