Fantasy Baseball: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Ronny Mauricio are forgotten favorites with renewed hype

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Eury Perez is set to return Monday after a year and a half spent recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Yes, the last time he pitched in a major-league game was Sept. 20, 2023, wrapping up a rookie season in which he had a 3.15 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 10.6 K/9. He was a rising star and a darling pick in 2024 drafts before anyone knew he wouldn’t pitch that year.

It’s fair to say, then, that nobody has forgotten about him despite the length of his absence, and indeed, before even throwing his first official pitch of 2025, he’s already rostered in 83 percent of CBS Sports leagues.

But not every player has those kinds of tailwinds. More often than not, in fact, a long-term absence will eliminate the hype for a player, particularly those who aren’t established or regarded as a sure thing.

Three recent returnees fall into this category, but rather than receding into the background, they’re giving us new reason to care again. So let’s revisit what we liked about Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Ronny Mauricio, and Lance McCullers in the first place and consider what the future now holds for them.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B, Reds

Going into the weekend, nobody would have imagined that Encarnacion-Strand would be the story of it. He was only activated from the IL Friday after missing seven weeks with lower back inflammation, and prior to that, he was hitting .158 with a .482 OPS. It wasn’t clear how much he’d even play for the Reds. Turns out he not only started all three games but homered in all three, going 7 for 13. Most impressive of all was that he had seven batted balls of 103 mph or more. Dude was locked in. Here’s a little taste of it:

So where did it come from? He had been so bad for so long. In addition to his struggles this year, Encarnacion-Strand hit just .190 with a .513 OPS for the 29 games he was healthy last year. But if you think back to 2023, he was one of the most-hyped call-ups that year, having hit .331 with 20 homers and a 1.042 OPS in 67 games at Triple-A. He hit .270 with 13 homers and a .805 OPS over nearly as many games at the major-league level, with seven of those home runs coming in his final 12 games. He had all the momentum going into 2024 only for it to fizzle out because of a hand injury that cost him most of that year. OK, but if health was to blame for his struggles then, what about his struggles earlier this year?

“Baseball is timing and when you’re off time, sometimes you’re going to hit ground balls to the third baseman or shortstop. Just making an adjustment, try to stay back to the middle,” Encarnacion-Strand said.

Fair enough. Look, it’s not an open-and-shut case. We don’t have enough history of Encarnacion-Strand playing in the majors to know how long he can stay locked in like this and how bad things could get when he isn’t. But we know the power is legitimate, and if he’s making good on it while the Reds are committed to playing him, then our interest in Fantasy should go back to pre-2024 levels. He may not have the plate discipline to factor in Head-to-Head points leagues, but Encarnacion-Strand should be a top priority for anyone chasing home runs in a 5×5 league.

Ronny Mauricio, 2B/3B, Mets

The Mets called up Ronny Mauricio on Sept. 1, 2023, and in his very first plate appearance, he hit a 117.3 mph screamer for a double, making it the hardest-hit ball for the Mets that season. Harder than any ball Francisco Lindor hit. Harder than any ball Pete Alonso hit. Mauricio also went on to steal seven bases in his 26 games for the big club, showing the sort of power/speed combo that Rotisserie dreams are made of.

And then he tore his ACL. He wouldn’t make it back at any point in 2024, ultimately requiring a clean-up procedure in August, and in the meantime, Matt Vientos broke out, Luisangel Acuna emerged, and Brett Baty found a little bit of a foothold. Between the lengthy rehabilitation, the Mets’ crowded infield picture, and the fact that he was a divisive prospect, to begin with, it wasn’t clear that Mauricio would ever get another chance, at least not in this organization. And this happened:

Did you see it land? Because I didn’t. Even at Coors Field, 456 feet is a long way away. In all, Mauricio went 5 for 11 in his three games in Colorado, also stealing two bases. His power/speed combo, then, would appear still to be intact (he had three homers and six steals in 19 minor-league games prior to his promotion), but perhaps most notable is that he started all three games this weekend and has started five of six since rejoining the big-league roster. Sure, Vientos isn’t there to interfere — his IL stint for a hamstring strain is what freed up a roster spot for Mauricio — but Baty and Acuna are. And I haven’t even mentioned Jeff McNeil, who himself homered three times over the weekend.

For Mauricio to find regular at-bats amid all that clutter, the Mets must be prioritizing him on some level, and at least from a 5×5 perspective, his power/speed combo gives him the most upside of their second and third base options, Vientos included. Granted, he’s not the most disciplined hitter. It’s the reason why he was a divisive prospect, and the increased exposure could allow big-league pitchers to develop a better plan of attack against him. That and the crowded infield picture are why you shouldn’t put all your eggs in Mauricio’s basket. But if you have a spot to play with, at least in a Rotisserie league, you’d be wise to stash him away and see where this goes.

Lance McCullers, SP, Astros

McCullers had the longest absence of these three, having last pitched in the majors in 2022, and has shown the clearest evidence of skill decline, his sinker having lost about 2.5 mph from when he was last healthy. Early on, then, the chances of him mattering for Fantasy again seemed like a virtual impossibility. And then this happened:

Yes, that was 12 strikeouts in a single start against the Athletics on May 28, a career-high for a pitcher whose career was supposed to be over. And then his follow-up outing saw him two-hit the Pirates over six innings, albeit with a paltry seven strikeouts.

You know what I noticed about those 12 strikeouts against the Athletics? Most of them came on breaking balls, which may just be the way he has to operate with reduced fastball velocity. The slider and curveball have long been the keys to his arsenal, playing well off each other and piling up whiffs at a high rate. He upped his usage of both by about 10 percentage points in that start, which may be enough to sustain him. I mean, you see how wicked they are.

If it was by design, though, he didn’t follow up on it against the Pirates, returning to more conventional usage. And while my use of “paltry” to describe his seven strikeouts in that game was tongue-in-cheek, his nine whiffs on 96 pitches were certainly nothing to write home about. Perhaps the Athletics start was the aberration and the Pirates start just the natural consequence of facing one of the majors’ worst offensive clubs.

It remains to be seen. Reduced velocity is one of the most difficult hardships for a starting pitcher to overcome, and while McCullers’ secondary stuff gives him a better chance than most, the odds are still long. Of course, after consecutive starts as good as his last two, you have to take the flier, as those in 82 percent of CBS Sports leagues already have. Just don’t go assuming he’s a fixture in your lineup yet.

This news was originally published on this post .

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