Fantasy Baseball Rankings Movers: No doubting Zach Neto anymore; Andy Pages, Jordan Beck also move up

Most every week, Scott White will highlight some of the more notable changes to his rest-of-season rankings. You’ll find said rankings here and are urged to bookmark them if you haven’t already. There’s no better resource for gauging player value throughout the long season.

Let’s kick off this week with one of the most frequently asked questions this time of year.

Q: Why do you rank [player who’s been bad so far] ahead of [player who’s been good so far]?

A: Because I’m ranking for the next 21 weeks, not the last five.

Some will interpret this as a smart aleck response, but I can only comprehend the question as a misunderstanding of what rankings are. If you want to know how a player has performed relative to others so far, you go to the sortable stats page. If you want to know how he’ll perform relative to others going forward, well, that’s what rankings are for.

Granted, the former is an objective measure while the latter is subjective, but since what’s going to happen is infinitely more useful in Fantasy Baseball than what’s already happened, isn’t it great that certain people are willing to stick their neck out with an educated guess? Isn’t that better than presuming what’s been is what will always be?

One thing rankers quickly learn — and it doesn’t take long — is that a five-week sample isn’t enough to drastically change your outlook for a player. That’s not to say there’s some magic cutoff, but it assuredly isn’t five weeks.

Granted, sometimes the outlook is fuzzy to begin with (Tyler Soderstrom, for instance) in which case it’s better to go with the flow for a while, provided it doesn’t infringe on the true stalwarts (Matt Olson, for instance). Also, full disclosure, rankings aren’t strictly a gauge of rest-of-season value. There’s also an element of “if you don’t value this guy this way at this point in time, you’ll lose him forever.” But such assessments are made only for add/drop cases. They’re also made with the utmost care, ensuring that you won’t forfeit anything you couldn’t live without.

Primarily, though, rankings are meant to depict rest-of-season outlook, which you can’t allow to be skewed by your immediate mood over a player. As Brandon Nimmo investors can attest, the season is still young enough for that mood to change instantly. So rather than dwell in your moods and their short-sighted destructiveness, wouldn’t you like a steady hand to remind you that the season is young and that track records speak volumes? That’s what rankings are for!

So when you get frustrated that I haven’t moved a player enough for your liking, understand first that it’ll never be perfect and, second, that it’s for your own good.

Having said that …

Shortstop

• Yeah .. it’s time to move Oneil Cruz up. I’ve been waiting for the strikeout rate to creep back up, but instead, it’s going the other way. The improved launch angle is probably the bigger development anyway, given how hard he impacts the ball, and that’s drastically improved. He’s also running a lot more than in the past, finally making full use of his 90th-percentile sprint speed. Basically, in every way that Cruz could come closer to maximizing his potential, he is, and while I’m not willing to go so far as to move into the top five at shortstop, I have moved him ahead of stalwarts like Trea Turner and Corey Seager (who, granted, is on the IL but isn’t expected to be for long). Cruz is also up to 13th in the outfield, right in between Wyatt Langford and James Wood.
• Rankers were exceedingly careful with Zachary Neto throughout the offseason, not wanting to give him too much benefit of the doubt after shoulder surgery left him with an uncertain timetable. But he’s been back for a couple weeks now and couldn’t seem any less bothered by the recovery. He’s making consistently hard contact while showing his usual aggression on the base paths — and the same was true during his (rather lengthy) rehab assignment, by the way. Given that he was a 23-homer, 30-steal guy last year, I don’t know why he should continue to rank behind Anthony Volpe, Dansby Swanson, and Xavier Edwards, who don’t have any more upside and aren’t making good on theirs right now anyway. So Neto is up to 13th for me, and I have half a mind to move him ahead of Willy Adames as well.

