Jackson Merrill
The rookie phenom went 2-3 R, HR, RBI, BB as he continues to compete with Paul Skenes for NL Rookie of the Year. Merrill has been a fantasy goldmine, hitting 24 homers and stealing 16 bases. He slowly got better throughout the year, and is now an elite fantasy option. He is slashing .306/.335/.608 in the second half. His .299 xBA is 96th Percentile and his .533 xSL is 95th Percentile. He hits the ball hard (44.3%) and doesn't whiff often (20.6%). While this is not a direct comparison, Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson had eerily similar development paths. Both Witt and Henderson had huge prospect pedigree and strong first seasons at a young age. I don't want to miss out on that outcome, and will be drafting him plenty in 2025.
Paul Skenes
Skenes has been absolutely amazing, and then some. He tossed 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K against St. Louis. Skenes is the perfect pitcher. He is simultaneously a groundball machine (50.5%) while also striking batters out at reliever rates (32.3%). This is as perfect as they come from an analytical standpoint. The only reason that you would pass on Skenes in the first round in 2025 drafts is if you simply preferred to take a hitter over a pitcher, but I believe he should be the first pitcher off the board, without question.
Other Rookies...
Colt Keith
Keith went 1-5 with a R, HR, 2RBI, K. The rookie is capping off a strong first season in the bigs, smashing 13 homers thus far, while swiping 7 bases. The underlying figures for Keith or just ok, but I expect them to take a step forward next year. On the positive side, Keith was league average in batted ball quality (.369 xwOBA), and pretty much league average in Hard-Hit% (35.4). The most exciting part of Keith's profile is that he mitigated strikeouts very well, only punching out 19.7% of the time, a product of being near league average in Whiff and Chase rates. This is the exact type of profile that tends to get better in year two. Young players that are able to flash game power while still controlling the zone tend to progress. Draft him in 2025.
Nolan Schanuel
Schanuel went 1-4 in another light day for the Angels lineup. While the limited power from the corner spot isn't ideal, Schanuel has some interesting underlying figures that are worth mentioning. For starters, Schanuel has some of the best plate discipline in the league. He is 90th Percentile or better in both Chase% and Whiff%, leading to an insane 17/11.4 K/BB% ratio. His 89.3% Zone Contact is well above the MLB Average 82%. Schanuel's contact abilities are so good, that he has a 72.3% Chase Contact rate, compared to MLB average 57.8%. Even though he makes a ton of contact outside the zone, he still was able to post a 37.2% LA Sweet Spot% (80th Percentile) and .258 xBA. He is a SCREAMING buy in dynasty and I will be taking with my last pick in almost every draft in 2025.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yamamoto was solid in just his second start back from the IL. He went 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2BB, 3 K. He needed 72 pitches. Yamamoto utilized a five pitch mix to work through a tough Braves lineup. He only gathered a 24% CSW, but his velocity was up across multiple pitches. He has excellent peripherals, and I'm really excited about him for 2025. Yamamoto is both a bat misser (29.1% K) and strike thrower (5.4% BB). He also gets tons of groundballs (48.5%). He isn't perfect at limiting quality of contact against (.368 xwOBACON, .369 MLB Average), but there are enough other aspects to this profile for us to be excited. He is currently only 26 years old and plays for one of the best teams in baseball. I want him in 2025.
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