It’s tough to call any fantasy baseball players overvalued or undervalued this early in the season. No team has played more than about eight percent of their games, and sample sizes are infinitesimal compared to what we normally need to make long-term judgments on players.

However, based on early performance, team usage, and changes to a player’s approach or mechanics, it’s already clear some players were undervalued in fantasy baseball draft rooms while others appear to have been overvalued.

This weekly piece will look at the past seven days of fantasy baseball performances to see who should be considered overvalued and undervalued going forward. When necessary, I will reference the Fantrax top 500 rotisserie rankings for the 2025 fantasy baseball season.

Undervalued Players

Brice Turang (2B – MIL)

The love for Brewers’ second baseman Brice Turang never got out of control during draft season this year, which kept him around pick 130-140 in the spring, the ninth or 10th second baseman off most draft boards. He hits low in the order, doesn’t have a ton of power, and there is always the threat of a platoon.

But now with a home run on Tuesday, Turang is hitting .326 with a .906 OPS, including three home runs, two stolen bases, and 11 runs, primarily out of the ninth spot in the order. Turang has turned on the hard-hit machine this year, with a 50% hard-hit rate and a 13% barrel rate, five times what it was last season. That has been accompanied by an increase in both fly balls and line drives this season. His strikeout rate is a manageable 25% as well.

Turang may not supplant any of Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, or William Contreras at the top of the Brewers’ batting order this year, but he has made it clear he can do damage at the bottom of the lineup. He harkens back to decades ago when managers would stack a “second” leadoff man in the ninth spot to get men on base ahead of the team’s top hitters. Turang has power, speed, and on-base ability, and that adds up to plenty of fantasy value no matter where he hits in the lineup.

Kyren Paris (2B – LAA)

Kyren Paris is the waiver wire player du jour this week as many leagues scrambled to claim his services over the past few days. On Tuesday, he became the first Angels player ever to have three home runs and four stolen bases through the team’s first 10 games. Despite not playing in five of the team’s first 10 games, he has come up to the roster and instantly become one of the top fantasy players in the entire league.

Despite a couple of cups of coffee the last two years (15 games in 2023, 21 games in 2024), this looks to be the season Paris will get his full-time shot, playing second base, shortstop, some DH, and wherever else the Angels need him. He is just 23 years old, but has been in the Angels’ minor league system for five years, developing his craft against top pitchers. He has a keen eye at the plate (13.6% walk rate) and only strikes out 22% of the time.

It’s hard to call a player undervalued who was completely undrafted, and thus had no value at all. But fantasy managers know who he is now, and it looks like his roster percentage is going to skyrocket this week.

Kris Bubic (SP – KC)

After Cole Ragans struck out 11 Twins batters on Tuesday night, he is rightly getting the most praise among these Kansas City Royals pitchers. But don’t overlook Kris Bubic, who has been downright nasty to start the 2025 season.

Through two starts, Bubic has a 0.71 ERA and 11.37 strikeouts per nine innings across 12.2 innings. So far, he has carried over the strikeout gains from 2024 (11.57 K/9), and he hasn’t allowed a single home run. That home run rate was his calling card last year (0.59 HR/9) and this just looks like the powered-up version of 2024 Bubic to start the season.

The velocity on his slider (84.8 miles per hour) is the highest of his career and he is throwing it 35% of the time; his highest-usage pitch after the fastball. Bubic was a steal in drafts around pick 350 this spring, and he is currently in the running for the most undervalued player in drafts among ALL of MLB.

Overvalued Players

Willy Adames (SS – SFG)

We knew there would be quite an offensive adjustment for Willy Adames moving from Milwaukee to San Francisco, but as of now, all of the fantasy community’s worst fears are coming true. With a fat new contract and now in one of the worst parks for hitters, Adames is struggling mightily with his new team.

In addition to slashing just .220/.267/.268 through 45 plate appearances, Adames has no home runs, two doubles, and one steal. His 30/20 season from 2024 that earned him the massive deal from the San Francisco Giants seems like a distant memory. Is there time to turn it around? Of course, but Adames isn’t in the right park to get bogged down in a huge offensive slump.

So far in 2025, his barrel rate is down as well as his launch angle and max exit velocity. His swing rate outside the zone is way up (seven percentage points higher), which is a primary and first concern to fix if he wants to get his bat heated up.

Anthony Santander (OF – BOS)

The Toronto Blue Jays’ offense as a whole is struggling to start the season. Through Monday’s games, they were 15th in runs scored, 16th in slugging percentage, and dead last in home runs (just five through 11 games). Is Anthony Santander just a part of a team-wide malaise, or is he actually not worth the eighth-round pick we spent on him in spring drafts?

After signing a large contract with Toronto, Santander is hitting just .200/.333/.225, and that was before Tuesday’s 0-for-5 performance with two strikeouts. He has no home runs and just one RBI through 12 games. Something is up, and I don’t think it’s as simple as just needing time to adjust to a new team and a new hometown.

Anthony Santander is a slow starter.

Santander’s hard-hit rate is way down from 2024 (41.4% down to 34.5%). He only has a 3.4% barrel rate, and all his contact metrics are down. First pitch strikes, contact rate, zone contact rate. Everything is worse so far in 2025. This is too good of an offense to keep down for long, but Santander’s individual performance is something to keep an eye on.

Jacob DeGrom (SP – TEX)

I am on record as saying I wanted to have zero shares of Jacob DeGrom for fantasy baseball in 2025, and so far I have no regrets. Yes, DeGrom has a decent 3.38 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. But he hasn’t pitched six innings yet and is only striking out 7.6 batters per nine innings through two starts. For comparison, DeGrom was over 11 strikeouts per nine in each of the last seven seasons.

One thing to monitor for DeGrom and why he might not be the ace we are looking for this season: fastball velocity. In 2025, his fastball is averaging 96.7 miles per hour. For most pitchers, that is a great number, but that’s two miles per hour lower than in 2023. From 2020-2023, he never had a velocity lower than 98.6, and now he is two ticks below that.

DeGrom is likely still in a ramp-up period from his injury last season, and maybe he can build back up the stamina and velocity he’s missing. But remember, DeGrom cost a fourth-round pick in 12-team leagues this offseason. Is your fourth-round pick someone you want to take a month or more to round into form? I’m still firmly on the side of overvalued for 2025.