Third base

• Jazz Chisholm has moved down at three positions, but most notably third base, where he’s now behind Austin Riley and Rafael Devers (the order of those two being reversed in Head-to-Head points leagues). He’s all kinds of messed up right now, putting the ball in the air way too much, striking out at an untenable rate, and generally not impacting the ball the way he’s capable of. I trust he’ll sort it out eventually, but even at his best, he’s not an entirely different category of hitter from those other two. (And if Tuesday’s flank injury turns out to be an IL situation, he’ll likely move behind Manny Machado and perhaps even Alex Bregman as well.)
• The restoration of Noelvi Marte is deserving of a significant move up the rankings, and for now, he’s settled at 18th. Obviously, there’s the potential for more. I like that he’s making full use of his speed and that his strikeout rate looks to be a strength again after doing a sharp 180 last season. But I do need to rank him in a way that acknowledges his tenuous grasp on a starting job, particularly if this recent surge turns out to be a blip. I think slotting him in between Nolan Arenado and Josh Jung accomplishes that while also ensuring he’s rostered in the majority of leagues.

Second base

• We’ll always have Kyren Paris, the memory of his impossibly hot start to 2025 being forever etched in our hearts. But he’s 2 for 34 in his past 12 games and not even playing every day anymore. He’s plunged from 13th to 27th in my rankings, and he only ranked so high in an “if you don’t value this guy this way at this point in time, you’ll lose him forever” sort of way, which seemed especially worthwhile at a position with so few upside plays. It was always a long shot, though.
• With two more home runs Tuesday, Jorge Polanco is showing everyone he’s still capable of being the 33-homer guy he was in 2021, before a three-year battle with the patellar tendon in his left knee (an injury that was finally resolved via surgery this offseason). For as hot as he’s hitting, he’s actually been contending with a side injury that’s prevented him from batting against left-handers in recent weeks, and that’s part of the reason why he’s “only” 13th in my rankings. Still, that’s a big rise.
• Jordan Westburg has dropped from sixth to 11th, but that’s because he’s on the IL with a strained hamstring. It’s not because I’ve lost faith in him amid his slow start. Then again, I suppose it owes a little something to the fact that Kristian Campbell, Brice Turang, and Tommy Edman have made themselves so integral early on. They’re the three who rank directly ahead of Westburg.

First base

• It’s enough already with Vinnie Pasquantino, who’s far from a proven commodity himself, having offered only glimpses of his potential so far in his big-league career. I’m not saying he’s genuinely this bad or that he won’t be worth rostering long-term, but it feels disingenuous to say I value him over Spencer Torkelson, Ben Rice, or Jonathan Aranda still. So my rankings no longer reflect that.
• Kyle Manzardo, who has generally been counted among the breakout first basemen this year even though he wasn’t actually eligible at first base, is now finally eligible. He debuts at 22nd for me, behind another of those breakout first basemen, Michael Busch, and ahead of Rhys Hoskins. I think there are some foundational issues that will continue to limit Manzardo’s batting average, but his power production and on-base skills should be plenty useful.

Catcher

• Agustin Ramirez has been a smashing success so far, revealing a hitting profile so flawless that I’m already inclined to put him in the top 10 at catcher. Partly, that’s because the position is so lacking in honest-to-goodness difference-makers that you need to act boldly whenever someone shows signs of becoming one, but at the same time, I’ve moved Ramirez ahead of some pretty big names, such as Sean Murphy and Logan O’Hoppe.
• Hunter Goodman has started all but three games for the Rockies this season, which is all you could ask from any catcher-eligible player, and the numbers are decent even before he’s gone on the sort of power binge he’s capable of. At this point, he pretty clearly belongs ahead of Austin Wells, Gabriel Moreno, and Keibert Ruiz, at the very least, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he climbs into the top 10 before the end of May.

