Blake Snell, SP, Giants
Blake Snell was lights out against one of the best offenses in the league, striking out 12 Orioles batters over 6 shutout innings. He allowed one hit and two walks. After a rocky start to his season, he quickly turned it around and has looked like the Cy Young winner of 2023. He has an excellent 2.54 FIP and 3.07 xFIP, and his strikeout numbers are as elite as ever. He has a 37.1% whiff rate, a 33% strikeout rate, and a 99th-percentile hard-hit rate of 28.6%. His main issue is still his control, but his 10.9% walk rate is actually an improvement over 13.3% of last season. This is two straight seasons of Snell looking like an ace most of his time on the mound, making him a clear top-10 starting pitcher for 2025. If you're not concerned about his volatility at times, you could even make a case for him to be in the top 5.
Bobby Miller, SP, Dodgers
Bobby Miller's struggles continued, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts over two innings. This is coming off of two starts where he allowed 7 and 6 runs, so it's safe to say that Miller is completely lost on the mound. His ERA is now an ugly 8.52 on the year, and there's not much at all to like about him at the moment. His 91.7 average exit velocity is in the bottom 1 percent of the league, and his xERA, xBA, and hard-hit rate are in the bottom two percent. Many expected him to take a step forward as an ace this year, and he's done the opposite. I don't want to give up on him for 2025 yet, but he'll be a late-round sleeper at best if he doesn't show improvement next spring.
Wyatt Langford, OF, Rangers
Wyatt Langford had a great day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a home run, two doubles, three runs, and two RBI. It's the continuation of what has been an amazing previous month and a half for the rookie, as he has 6 home runs, 6 stolen bases, 27 runs, and 22 RBI since the beginning of August. Nothing about him jumps off the page when looking at his season-long stats, with him falling between the 50th and 60th percentile in most quality of contact metrics. However, he's certainly been heating up in the second half, and it might have been a case where he just needed time to get comfortable at the major league level. After all, he was only drafted in the middle of last season, so this is his first full year of professional baseball in general. I expect a huge sophomore breakout for the youngster in 2025 and wouldn't be surprised to see him drafted within the top 25 outfielders, even though his stats wouldn't suggest so at first glance.
Jesus Sanchez, OF, Marlins
Jesus Sanchez went 5 for 5 with two doubles, two runs, and three RBI on Tuesday. Sanchez is an interesting case in that his .252/.309/.424 slash line with 17 home runs doesn't jump off the page, but his quality of contact metrics make him look like one of the game's best hitters. He has a 92.8 mph average exit velocity (94th percentile), 51.7% hard-hit rate (95th percentile), .483 xSLG (87th percentile), and a .268 xBA (76th percentile). His lack of actual production can be best explained by his 30.9% whiff rate, 25.6% strikeout rate, and playing his home games in one of the bigger parks in the league. His tantalizing power (116.4 mph max exit velocity) makes him an intriguing option for fantasy if he can put it all together, but his proven track record of underperforming his expected stats makes me hesitant to think he can take a step forward in 2025.
Gavin Williams, SP, Guardians
Gavin Williams pitched well, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over five innings against the Twins. This start lowered his ERA to a still bad 5.12. However, his underlying metrics suggest he is getting a bit unlucky, as he has a FIP of 3.71 and xFIP of 4.05. He was a popular breakout candidate coming into the year but has been disappointing with a 59th percentile strikeout rate of 24% and a 26th percentile walk rate of 9.7%. However, those rates aren't too far off from what he did in 2023, so his main issue has been giving up too much hard contact. His allowed average exit velocity is 91%. He's still only 25 with plenty of room to improve, so expect to see him on sleeper lists heading into 2025.
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