Well-Known Fantasy Baseball Players - Drop, Hold, or Sell Low for Week 3? (2025)

April 15, 2025

Joey discusses five well-known fantasy baseball hitters and pitchers who have not performed well heading into Week 3 of 2025. Is it time to drop, sell, or hold?

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our weekly article about well-known fantasy baseball players. Each Monday, we will go through the biggest players slumping and determine what to do with them in fantasy. We could drop them, hold them through their slump, or try to trade them for cheap to another fantasy manager. 

All five players on this list are rostered in almost every league, but that could change in the coming days. These players have not been strong fantasy options over the past week and are just wasting a roster spot at this point in the year. 

So, what should fantasy managers do with these five well-known fantasy players? Should we drop, hold, or sell them heading into Week 3 (April 14 - April 20) of the fantasy season? Let's dive in and find out. 

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Jackson Holliday, 2B, Baltimore Orioles

Many fantasy managers believed that Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday was in for a breakout season. Although the former No. 1 overall prospect struggled mightily in his first campaign in 2024, the talent is definitely there. While a breakout could still be in store for Holliday this year, the 21-year-old is currently in a rut at the plate. 

He is hitless over his last 17 at-bats while striking out four times across the past five games. Holliday's recent offensive slump has resulted in the young second baseman being dropped in many leagues. He is now under 45 percent rostered in ESPN leagues and under 75 percent rostered in Yahoo! leagues. However, we shouldn't give up on the former top prospect just yet.

It's easy to look at this recent slump and immediately want to get rid of him. But no one thought about dropping Holliday when he had 10 hits in his first 30 at-bats to begin the year. The second baseman also had at least one hit in six of his first eight games. As a result, the 21-year-old should be held in most leagues heading into Week 3.

Jackson adds on! pic.twitter.com/nz5si1gsQx

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 5, 2025

His squared-up rate (32.4 percent) and chase rate (20 percent) both rank well, and Holliday will only improve as he gets more plate appearances under his belt. Given his everyday role in this Baltimore lineup, fantasy managers shouldn't drop him this early in the year. Let's give it a few more weeks before we try to drop the former top pick. 

Mark Vientos, 3B, New York Mets

New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos had the makings to be a strong fantasy option in 2025. He was coming off a breakout campaign in 2024 and was set to bat in front of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso in 2025. After Vientos hit 27 home runs and drove in 71 runs last season, the sky was the limit for the 25-year-old this season. 

However, Vientos is off to a rough start so far. He is hitting just .130 with three RBI and 12 strikeouts in his first 15 games, and his hard-hit rate currently sits at just 32.5 percent in the early going. Therefore, it might be tough for some fantasy managers to hang on to him as we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season. 

If you want to replace him with someone on the waiver wire, like Ben Rice or Josh Jung, then Vientos is a fine drop in some leagues. Undoubtedly, it has been hard to trust him in fantasy to begin the year. Still, the third base is a hold in most 12-plus team leagues.

Despite struggling in the first few weeks of the season, we shouldn't be panicking about Vientos yet. It takes some players longer than others to get into a rhythm at the plate, and things should eventually even out for the third baseman. With a 37.5 percent launch angle sweet-spot rate, a 30.8 percent squared-up rate, and a 24.8 percent chase rate, the 25-year-old should break out of his slump soon. 

Triston Casas, 1B, Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas showed a lot of promise in his 63 games last season. Although Casas missed multiple months due to a rib injury, the left-handed slugger put up big numbers when he was healthy. The 25-year-old hit 13 home runs with 32 RBI across 243 plate appearances in 2024. 

Unfortunately, Casas has struggled to open the 2025 season. After hitting .195 with 16 strikeouts in 16 spring training games, the young first baseman has had difficulty making hard contact in his first 15 regular-season games. He is slashing .185/.254/.296 to go with one home run, three RBI, and 16 strikeouts. 

Alex Cora on Triston Casas: "It's part of the process. It's only a handful of games early in the season. He'll be okay." pic.twitter.com/RvzHZc1tVI

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 12, 2025

With those struggles to begin the year, Casas is someone fantasy managers should be looking to sell low. While the potential is there for him to hit over 25 home runs this year, it has not been a strong couple of weeks for the former 2016 first-round pick. With a 13.8 percent squared-up rate and a 33.1 percent whiff rate, you should be looking to sell him. 

Matt Chapman, 3B, San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman has been one of the more consistent fantasy players at the hot corner in recent years. The 31-year-old has hit at least 27 home runs and driven in over 70 runs in three of the past four seasons. Chapman, though, is in a rough slump at the plate. He is 0-for-22 with 10 strikeouts in his last eight games.

This has been a brutal stretch for the veteran, and his metrics have not been up to his standards in the early going. His expected batting average (.181), expected slugging (.290), hard-hit rate (34.4 percent), and barrel rate (6.3 percent) all rank in the bottom half of the league. But let's not overreact to this slow start from Chapman. 

He was in a similar slump to begin last season and had just a .206 AVG with five home runs through his first 44 games. Then, the slugger hit .266 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI over his final 110 contests. As a result, he is certainly a hold in every league. Chapman's bat should heat up as the weather warms up. 

Yusei Kikuchi, SP, Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels were aggressive in pursuing pitcher Yusei Kikuchi this offseason and signed him to a three-year, $63 million contract in late November. However, the Angels haven't really gotten the results from the left-hander in his first three starts of the year. Even though he has gone six innings in each of those outings, Kikuchi has had some command issues to begin the season. 

He has walked at least three batters in back-to-back starts, and the strikeout numbers aren't quite there. Nevertheless, let's wait a few more starts before we decide to drop the southpaw. He has two big tests upcoming in Week 3 against the Rangers on Tuesday and the Giants on Sunday. If he struggles in both outings, then fantasy managers should drop him. 

Yusei Kikuchi's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/nyPbqHiPvB

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2025

Right now, though, it's too early to get rid of a pitcher who struck out a career-high 206 batters a season ago. Let him get adjusted to his new team and see how he looks in the next couple of weeks. Chances are, his numbers across the board will improve. Both his strikeout rate (28 percent) and walk rate (six percent) ranked in the top 20 percent of the league in 2024. 

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