Outfield

• Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cedric Mullins have both killed it so far in a way that I don’t fully trust, which makes me careful not to throw caution to the wind with them. But their contributions are so varied that they could slip up in one area and still be must-start, basically. I’ve moved both up about 10 spots, putting them in the top 30 at the position.
• I don’t know that enough people have been commenting on what Christian Yelich is doing now that he’s finally addressed his longstanding back issues. His batting average lagged early, which may have diminished enthusiasm, but now that it’s picking up, it’s easier to notice that his power and speed contributions are as good as they’ve been in years. That’s enough for me to move him ahead of Michael Harris and Anthony Santander, whose struggles are more pronounced right now.
• Andy Pages has gone from having a .183 batting average and .650 OPS to a .293 batting average and .902 OPS in a span of just five days. It’s a little too much, too fast, particularly since the underlying data is still pretty underwhelming, but he’s a player with pedigree and a star-studded supporting cast. I’ve moved him just outside of my top 60, which makes him must-roster in five-outfielder leagues.
• Right behind Pages is Jordan Beck, who’s up to 64th in 5×5 Rotisserie leagues. I’m all the more skeptical of him given that the strikeout rate is still exorbitant, but he was a top prospect and has wreaked a lot of havoc in a short period of time. The 60-100 range in the outfield rankings is highly pliable, so emphasizing a hot hand in the hope that he sticks is a sensible approach.
• Tim Tawa and Eli White have made the most of their increased playing time and have some interesting data to back it up. A long-term role may be too much to ask for either, but they’re at least verging on top-100 status for me.

Starting pitcher

• I’ve gone ahead and moved Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease behind Michael King and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which is a touch aggressive for my liking, but I do have genuine concerns about both. Burnes’ swing-and-miss ability has cratered, which is more concerning than any spike in ERA this early on, and Cease is sort of a year-to-year enigma. I still think the most likely scenario is that both find their footing — and sooner than later — but I simply have more confidence in King and Yamamoto as of now.
• I’m lukewarm on both Reese Olson and Brandon Pfaadt, but they’ve both pitched well enough that I’ve moved them up about 10 spots, to around 60th at starting pitcher. That’s probably lower than you’d like still, particularly in the case of Pfaadt, but take from that what you will.
• A number of injured pitchers have made a move up my rankings this week in response to the progress they’ve been making. Ranger Suarez, who could be activated Friday, is up about 15 spots, settling at 67th, and Brandon Woodruff, who’s also deep into a rehab assignment, has moved up right alongside him. Not far behind (75th) is Eury Perez, who’s on the long road back from Tommy John surgery but is already on an official minor-league rehab assignment. That assignment could extend to 60 days as a special accommodation for Tommy John surgery, but even so, his return is palpable enough that he’s a high-priority stash now.
• Other priority stashes are prospects Bubba Chandler and Andrew Painter, who might actually make it to the majors before Perez but are harder to stash in the meantime. They’re both right around 100th for me.
• Gavin Williams and Grant Holmes were two pitchers that I was genuinely excited to draft, but what got me excited — namely their ability to miss bats — just hasn’t been there in the early going. I’ve moved Williams from 55th to 71st and Holmes from 62nd to 78th. Other big fallers this week include Bowden Francis (63rd to 96th) and Jeffrey Springs (74th to 115th).
• Some risers at the lower end of the rankings include Tobias Myers (105th), Jose Quintana (106th), Tyler Anderson (107th), JP Sears (111th), Jake Irvin (112th), and Ryan Gusto (119th).

Relief pitcher

• Emmanuel Clase and Devin Williams seemed firmly entrenched in the top two spots at relief pitcher, but now that both have struggled to the point of ceding saves to someone else, I obviously can’t keep them there. I do think the removal will be short-term for both (and, in fact, may have already ended in Clase’s case), which is why both remain in my top 12. Clase has gone from first to fourth, though, and Williams from second to 11th. Their appointed replacements, for what it’s worth, are 37th (Cade Smith) and 34th (Luke Weaver), respectively.
• Another closer who appears to be on thin ice is Ryan Walker, who’s had a couple rocky appearances recently and is fending off a decorated closer in his own right, Camilo Doval, who has actually pulled even with five saves. As I noted in my recent Bullpen Report, though, this is mostly because the Giants keep finding themselves in save situations on days when Walker is unavailable. He hasn’t yet worked an inning other than the ninth this year, so I think reports of his impending demise are greatly exaggerated. Out of an abundance of caution, though, I’ve dropped him from ninth to 14th. Doval, meanwhile, has entered the top 40 at 37th.
• Will Vest is another big riser from the past week, though his usage (and performance) Tuesday certainly poured cold water on his closer candidacy. Still, I have him 30th, one spot ahead of David Bednar and six spots ahead of fellow Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle.