Last week, we wrapped up our Top 100 Hitter rankings for the remainder of the 2024 fantasy baseball season. While we’re in the home stretch, there’s still work to be done for this year. But savvy fantasy owners know it’s never too early to start planning ahead especially in keeper and dynasty leagues. As we charge toward the end of the season, we’re taking a page out of the White Sox playbook and turning our focus to 2025. This week, we’re diving into some early sleeper picks for the upcoming year. These are players who have had partial seasons, late breakouts, or have shown notable skill improvements but haven’t yet made it into the enduring everyday fantasy conversation. Whether they can give your roster a late-season boost or become prime offseason trade targets, these are names that will intrigue you the deeper you dig. Welcome to our early look at hitter sleeper profiles for 2025.
Joey Bart
Being a former number two overall pick comes with plenty of expectations. It does seem that Joey Bart never really was given a chance to prove himself in San Francisco and the change of scenery moving to Pittsburgh is doing him a lot of good. Since the All-Star break, Bart has been delivering with a .302 average with six homers and a combined 39 runs plus RBI. That has been good for a 143 wRC+ sitting only behind Yainer Diaz and Austin Wells during that time. While the Pirates have limited some of Bart’s at bats against lefties, his production has remained strong. The biggest shift in Bart’s profile is his patience at the plate. In 2024, he has swung at a significantly lower rate of pitches than the rest of his career but improved in his ability to make contact. Simply put, he is swinging at better pitches and making better contact this season. Neither Yasmani Grandal nor Henry Davis look to be a threat to his playing time in 2025 and he will be on the cusp of a top 10 catcher heading into the new year. As long as fantasy managers continue to dwell on his time in a Giants uniform, there will be an opportunity to buy in with Joey Bart.
Parker Meadows
Meadows missed about a month in the middle of the season leading many to forget of the potential that he has shown in the minors that we were hoping would show up in the majors. While coming up in the Detroit system, Parker was a constant threat to go 20/20 any season. So far in 2024, he has only produced six homers and nine steals. However, since he returned from that hamstring injury he has been holding a hot bat. Since that timeframe, he is hitting .300 with three homers and five steals. That has been good for a wRC+ of 137. There is little limiting his likelihood to hold down a long-term job for the Tigers. Staying healthy will be key for Meadows going into 2025 building upon the recent improvements.
PARKER MEADOWS ARE YOU SERIOUS?! pic.twitter.com/EZR3Yzofeh
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 6, 2024
Lars Nootbar
We talked about Nootbar a few weeks back, but he has to be one of my favorite breakout options for next year so we are rolling that one back again. Let’s recount a quick excerpt here:
According to Baseball Savant, he leads the field in the difference between his expected slugging and actual results. Moreover, he sits in the top ten in poor luck on batting average, with an xBA of .265 compared to his actual .230. Looking at comparable profiles, his contact has been more like Ketel Marte, William Contreras, and Jarren Duran, which does not show in his final numbers.
Nootbar has been trying his best to deliver over the last few weeks since we visited the topic. During those last 14 days, Nootbar has hit .310 while walking 10% of the time and only striking out 15% of plate appearances. Further, he has had a 49% hard hit rate resulting in consistent counting production and producing a 142 wRC+. Lars has also seen his xwOBA jump nearly 70 points in just the last 100 plate appearances. I will own plenty of shares in 2025 and so should you. Noot!!
Deep Sleeper Alert: Pavin Smith
Pavin Smith once carried the weight of high expectations, being selected 7th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017. Over the past few seasons, however, he’s found himself stuck in purgatory—splitting his time almost equally between Triple-A and the majors. That’s the textbook definition of a “Quad-A” player. Since his late July call-up this season, Smith’s surface-level stats won’t turn heads: a .214 average with just one home run, one steal, and a modest 92 wRC+. But dig deeper, and the story gets a lot more intriguing. Smith’s full season quality of contact has been outstanding, as evidenced by his .292 expected batting average (xBA), exit velocities consistently over 90 mph, and his impressive plate discipline.
Since his return to the majors in late July, he’s actually walked more than he’s struck out, and his exit velocity has jumped over 93 mph. Even in a small sample size, his hard-hit rate has soared over 50%, and his low BABIP (just above .200) hints at a potential turnaround. Smith is simply fighting to carve out a place in the Diamondbacks’ lineup. But with this kind of contact profile and improved plate approach, there’s sneaky value here as we head into the final stretch of the season. If you’re looking for a deep sleeper to monitor or stash in deeper leagues, don’t sleep on Smith’s potential for a late-season breakout.
