Welcome to July! The baseball season, both real and fantasy, is just flying by. With three months in the books, it is appropriate to take a look back on what has happened in the first half. No question, there are plenty of story lines to power this Fantasy Baseball MidSeason Report. In this edition, I will take a look at the surprises, top rookies, injuries and disappointments that ruled baseball. It is almost impossible to know where to begin, but I will give it my best shot.

Most importantly, everyone have a great and safe July 4th weekend!

Top Rookie Position Player and Biggest Surprise

Jackson Merrill, SS/OF, San Diego Padres

The fantasy top rookie position player and biggest surprise is all rolled into one. While there are a few hitters that could be considered for the spot of top rookie in the field, Jackson Merrill is outshining them all. In addition, consider that before this season, almost no one was talking about Merrill clearly qualifies him as the season’s biggest surprise. Merrill announced himself in a big way in the Korean Series against the Dodgers and hasn’t looked back.

As this is being written, Merrill is first among rookies in batting, hits and homers. Further, he is second in RBIs, third in runs, sixth in steals and tenth in doubles. His slash line is .328/.464, his OPS+ is 125, his ISO .170, he has a 16.0 K% and a 4.6 BB%. The K% is well below the league average (22.2%). Certainly, not bad for a player who had never had a major league at bat before this season.

At present, Merrill is as hot as any player in the big leagues, having had three hits each in his last two games. In his last 11 games, he has hits in 10 of them, including five games of at least two hits. The Padres haven’t always played like a team to be feared, but that certainly isn’t Merrill’s fault. There is no doubt whatsoever that he is the best rookie position player and top surprise at the halfway point.

Top Rookie Pitcher

Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Unlike the position players, there is plenty of competition for top rookie pitcher. Players such as Luis Gil, Gavin Stone, Shota Imanaga and many others were considered. However, none have had the impact or have been as consistent as Paul Skenes. Unlike Merrill, no one was surprised when Skenes made his major league debut, as it was one of the most anticipated games in quite some time.

Even so, Skenes hasn’t backed down from the spotlight. In his nine starts to this point, Skenes has stats that just pop off the page. He is 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA, a 197 ERA+, a 2.61 FIP, a 1.032 WHIP and an incredible 12.0 K9. His 34.2 K% and 4.9 BB% are both much better than the league average (22.2 and 8.2 respectfully). In his last four starts, Skenes has pitched into the sixth inning in all of them.

While an innings limit is almost certainly coming for Skenes, that has nothing to do with his first half. Even though he got a later start than most pitchers, he is clearly the top rookie pitcher on this Fantasy Baseball MidSeason Report.

Injuries, Injuries and More Injuries

Truly, it is almost impossible to know where to start discussing this section. Before the season even began, Gerrit Cole went on the IL. Shortly after its start, Spencer Strider soon followed. Of course, these were the top two pitchers in all of baseball, both in the real and fantasy worlds. Fortunately, Cole was able to rehab his injury and made his season debut June 19. While that is certainly good news, the fact he didn’t win his first game until June 30 pained a lot of fantasy managers.

Unfortunately, the news isn’t nearly as bright for Strider, although he avoided a second Tommy John surgery. However, he did have surgery on his right elbow and is out for the season. Perhaps he can make his way back for the start of 2025, but that is a story for a later time. In 2024, Strider made just two starts and didn’t win a single game. Without question, that is tough for fantasy managers (such as myself) who took him in the first round.

Clearly, those injuries were significant, but they weren’t the only pitchers to face pain this season. Others include Kyle Bradish, Justin Steele, Shane Bieber, Justin Verlander, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Kodai Senga and numerous others. In fact, it seemed like a valued pitcher was going on the injury list every other day. Without question, it made fantasy managers have to scramble to use the waiver wire, perhaps like never before.

Other Injury News

While pitchers were going down with injuries, they weren’t the only players to suffer such a fate. Even the best player in the game wasn’t immune. Of course, that player is Ronald Acuna. Even though he was off to a very slow start, at least he was playing. That is, of course, until May 26, when it was announced that Acuna suffered a knee injury and would miss the remainder of the season.

Obviously, as the first overall pick in fantasy drafts in all formats, that news was tough to stomach. His teammate, Michael Harris, soon followed. At least with Harris, he is expected back on the field, most likely after the All-Star Break. Many other position players have suffered injuries in the first half to various degrees. They include Luis Robert, Matt McLain, Kyle Tucker, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and other players almost too numerous to count.

The Most Painful Fantasy At-Bat of the Season

Clearly, no discussion of injuries on this Fantasy Baseball MidSeason Report would be complete without including Mookie Betts. On Sunday, June 16 against Kansas City, Betts was hit by a pitch from the Royal’s Dan Altavilla. It resulted in a fractured left hand. It isn’t known how significant the injury is or how long Betts will be out.

However, what is known is that losing Betts, who was having an MVP calibre season, was a devastating blow to every fantasy manager that drafted him. After all, just look at this stats: .304-10-40, 86 hits, 50 runs, a .405/.488 slash line, and 155 OPS+ and a ridiculously low 34 Ks in 283 ABs. His 10.3K% and 14.2BB% are almost too good to contemplate.

Consider the fact that he voluntarily moved to SS, adding to his 2B and OF qualifications and his fantasy value went through the roof. Obviously, no player on the wire is going to replace Betts. All a manager can do is shuffle players as can best be done and hope that he returns, with the same playing ability, before the fantasy playoffs begin.

Disappointment on Top of Disappointment

As many injuries as there were in the first half, the disappointments were almost as numerous. Of course, I am not talking about run of the mill players. No, this portion of the Fantasy Baseball MidSeason Report focuses on superstars who have miserably failed to meet expectations. Rising to the top of the list has to be Julio Rodriquez. Ever since the opening bell, Rodriquez has appeared to be asleep at the plate.

Currently, Rodriguez is hitting (if you want to call it that) .244-7-29 with 37 runs, 17 SBs, a .293/.323 slash line and a 81 OPS+. His 26.9K% and 6.0BB% are well off last year. Unfortunately, he isn’t unlucky as his .324 BAbip indicates. He isn’t hitting the ball as hard (47.3 HardH%) as he did in 2024.

He looked like he might be pulling out of his slump in June when he had hits in 13 of 17 games. Unfortunately, he went back to sleep, as he has just two hits in his last 31 at bats. At this point, fantasy managers that have kept Rodriguez on the roster are stuck with him, as no other manager would be willing to give up anything of value to trade for him. As disappointments go, Rodriguez goes to the head of the list.

The Disappointment Classroom is Full

Even so, he isn’t the only one having to stay after school. Accompanying him are the likes of Jordan Montgomery, Snell (before both went on the injured list), Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Corbin Carroll, Nolan Arenado, Randy Arozarena, Pablo Lopez (although he’s pitched much better of late) and Kevin Gausman, among many, many others.

With such players performing well below their expectations, it makes fantasy managers almost have to be clairvoyant to know who and when to trade away and who and when to trade for. If the trade market doesn’t exist, managers have to decide when to simply drop a player to the wire.

Without doubt, all of the above has made this fantasy season one of the most fascinating, frustrating and stressful years that I can remember.

The Final Word

Thank you for joining me for this Fantasy Baseball MidSeason Report! Follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @kevin62wilsea. Please feel free to share this article. Be sure to turn to Belly Up Sports and Belly Up Fantasy Sports for all the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL happenings and the latest sports news!

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