A pair of young batsmen holding power displays on weekends were the top fantasy baseball pickups on Monday. A year ago, the two were minor league teammates, ranked first and fourth in Triple-A Norfolk's roster. Today, despite being for different teams, they are starting to thrive at the major league level.
Jackson Holliday, 2B, Baltimore Orioles (Used in 65.8% of ESPN League): After delivering his first professional multiplayer game on Sunday, he could be a popular pickup for the next few days – which would be especially true if he continues to hit the Orioles’ weekly opening ceremony to head to Minnesota’s target field.
In addition to the outbreak, Holliday has shown encouraging growth recently, hitting .341/.449/.561 in his last 15 games while significantly lowering his ground ball (35.5%, 56.7% from 56.7% in his previous MLB career), Chase (21.6%, below 26.3%), down 21.6%, down 20.3% from time (20.3%) (20.3%), in 3.3%, down 32.3%, down 32.3%. Small sample size or not, he is only 21 years old and full of top talent, meaning any hot streaks at Holliday deserve an optimistic view.
Kyle Stols of Miami Marlins (Acquired at 75.6%): Stowers saw Holliday's multiplayer game and did better with him. Yes, Stowers owns A pair His worst home run in the last four games in the multi-purpose period effort was a big effort, a Grand Slam, a 101.7 mph fastball thrown by track and field close-range Mason Miller, hitting the opposite court on the player-friendly home court of the Marlins pitcher.
With it, the Stowers now has a 12.1% Statcast barrel rate, ranks 12th among hitters with titles that qualify for championships, and is better than the historically distinguished figures in the category, Matt Olson and Corey Seager. He also has a 50.6% hard rate, putting him in the 86th percentile. Given the lack of elite bats in the Marlins roster, Stols can quickly get into a more prominent position, just like he faced a right-handed starter Friday and Saturday, while Jesus Sanchez raised the defender question.
Javier Baez, SS/3B/, Detroit Tiger (83.9% are available): He is a hard player to trust after his first three seasons of a six-year, $140 million deal with the Tigers, hitting just .221/.262/.347. In the ESPN Standard League, this is still true. Despite starting 23 games in Detroit's last 29 games and hitting a considerable .310/.356/.488, Baez's 50 total fantasy points at the time had surpassed the other 112 batsmen. Ouch!
The low total is almost entirely the product of his free spinning method on the plate. Since he sees a regular start between midfield, third base and shortstop — and occasionally sends out big success, he still deserves a mention. After all, Baz has an average of 24 home runs and 14 stolen bases, and his average hit score per 162 games in his MLB career was .252.
Shane Smith, SP/RP, Chicago White Sox (Acquired at 87.0%): Smith is one of the most undesirable breakthrough stories of the season, with opponents running at least three points or less in his first six games, and at least 6.0 fantasy scores in his first six games. He can attribute most of his success to changes he added during the offseason, which sells for 35.2% and has seven of his 26 strikeouts so far.
This week, Smith faced Kansas City's Royals and Marlins, making him one of the best two-way pickups in the weekly trade in the League. First is the competition for the Royal team for HR-backed Kauffman Stadium, which struggles with the change compared to the change (.190 BAA, WHIFF rate of 33.3%). Meanwhile, the latter is a family mission against the Marlins offense, which is one of the worst members of the Major League Baseball.
Ben Casparius, SP/RP, Los Angeles Dodgers (90.5% available): He will start Monday as the Dodgers’ starting point and don’t ignore comments from manager Dave Roberts of the past week that Casparius may extend further as a regular starter when Tyler Glasnow lands on Illinois. So far, Casparius has a more inclined to his knives with left-handed batsman and sliders on right-handed paws, while posting a 3.5% walk rate at the start. He brought enough speed (a 95.8 mph four-hole fastball) and brought depth to his tracks, and he deserves speculation in this opportunity to expand.
Gunnar Hoglund, SP, Track and Field (92.5% available): Hoglund recovered from Tommy John's surgery and acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2022 Matt Chapman trade, Hoglund started his first career on Friday. Although the Marlin Park game was very good for the right-hander, he showed the same good speed and excellent control as the minor, throwing six singles innings, having seven strikeouts and not taking a walk. It is the combination of control and ground balls that should make Hoglund's transition to professional smoother than normal prospects. Even if he is only a "defend type" at the moment, he is worth hiding.
Hyeseong Kim, 2B, Dodgers (94.5% available): Tommy Edman coaxed the Dodgers to King (who left KBO for three years, $12.5 million contract in the offseason), his first MLB opportunity. Although King didn’t start any of the team’s two games after the recall, his speed was fully demonstrated in Sunday night’s match as he stole his first career base in the ninth inning while serving as a pinch runner. Speed should be his ticket to fantasy success, at least initially, he stole 28 games in three games in Oklahoma City, and hit only .252/.328/.470 and hit .252/.328/.470 with a 24.4% strikeout rate.