Garrett Crochet was an injury-prone, unremarkable reliever for multiple years before emerging as one of baseball’s best starters last season. Joey Bart repeatedly failed to be the next Buster Posey before the Giants gave up on him and he found his stride with the Pirates. Luis García Jr. made little impact for four seasons before finally breaking through with 18 homers and 22 steals in 2024. And after over a decade in the majors, former top prospect Jurickson Profar enjoyed his best season.
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Yes, post-hype sleepers are real. And in cases like Crochet, they are spectacular. Fantasy managers tend to be impatient, which means that players can go from being a coveted prospect to waiver wire fodder in a short time frame. But every year a few post-hype sleepers offer terrific value, either as a draft-day acquisition or a free-agent addition.
Here are some players who could take a big step forward.
Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Los Angeles Angels (Yahoo ADP: 257.2)
To be clear, Schanuel is my favorite post-hype sleeper in this article. He was a first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, and fantasy managers would be so excited about him if he was set to debut on Opening Day. Instead, the Angels gave the youngster on-the-job training while the rest of his cohort was developing their skills away from the public eye.
Managers haven’t been impressed with Schanuel’s lack of power thus far, but he is at an age where many players are filling out physically and adding muscle to their frame. The 23-year-old has already shown excellent on-base skills and above-average speed for his position. He could become quite valuable by hitting 20 home runs.
Brandon Pfaadt, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks (Yahoo ADP: 184.3)
Pfaadt’s skills are improving, although you wouldn’t know it by the 4.71 ERA he logged last year. In his second season, the right-hander improved his strikeout and walk rates while allowing fewer barrels and a lower average exit velocity. His main problem in 2024 was timing, as his 64.5% strand rate was the second lowest among qualified pitchers. With continued growth and a reversal of luck, the 26-year-old could be a No. 3 mixed-league starter.
Gavin Williams, SP, Cleveland Guardians (Yahoo ADP: 218.4)
A first-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Williams has yet to show his top form in the Majors. The right-hander owns spectacular minor league numbers that include a 2.34 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and an 11.9 K/9 rate. Williams dealt with an elbow injury last year and didn’t make his season debut until July 3, but he showed an exciting improvement by raising his average fastball velocity to 96.6 mph. Cleveland has an excellent track record in developing pitchers, which makes it a worthwhile gamble to use a late-round pick on Williams this year, especially amid an onslaught of positive Spring Training reports.
MacKenzie Gore, SP, Washington Nationals (Yahoo ADP: 222.6)
Gore was expected to be a star. After all, there are few pitchers in baseball who can boast about having been a top-three pick in the MLB Draft. But the 2017 draft is far in the rear-view mirror, and Gore hasn’t found much success in three years in the majors.
The good news is that the southpaw has already figured out how to rack up plenty of whiffs, and last season his average fastball velocity improved to 96.1 mph. Gore still needs to further reduce his walk rate but has made steady improvement in that area. And last year he significantly reduced his barrel rate. He’s not far off 200 whiffs and a 3.50 ERA.
Jonathan Aranda, 1B/2B, Tampa Bay Rays (Yahoo ADP: 255)
Aranda was an on-base machine in the minors, and his plate skills peaked when he hit .339 with a .449 OBP and 25 homers in 95 games at the Triple-A level in 2023. Unfortunately, his progress stalled last year when he logged multiple IL stints and posted unremarkable results in 76 games that were almost evenly split between the majors and minors. Aranda is going undrafted in most leagues this year despite having a path to the DH role on a team that will play its 2025 home games at an offense-inducing park.
Bo Naylor, C, Cleveland Guardians (Yahoo ADP: Undrafted)
Young catchers are sometimes frustrating for fantasy managers, and Naylor was a perfect example last year. He seemed to be on the verge of stardom when he logged a 13.0% walk rate and a 23.0% strikeout rate as a 23-year-old in 2023, but his plate discipline completely fell apart last year and his OBP dropped by 75 points. Still just 25 years old, Naylor can get back on track this year, and he offers the added bonus of being one of the few catchers with 10-steal potential. Add those swipes to 15-20 homers and a .240 average, and Naylor becomes a viable fantasy option.
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