Nearly every team in the league has played half of their regular-season games, making this a good time to take stock of what has occurred to this point and highlight some of the standout players at each position for points leagues. This week, we'll take a look at the most valuable hitters, taking into account their preseason expectations and ADP as well as whether their performance is likely to continue into the second half of the campaign. We'll complete the same exercise with pitchers next week.
Catcher
ADP: post-300
Why he's overperformed: Jeffers was an afterthought in most fantasy drafts due to the expectation that he would remain in a fairly even split with Christian Vazquez behind the plate. Instead, he has the fifth-most overall points and ranks sixth in points per game among catcher-eligible players.
Will it continue?: Two things stand out that suggest Jeffers' performance could carry over into the second half. The first is his usage. Jeffers has started 24 games at DH this season after doing so just nine times in 2023. The other is that he's cut his strikeout rate nearly seven percentage points from 28.5 percent for his career to 21.2 percent in 2024.
First Base
ADP: around 300 on Yahoo and CBS
Why he's overperformed: Cronenworth was dismissed as a fantasy option after a down 2023 season, but he's rebounded very well to post the second-highest points per game mark of his career. The difference has primarily been his
Nearly every team in the league has played half of their regular-season games, making this a good time to take stock of what has occurred to this point and highlight some of the standout players at each position for points leagues. This week, we'll take a look at the most valuable hitters, taking into account their preseason expectations and ADP as well as whether their performance is likely to continue into the second half of the campaign. We'll complete the same exercise with pitchers next week.
Catcher
ADP: post-300
Why he's overperformed: Jeffers was an afterthought in most fantasy drafts due to the expectation that he would remain in a fairly even split with Christian Vazquez behind the plate. Instead, he has the fifth-most overall points and ranks sixth in points per game among catcher-eligible players.
Will it continue?: Two things stand out that suggest Jeffers' performance could carry over into the second half. The first is his usage. Jeffers has started 24 games at DH this season after doing so just nine times in 2023. The other is that he's cut his strikeout rate nearly seven percentage points from 28.5 percent for his career to 21.2 percent in 2024.
First Base
ADP: around 300 on Yahoo and CBS
Why he's overperformed: Cronenworth was dismissed as a fantasy option after a down 2023 season, but he's rebounded very well to post the second-highest points per game mark of his career. The difference has primarily been his quality of contact, as he's maintained a 9.6 percent barrel rate.
Will it continue?: Barrel rate is descriptive rather than predictive, so Cronenworth's production is more difficult to be truly confident in. On the other hand, he's hit third or fourth in a top-heavy Padres lineup. Even if his quality of contact falls a bit, that should insulate his production to some degree across the second half of the season.
Second Base
ADP: often undrafted
Why he's overperformed: This may be the easiest call of all. Turang went from looking like potentially the odd man out in Milwaukee's infield to being the fifth-highest scoring second baseman in total points. He's got just enough power to make his high walk rate and plentiful stolen bases work for points leagues.
Will it continue?: Turang is also locked into the leadoff spot against right-handed pitching in a very productive Milwaukee lineup, which is a great place to start. He's always been good at drawing free passes, and his speed isn't going anywhere. He may not stick in the top five, but he will remain a solid starting option.
Third Base
ADP: around 150
Why he's overperformed: Bohm hasn't quite reached the elite tier of third baseman on a per-game basis, but he's been nearly on the level of Rafael Devers and Elly De La Cruz. Bohm is similar to Croneworth in that his quality of contact has improved, though he's also benefitted from being among the league leaders in RBI.
Will it continue?: Neither Bohm's barrel rate nor RBI production so far is predictive of what we'll see in the final months. There's a solid base of him hitting in a prime spot in one of the most productive lineups in the league as well as a low strikeout rate and mediocre walk rate, but it's not realistic to expect his current level of production to continue.
Shortstop
ADP: between 30 and 40
Why he's overperformed: Henderson doesn't fit the mold of the players discussed so far because he was already drafted very highly. He's still included here because he's launched himself firmly into the first-round discussion in 2025 drafts by averaging 4.4 points per game while also recording the third-most overall points. Only Aaron Judge has a higher ISO, and Henderson's .419 wOBA is good for fifth in the league.
Will it continue?: All indications, including his pedigree, are that his launch into stardom is legitimate.
Outfield
ADP: around 200
Why he's overperformed: This is all about volume. Duran has kept the leadoff role throughout the season and already has a career-high 370 plate appearances. Add in some small improvements across his skills profile, including a dip in K rate, an increase in walk rate and the best contact of his career, and all the ingredients of a breakout are there.
Will it continue?: Duran has had his big-league career interrupted for various reasons in the last few seasons, but he's settled in with regular playing time. As was noted, his skills have increased moderately across the board. There may not be a next step to his development, so I'd be more worried about him potentially being over-drafted in 2025 as opposed to a fall-off in the current campaign.
ADP: undrafted
Why he's overperformed: Profar has suddenly seen a surge in power. He is posting his highest ISO since 2019 and the best barrel rate of his career. He's also locked into the top third of the Padres' order.
Will it continue?: It's admittedly low-hanging fruit to predict Profar will fade in the second half, but that doesn't mean the analysis is wrong. There's nothing in his plate discipline to suggest there should be a significant upswing in power, and it's difficult to assume a 31-year-old suddenly has become the best version of himself as a player. The biggest concern is that the Padres have a strong top half of the order, so if Profar's prolific production falls he's also likely to drop in the lineup, further dinging his value in points leagues.
ADP: undrafted
Why he's overperformed: He's healthy. Winker battled through a number of well-documented injuries last season and his numbers suffered. He hasn't returned to his peak form of 2020 and 2021, but Winker has also exhibited other forms of production (stolen bases) to prop up his fantasy value.
Will it continue?: Probably. Winker isn't doing anything that remarkable, and his skills aren't an outlier from his past healthy seasons in decent hitter's parks. The concern is that playing time is tricky to predict for the Nationals. They have James Wood and potentially Dylan Crews ready to debut this season, and Winker is a free agent this offseason. If the Nats fall out of the playoff race, he's a prime candidate to be dealt. Even if he remains on the roster, there's a decent chance the team will start to look to the future, costing Winker playing time at the most pivotal time of the fantasy season.
