April 21-27 Fantasy Baseball FantasySP Expert Picks

We are entering the fourth full week of the MLB season, and though we know some things about the 2025 season, we really don't know a lot. Small samples are still playing havoc with expectations; it's often said that nothing is real until we hit Memorial Day, which is five weeks away.

To help fill in some of the gaps in the early going, the experts at FantasySP got together to discuss fantasy baseball. Morgan Rode and Daniel Hepner answered five questions in advance of the final full week of April.

1. Give us a few offensive players who are available in fantasy leagues and could be in line for a big week due to matchups.

Daniel (all of my stats are true as of Saturday): The Twins and Cardinals have matchups against pitching staffs who have struggled this year. Minnesota plays the White Sox then the Angels: Chicago is among the 10 worst in runs allowed, strikeouts, and walks, while LA has struggled with runs allowed, home runs allowed, strikeouts, and walks.

St. Louis matches up with the Braves and Brewers. Atlanta has been prone to giving up home runs and ranks in the bottom 10 in pitcher strikeouts; Milwaukee has struggled with strikeouts, walks, runs, and home runs allowed.

Outfielder Harrison Bader stands out for Minnesota, as he has played nearly every game and is hitting .275 with three home runs and 12 RBI. For St. Louis, Thomas Saggese (eligible at both second base and shortstop in many leagues) has been playing with Masyn Winn on the IL and has gone 13 of 30 (.433) with three doubles and a home run. That's a valuable utility fill-in if you're short in the middle infield.

Morgan: I really like Luke Keaschall for the coming week, and so does FantasySP's projections.

In his first three MLB games, Keaschall has four hits, two RBIs, a walk, run scored and stolen base and two strikeouts. He's got matchups against the White Sox and Angels this coming week, so he's set up for a big fantasy week.

2. How about a pitcher (or several) who might be in line for one or two strong starts?

Daniel: The Athletics have a big stretch of nice offensive opponents: they play six games against the Rangers and White Sox this week, then they follow it up with four more against the Rangers, three against the Marlins, and three against the Mariners. A's pitchers will be valuable for the next two-plus weeks (before then playing the Yankees and Dodgers).

Their whole rotation is available in fantasy and can be streamed: Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, JP Sears, Osvaldo Bido, and J.T. Ginn; I rank them in that order.

The Royals play the Rockies and Astros, two teams with losing records, and KC's closer, Carlos Estevez, is available in a lot of leagues. He could be in line for a few extra save opportunities this week, and Estevez is a good strikeout pitcher.

Morgan: Los Angeles Angels' Jose Soriano has probable starts against the Pirates and Twins, so he's got two favorable matchups to score some fantasy points in.

Athletics' Bido is another guy I like in his starts against the Rangers and White Sox.

3. Is there a young player who was recently promoted to the majors who might be a valuable fantasy asset and should be considered for rosters?

Daniel: I'll give you a type more than an individual player, though a good example is Baltimore's Brandon Young, who made his MLB debut on Saturday against Cincinnati (four innings, three runs, three strikeouts, three walks). The type is a young pitcher who either had elite run prevention or elite strikeout work in the minor leagues.

These guys are more likely to make short starts, but this early in the season, you don't have to worry as much about bulk; quality matters more. Pitchers just coming up will almost always be available, and even putting out just five innings with five strikeouts is a reasonable expectation. When those pitchers get the best matchups (like the White Sox or Pirates), they are good plays with the hope of stealing a good performance from an unknown.

Morgan: I already discussed Keashall, but am going to talk about him again. He's a top-end prospect and is off to a hot start through three games.

Don't wait around to add him, because his own percentage should skyrocket in the coming days, especially if he performs well over the course of this week.

4. Do you have a player who has been struggling so far who you think will continue to disappoint and might be worth trading if someone is trying to find a buy-low guy?

Daniel: Two aging pitchers: Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Before his Sunday start, Verlander had both a strikeout and walk rate several percentage points worse than average and a 6.75 ERA. Verlander had his strikeout rate dip below average for the first time since 2014 last year, a trend that is holding and likely to continue.

Scherzer is on the IL currently; he made one start, throwing three innings and allowing two solo home runs. Scherzer is progressing toward a return, but he's probably still at least few weeks away. Despite all this, Scherzer is owned in around 30% of leagues. Maybe people just have him stashed in their IL spot, but Scherzer threw just 43 innings last year, and it's likely he won't put up big innings. He was an average pitcher when on the mound last season, but you can find similar results from streamers.

Morgan: I really liked Christian Walker coming into the season, but think he still has enough trade value to move right now.

There's a lot of good fantasy first basemen this season, and maybe you have one of them on your roster. Walker will heat up a bit eventually, but he might not be a top-10 fantasy 1B by the end of the season, so trading him for another player at a position of need could really help out your fantasy team.

5. On the opposite side, is there someone who is exceeding expectations so far who you expect to continue playing at a high level?

Daniel: I like to look toward players where there's reason for optimism, and what better place than Colorado? Everyone hits better at Coors Field, and the Rockies play half their games there. Infielder Kyle Farmer (with possible availability at 2B, 3B, and SS) has played the best baseball of his career early (.328 average, nine doubles). It's easy to say he will regress, but this is also his first season in Colorado, so he could sustain at least some of his improvement.

Outfielder Mickey Moniak, also in his first year with the Rockies, is doing his best hitting also, batting .256 with two doubles, two triples, and three home runs. Either one or both of these guys might cool off to their previous form, but they aren't bad bets when they are playing at home if you need a fill-in.

Morgan: There's a number of players I could mention here.

I really like Jung Hoo Lee this season, and think he'll remain a daily fantasy starter all season. Try to buy into him if you still can.

Tommy Edman is another hitter who I think could keep delivering good results all season. Like Lee, his overall numbers are likely to drop a bit as the season rolls along, but I see Edman as a daily fantasy starter.