As fun as it is during the early part of the baseball season, it can be difficult, too -- particularly in fantasy. Slumps and hot starts are all around us, and differentiating between those that will stick and those that won't is nearly impossible with such a small sample size. Knowing when the right time to "jump ship" on a player can be challenging. Furthermore, decision paralysis regarding the addition and dropping of assets can also hamper your team, as you'll miss out on some of the critical breakouts and fall victim to the surprising busts that are bound to happen. Generally, I try to wait a little longer before making a call on a player's outlook, but sometimes, we're not afforded that kind of time. Either jump now or miss your chance. With that in mind, if you've got a feeling about a guy -- get him.
Our injury luck was not so kind over the past week, as several big-ticket players found their way to the injured list. Minnesota Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez (hamstring) was placed on the 15-day IL on Friday, retroactive to Wednesday. Lopez tweaked his hamstring during his most recent start, and an MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain. The hope is that his stay on the list is minimal. Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele (elbow) was surprisingly found to be injured after a strong start against the Texas Rangers earlier this week. Steele is dealing with elbow tendinitis and aiming for a minimum stay on the IL. Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford (oblique) found his way to the 10-day IL after straining his right oblique against the Cubs on Tuesday. He could return near the end of April. San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill (hamstring) is also facing a 10-day IL stint -- retroactive to Apr. 7 -- after straining his hamstring earlier in the week against the Cubs. There has been no further update on Merrill's return date. The Los Angeles Dodgers shut down pitcher Blake Snell (shoulder) from throwing for a few days after placing him on the 15-day IL. Snell dealt with shoulder inflammation during a bullpen session earlier this week. Per the team, no medical intervention is planned at this time. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Nestor Cortes (elbow) was placed on the 15-day IL with a flexor tendon strain. Cortes pitched six shutout frames the day before he was sent to IL and received a PRP injection for the pain. He won't throw again until he's pain-free. Finally, Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (thumb) was struck by a comebacker during batting practice that fractured his thumb. As of now, he won't require surgery but will be in a cast for at least two weeks.
As a reminder, this column typically assumes point formats and will only feature athletes at or around 50% ownership on Yahoo!. A player will only appear on this list twice if he continues raking from weeks prior. Happy hunting!
Waiver Adds
Keibert Ruiz, C - Washington Nationals (50% Owned)
Keibert Ruiz has been a strong source of batting average on the young season. The 26-year-old switch-hitter is 13-for-39 (.333) with two long balls, two doubles, nine RBI, and has at least one hit in all but one of his 11 appearances. He holds a minuscule 9.3% strikeout rate and has appeared in 11-of-12 contests for the Nationals. While his BABIP is sitting a smidge high (.333), it's not high enough to move me off of him.
The sixth-year pro is noticeably hitting more ground balls thus far, with the occurrence taking place 51.4% of the time. If that stands, it'd be the highest rate of his career by far. He's also hitting the ball harder more often -- surpassing his 2024 hard-hit rate of 25.6% by nearly ten points (34.3%). Otherwise, the only change in his profile is that he's swinging at first pitches more often, precisely four percentage points more than last season (41.9%).
Ruiz has always been known for his bat, but he's seemingly taken a step forward this season. It's early, and things can change, but the Venezuela native routinely batted in the .300s during his minor-league career and looks primed to be a solid average source for the remainder of the year.
Jung Hoo Lee, OF - San Francisco Giants (43% Owned)
Jung Hoo Lee came a home run short of the cycle in Wednesday's 8-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds and continues to rake during his second stint with the Giants. He's batted third in each contest thus far and has already authored four multi-hit games, including two three-hit outings. Though he has yet to send one over the fence, the 26-year-old has a sizzling .359 xBA and has already eclipsed his steal total from 2024 (3).
Lee batted a respectable .262 across 145 at-bats in his first taste of big-league action last year, but has turned it on in 2025. If you're unfamiliar with him, he played in South Korea's KBO League from 2017 (at the age of 18) to 2023 until he joined San Francisco, and, yup, you guessed it -- all he did was rake. Over 3,476 at-bats with the Kiwoom Heroes, the lefty hit a blistering .339. Power was never his strong point, but Lee routinely hit 30+ doubles, had two seasons with ten triples, and even a 23-homer campaign in 2022.
The Japanese-born outfielder's K% has increased from a season ago, but at 14.6%, it is still in the 81st percentile of big leaguers. Fear not for the high BABIP (.395), as he was typically a mid-to-high-.300 BABIP guy in the KBO. It'll still be within his career norms, even if it comes down slightly.
Kyle Manzardo, 1B - Cleveland Guardians (37% Owned)
Kyle Manzardo held a .327 or greater average at all of his minor-league stops before landing in Triple-A Durham during his time with Tampa Bay. Since then, he's been a middling hitter and batted poorly last season in his first big-league stint with Cleveland. However, he did outperform his .197 xBA (.234). Well, he's outperforming it again in 2025 with his .243 average (.215), and the power numbers are coming around.
The former second-round pick is up to four home runs through his first 37 at-bats -- one off his total from a season ago, with 110 plate appearances to spare. In fact, he was a single away from the cycle back in the team's Opening Day outing. Manzardo has consistently hit in the heart of the Guardians order, giving him plenty of RBI opportunities behind superstar slugger Jose Ramirez and on-base machines Steven Kwan and Carlos Santana.
If I haven't sold you yet, the 24-year-old has increased his hard-hit rate, average, exit velocity, and -- most impressively -- his BB% by ten ticks to a robust 15.6%.
Jacob Wilson, SS - Oakland Athletics (36% Owned)
Jacob Wilson is white-hot at the dish, currently batting a scorching .396 with a microscopic 4.2% strikeout rate. He's already blasted two home runs -- a stat he did not record over 92 at-bats last season -- while holding a .367 xBA. The former sixth-overall pick is no stranger to a high batting average, considering he's done as such at virtually every stop along his minor-league journey. Therefore, we should take note of when he does it at the highest stage.
I'm not saying the A's top prospect will bat in the high-.300s all season, though it's worth noting he hit .396 across 116 plate appearances for Triple-A Las Vegas before his call-up in 2024. He hit .433 overall last season in the minors, including his work at Double-A Midland. Like Jung Hoo Lee mentioned above, home runs aren't really Wilson's bag. Still, he was a doubles machine and scored 48 runs in 53 games before the call-up.
At the time of evaluation, the 23-year-old boasted a 70 grade for his hit tool, and it's coming to fruition in the majors. I don't expect he'll be hitting seventh in the order for long.
Geraldo Perdomo, SS - Arizona Diamondbacks (28% Owned)
Geraldo Perdomo has been one of the year's biggest surprises so far. He's locked in with a .333 average and one shy of his home run total from a season ago (two) in nearly 300 fewer at-bats. Also, Perdomo has already swiped two bags and holds a staggering 2:6 K: BB ratio (3.6% strikeout rate). The switch-hitting shortstop is being more selective with his pitches, and his .289 xBA supports his gains thus far.
Whether he can keep this up all year remains to be seen, but the results through 13 games have been superb. The 25-year-old has driven in 13 runs already -- a top-ten figure in the league -- and scored seven runs of his own. With teammate Ketel Marte (hamstring) out for a "series of weeks," Perdomo was recently promoted to the top of the order -- batting in the top two of the lineup in five straight contests.
If he continues to hit for average and steal bags, he could be one of the most lucrative early-season pickups. He's currently a top ten player in Yahoo! points leagues and should be a fine contributor in rotisserie and category formats as well.
Deep League Options
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B - Pittsburgh Pirates (9% Owned)
Ke'Bryan Hayes has never quite been able to recapture the torrid pace he displayed in 2020 when he hit .376 with five home runs in 24 games (95 plate appearances). He hasn't been anything special this year (yet), but just had a six-game hit streak, and his statcast page looks good. Hayes is sporting a .314 xBA with a 13.7% strikeout rate, which, if it holds, would be the lowest of his career. It may not last long, but when the former first-round pick gets hot, he does it with the best of them. Once upon a time, he was a top prospect, garnering a 60-grade hit tool. A mini-breakout wouldn't be out of the question.
Pavin Smith, 1B/OF - Arizona Diamondbacks (4% Owned)
Pavin Smith has been hot for the D-Backs over recent days, and may have unlocked something in his swing. The 29-year-old hit his first home run on Wednesday and his second double in as many days. Overall, Smith's stats have not caught up -- aside from his .400 average -- as his statcast page is littered with red in all the metrics we care about. So far, it necessitates mentioning that he's done all of his damage against right-handed pitching. Still, he should remain on the strong side of the platoon and is batting third when in the lineup. Proceeding Wednesday's 9-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, Smith was interviewed and stated, "I feel like I just, uh, these last couple of days kind of figured something out" regarding his swing, so he's someone to monitor if you're not inclined to scoop him up just yet.
Two-Start Streaming Options
Tylor Megill, RHP - New York Mets (56%/78%) (Yahoo!/CBS)
Tylor Megill has been solid through three starts, putting together a 2-1 record despite not allowing an earned run in his lone loss. The 29-year-old has allowed just one earned run across his 14.1 innings -- compiling a strong 0.63 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with a 17:7 K: BB ratio and .204 average against. Though his BB% has increased from a season ago to an unsightly 11.3%, the right-hander is striking out 27.4% of the batters he's faced.
The Long Beach, California native will get one favorable start next week and one not-so-favorable. As for the former, he'll line up against Joe Ryan and the Minnesota Twins on the road next Tuesday. Minnesota has been one of the worst teams on a per-run basis in the early going, averaging the fifth-fewest runs per game in the MLB (3.38). I'm not as enthusiastic about Megill's next start, though, which comes at home against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Redbirds are scoring six runs per game this year -- good for the third-best amongst all teams. Still, the Arizona product was strong in stretches during 2024, and is in the middle of one right now.
Landen Roupp, RHP - San Francisco Giants (15%/30%) (Yahoo!/CBS)
Landen Roupp doesn't get the fortune of one good matchup next week, as both of his outings are slated to come against top 11 teams regarding runs per game. However, many of the 26-year-olds' metrics look excellent, and I want to scoop him up early before I don't get a chance to. Roupp logged the first quality start of his career his last time out. Though he was saddled with a loss against the Reds, the 6-foot-2 righty pitched well for the second straight outing.
The former twelfth-round pick was solid during his first taste of big-league action in 2024, and has been better so far in early 2025. In addition to dropping his walk rate by roughly three percentage points, Roupp has raised his strikeout percentage over seven points (27.9%) and holds a comically low hard-hit rate against him (14.9%). That figure feels unsustainable, but the UNC Wilmington alum has also dropped his average exit velocity over the same sample size (84.9 MPH). The Phillies and Angels are his two opponents next week, and both contests are on the road. It couldn't hurt to add Roupp and bench him for the matchup against the Phillies. If that goes well, he's an easy start against Los Angeles later in the week.
With injuries hitting hard and breakout players starting to show out, now’s the time to make some bold moves. From solid bats like Keibert Ruiz and Jung Hoo Lee to upside plays like Jacob Wilson, there’s plenty of talent available to help your team right now. Keep checking in each week with ASL’s Alex Ciulla for all the fantasy baseball tips, waiver adds, and injury news you need to stay competitive.
