We are roughly a month and a half into the 2025 MLB season, and fantasy baseball is in full swing. No matter what style or site you play with, the need to add under-the-radar guys onto your roster to provide value and potential is a constant. There are entire podcasts dedicated to finding these “sleepers” in your league to help you gain a competitive edge over the other teams. Sleepers have always been a massive part of winning fantasy sports; identifying and adding sleepers throughout the season is critical to having success in your league.
Identifying and drafting sleepers before the season is always a key element to the game, but don’t count out the importance of in-season sleepers. Grabbing a guy trending towards a breakout or someone already putting big numbers under the radar is an element of fantasy baseball that is often overlooked.
If you want to stay atop your league throughout the season, you need to be consistently upgrading your team and replacing injured players. These 10 under-the-radar players are available in over half of all ESPN leagues and could provide an upgrade to your starting roster immediately or at least show the ability to do so in the near future.
10 Under-the-Radar Players For Your Fantasy Baseball Roster
Austin Hays, Reds, OF
Available in 81.1% of ESPN leagues
Points per game: 4.5
Position rank: 60th best outfielder
Overview: Hays is currently on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain, but he’s on track to get back into the lineup sometime this week. Before his injury, he slashed .365/.431/.712 with 13 RBIs, 15 runs, and five home runs in just 13 games.
While he’s not likely to keep up the RBI per game ratio throughout the season, he clearly works well within the reds offense, helping them score seven runs per game when he plays compared to their overall 4.9 runs per game for the season.
Hays has the third most points per game of any batter with over ten starts in the season, behind only Carson Kelly and Aaron Judge.
J.P. Crawford, SS, Mariners
Available in 86.9% of ESPN leagues
Points per game: 2.4
Position rank: 2nd best Shortstop
Overview: Him being available in over 85% of ESPN leagues despite being the ninth-best shortstop available is a testament to how bad he was earlier in the season (and how bad ESPN fantasy players are). Seventeen games into the season, Crawford had a .178 average with only one RBI, one extra-base hit, and zero multi-hit games. It was an awful start to the season at the plate following a season where he just barely broke the Mendoza line; people thought (justifiably) that he might be regressing as a batter and that he was simply overmatched as a hitter.
He’s always been more of a defensive specialist anyway, and his only great season at the plate came in 2023, when he hit a .818 OPS. It looked like he had finally unlocked his bat, but then came the downswing with the worst batting season of his career in 2024. When he started off with a terrible first few weeks, many fantasy owners gave up on him (if they even believed in him, to begin with).
Crawford’s last 16 games have been a revelation, as he’s hitting even better than in 2023. With 16 RBIs, five extra-base hits, and nine multi-hit games in his last 16 starts, Crawford is absolutely sizzling at the plate. He’s currently on a 13-game hitting streak, and his batting average is now closing in on .300! Why people haven’t jumped all over him is beyond me. Jump on him if he’s available in your league.
Hunter Goodman, Rockies, C/OF/DH
Available in 75.4% of ESPN leagues
Points per game: 2.1
Position rank: 6th best Catcher
Overview: Goodman has become an everyday player for the Rockies, and he plays the one position that’s hard to get significant production out of. With him playing 81 games at Coors Field, you can probably expect him to put up some production, even if his points per game lag behind his peers.
Goodman’s already got 17 RBIs, 16 runs, and five homers in 32 games. He’s got the 6th most points among all eligible catchers, so if you don’t have one of the five above him, he’s probably a great pickup.
Kyle Stowers, Marlins, OF
Available in 64.1% of ESPN leagues
Points per game: 2.6
Position rank: 23rd best outfielder
Overview: Quickly turning from a bench player only rostered on 20-team leagues to a potential starter that could upgrade nearly all fantasy teams. He’s probably not considered a true sleeper at this point because he already had his big breakout around a week ago (at this time of writing) when he had a pair of multi-homer games, racking up 32 fantasy points in three games and launching himself into the top 30 outfielders.
Stowers had 15 RBIs and 12 runs over 25 games before his breakout, and ever since then, he’s been one of the most common waiver wire pickups in fantasy baseball, jumping 30% in rostered rate over the last week. If he’s still available in your league, pick him up ASAP! He’s got a really solid trajectory and should find some consistency soon.
J.P. Sears, Athletics, SP
Available in 66.5% of ESPN leagues
Points per start: 12.9
Position rank: 33rd best-starting pitcher
Overview: Spears has been lights out in his last four starts, putting up double-digit fantasy points in each game, allowing only five runs and three walks in 23.0 innings pitched, and going 3-0 during that stretch. The lefty is finally getting onto the radars of fantasy owners within the last week, with teams in 19.3% of leagues adding him over the previous seven days.
Given his hot arm, it’s likely that he won’t be a true sleeper for much longer. If his next performance is anything like his last four, he could easily jump into the top 30 fantasy starting pitchers. If he’s available, I suggest scooping him up now because if his next few games follow the trend, there is no way he will be available in two weeks’ time.
Jason Adam, Padres, RP
Available in 52.1% of ESPN leagues
Points per appearance: 4.9
Position rank: 7th best relief pitcher
Overview: Even though Adam is not going to get you any saves, this guy is going to be a consistent scorer, especially valuable in head-to-head leagues. He’s already had 18 appearances, and the Padres have only played 34 games! In those 18 appearances, he averaged 1.32 strikeouts and only 0.53 hits.
Adam is good for roughly five points every two days or so. Jason Adam currently leads the league in holds with 11, so if your league scores holds, he could be a very valuable addition.
Dansby Swanson, Cubs, SS
Available in 53.1% of ESPN leagues
Points per game: 2.1
Position rank: 11th-best Shortstop
Overview: Dansby can hardly be called a sleeper, especially in leagues with more than ten teams, but technically, he’s only rostered in roughly 47% of ESPN leagues. He falls just out of starter range for a traditional 10-team league at the moment, but he’s trending toward that top-ten spot that would make him starter quality. He has the most fantasy points of any shortstop over the last seven days, earning 25 total bases over just 30 at-bats over that stretch.
Another important thing to note about Dansby’s season is his improved power. His hard hit rate is the highest of any time in his career (in fact, it’s a whopping 7.3 points higher than last year), and he’s on pace to make a run at his first 30+ HR season. This pursuit could keep him focused and prepared for the long summer; he’s likely to play 160+ games this season unless he’s hurt.
Reese Olson, Tigers, SP
Available in 67.3% of ESPN leagues
Points per start: 12.4
Position rank: 31st best-starting pitcher
Overview: Olson can earn 20+ points each time he takes the mound; unfortunately, he also tends to have starts where he actually loses points. He’s a boom-or-bust pitcher with wild stuff and a knack for blanking opponents (three scoreless starts of over five innings this season).
When Olson is on top of his stuff, he’s striking guys out and limiting damage from a few dumb mistakes. When he’s not on his game, the base runners pile up, and he can’t focus, giving up more dumb mistakes until they have to pull him before the fifth. He’s been on a tear of good games recently, with a 1.19 ERA over his last four starts and giving up only three runs over that stretch.
Shane Smith, White Sox, SP/RP
Available in 88.9% of ESPN leagues
Points per appearance: 11.1
Position rank: 45th-best starting pitcher, 17th-best relief pitcher
Overview: So far, Smith has been Mr. Consistent and has anchored the White Sox pitcher corps. He has primarily been used as a starter this season and likely won’t change, given how good he has been pitching. Smith hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of his six starts so far this season, and his 2.41 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, along with a 2-1 K-BB ratio, have made him a truly quality starter this season.
Can he keep it up? I think he might, it’s not like he’s putting up Max Fried or Hunter Brown numbers, it’s not crazy to think he might continue his solid play getting soft contact and limiting big games, that’s all the white Sox are asking him to do and he’s delivering.
Logan Henderson, Brewers, SP
Available in 98.7% of ESPN leagues
Points per start: 23.0
Position rank: 138th best starting pitcher
Overview: he’s an option for really deep leagues with lots of bench space or dynasty leagues where you want to add future stars. Henderson was sent down to triple-A this week after putting up an outstanding Major-League debut against the Athletics last week.
Henderson is a strikeout artist, averaging 12.1 K/9 in his minor league career before throwing nine Ks in six innings to secure the first win of his career. While he may only have one start to his name, and he’s currently not in the MLB, I see him continuing his professional success once the Brewers call him back up, which will likely be sooner rather than later.
Published: May 7, 2025 02:24 pm