Scott Chu

If this was a spike in K% or bad contact or something, I could see that narrative of "out of rhythm due to no PT" but he's as good as ever at the dish in terms of decisions and contact and raw power.

For what it's worth, this is almost EXACTLY how it all played out last season

Perhaps something is missing here - under the hood, even for this yucky period, the under the hood is AWESOME. Yet the results are lame and it has cost him a lot of PT.

In a 12-teamer, is what he did in April enough to keep holding when the waiver wire has decent options? That's the question.

He has a lot more bad weeks than good ones. Since May 1, so for most of this season, it's a 99 wRC+ hitting .219/.303/.404.

The stuff under the hood is really strong, even during that period. Just the results are bad. Might just be bad luck, but good golly that's a long time to be this unlucky.

But even when he plays the results have been lackluster despite the fantastic quality of his plate appearances. It's bizarre.

At what point does doing everything right no longer matter? Because that's the story of Ben Rice for fantasy baseball right now. Great power, great contact, great swing decisions, mid results.

Deep leagues it's an easy hold, but 12-teamers? Yeesh.

They're gonna use AI to improve their email correspondence in a huge way

Please find the below example of the reasonable, logical, dispassionate, well-moderated content you can expect from me when recording podcasts such as Hacks and Jacks

Marcus Semien's Contact Ability+ went from the 10th percentile to the 90th percentile very quickly

In brighter news, the incredible revival of Marcus Semien after 100 games of looking washed is being driven by consistently strong decision-making and this rediscovery of how to make great contact

Tyler Soderstrom's rolling Power+ has gone from above the 90th percentile to almost the 10th percentile.

There ARE positive things happening for Tyler Soderstrom, like a rebound in his contact ability; however, there's also this and it's very sad. Power+ can be volatile but hoo boy.

This was also my read on Caglianone though I hadn't pulled the charts. Classic power bat with an aggressive approach. He doesn't have to be Juan Soto, but he'll need to lay off the bad stuff to move forward.

It's very, very good. I rank him as the 7th best hitter for fantasy.

Why have I held steadfast in my belief that Spencer Torkelson will be a solid player all season? Even though his ability to make contact fluctuates, he makes fantastic decisions at the dish. As long as he keeps doing that, the power can shine through.

Gary Sanchez has oscillated between very high and very low rolling wOBAs almost like clockwork over the last 2 seasons

"Whoa, what's going on with Gary Sànchez?!"

The same thing that has been going on for 2+ years, actually. It just doesn't look that interesting by the end of the season.

If you started Marcus Semien from day 1, you'd have the 20th best second baseman. He was one of the worst regulars in baseball with a .484 OPS through 56 games), so bad that he still needs another amazing month to undo the damage.

So, were you wrong if you dropped him?

The one thing that stands out to me with Pete Crow-Armstrong's breakout is this gradual growth in his ability to make contact in the zone. It moves somewhat tightly with his rolling wOBA and tells a pretty good story about his growth so far in his career.

Jo Adell's Process+ from Pitcher List shows excellent power with improved decision-making and contact.

Consider Jo Adell in the midst of a breakout WATCH, but not yet a WARNING (stealing meteorology terms).

All the conditions are here - improved decision-making, plus contact (most important element for him), and that consistent sweet sweet power. If conditions hold, take cover.

Junior Caminero's production took off like a rocket and the reason why isn't terribly complicated - he just got the ball in the air. When that FB% is north of 35-40%, he can put up elite numbers.

And honestly that's probably the "real" Tatis.

Fernando Tatis Jr. can absolutely be a top-15 hitter this season, but if I said I wasn't concerned about the power outage for the short term, I'd be lying. At least the decision-making has stayed strong!

Ronald Acuña Jr's Process+ chart shows plenty of power and solid decision-making in 2025

Sure, he's not running and will run less, but Ronald Acuña Jr. seems to have found that power again (small sample, of course) and he can be a top-15 hitter even without the steals.

I'm still bullish on Spencer Torkelson as long as decision-making stays strong, which it has even during this slump. If that starts to fade, I'll be worried.

A guy who once worked for a front office used to tell me stories about the offers teams would float for a struggling player. They were embarrassing. Outbidding other teams requires very little.

The question is more about what Miami would actually require to move him.

Coming into today's action, about 25% of Noelvi Marte's XBHs and RBI were against the fearsome pitching combo of Jorge Mateo and Gary Sanchez.

Another 25% of his XBH and over 33% of his RBI were in Coors.

Lots of talent here but current results are not true measures of it.

Is there any other way to be?

Pro tip - blame the data guy. I don't make the charts, I just read em.

I've been doing fantasy baseball rankings for a while and it amazes me how many people seemingly come to see a ranking of a single player and it bothers them so much they comment.

I'll take all the engagement I can get and am appreciative of every visitor, but like, why consume content this way?

As a whole, middle-aged white men are very skilled at taking a simple request for the benefit of someone other than other middle-aged white men as harassment that is deeply personal.

After much thought, I have this analysis on Spencer Torkelson in 2025: