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Joey's fantasy baseball buys and sells for MLB players currently on hot streaks. He looks at potential fantasy baseball frauds for Week 8 of the 2025 season.
Welcome, RotoBallers, to our weekly fantasy baseball frauds and buys/sells article. Every week of the fantasy baseball season, we will look at which players are coming off strong weeks. It could be a hitter who has emerged as a solid fantasy option or a pitcher coming off a few strong outings on the mound.
In this article, we will dive into five players who had standout performances last week. We will then determine if we should be buying or selling these players as we enter Week 8 (May 19 to May 25) of the fantasy baseball season. All five players on this list are rostered in under 50% of Yahoo! leagues.
So, should fantasy managers be buying or selling these players coming off a solid week? Let's dive in and find out.
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Wilmer Flores, 1B, San Francisco Giants
Rostered 42% of Yahoo! leagues
San Francisco Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores has been red-hot at the plate recently. He is batting .315 with three home runs, two doubles, and 14 RBI over his last 14 games. Flores' best offensive game during this stretch came when he went 3-for-5 with three home runs and eight RBI in Friday's 9-1 win over the Athletics.
Flores has actually had a solid season so far and currently leads all of MLB with 42 RBI. So, it's not a surprise that his rostership continues to climb in all formats heading into Week 8. He has 10 home runs and 42 RBI in 45 games this season while carrying a solid slash line of .258/.324/.454. That makes him a solid add in most 12-plus team leagues.
MLB's RBI leader: Wilmer Flores 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/kfY7xX2YCM
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 18, 2025
While his home run and RBI numbers will likely regress over the course of the season, he can be a viable fantasy option moving forward. His launch angle sweet-spot rate (37.8%), squared-up rate (28.5%), and whiff rate (19.5%) all rank in the 70th percentile or better in the early going.
Now, there is a bit of a concern with Flores, considering both his hard-hit rate (25.2%) and average exit velocity (85.2 mph) rank poorly. However, it's hard to ignore what he has done to start the season. Therefore, he's worth an add in most formats. It was just two years ago that the veteran hit 23 home runs back during the 2023 campaign.
Hyeseong Kim, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Rostered 35% of Yahoo! leagues
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed second baseman Hyeseong Kim to a three-year, $12.5 million contract this offseason following eight seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). Although Kim started his career down in Triple-A, he was called up at the beginning of May when Tommy Edman landed on the 10-day injured list.
Since being called up on May 3, the 26-year-old has had a lot of success to begin his major league career. In his first 14 games, Kim is 14-for-31 at the plate with one home run, one double, five RBI, and three stolen bases. Given his strong start with the Dodgers, the Japanese native is a solid add in some 12-plus team leagues.
Kim is expected to stay up with the team even when Teoscar Hernandez (groin) is activated from the IL, and the young infielder will be a great source of steals for fantasy managers. With a 28.5 ft/sec sprint speed, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the rookie steal upward of 25 bases in 2025. He stole at least 30 bases in three of his past four seasons in the KBO (2021, 2022, and 2024).
Something to keep in mind with Kim, though, is that he might not see an everyday role. He has sat back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday with a lefty on the mound, and Hernandez should return in the coming days. Still, the rookie is worth an add in some leagues, given his strong start.
Jack Leiter, SP, Texas Rangers
Rostered 34% of Yahoo! leagues
It has been hard to get a read on Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter this season. He has had some really poor starts and some really strong starts to begin his 2025 campaign. Some of his poor starts included allowing six earned runs across four 1/3 innings against the Mariners on May 2 and giving up four earned runs with four walks in five 1/3 innings against the Red Sox on May 9.
If you also add in the fact that Leiter has an 11.6% walk rate and a 19% strikeout rate, he doesn't seem like the best fantasy pickup heading into Week 8. Nonetheless, he could be a streaming option for fantasy managers moving forward.
In his last two starts, the right-hander threw six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts against the Rockies and seven innings of three-run ball with four strikeouts against the Astros. Those two back-to-back outings are a good sign for Leiter, especially since he pitched better than his line suggested in his most recent start in Houston.
He had a no-hitter going through six 2/3 innings.
Jack Leiter is through 6 no-hit innings against the Astros 👀 pic.twitter.com/eAKpT0YSkM
— MLB (@MLB) May 18, 2025
As a result, Leiter can be started in the right matchup. With a start against the White Sox upcoming in Week 8, he should be added in most formats as a strong streaming option.
If his walk rate eventually goes down and his strikeout rate goes up, we can then talk about the Rangers pitcher differently. For now, though, he isn't anything more than a streamer.
Drake Baldwin, C, Atlanta Braves
Rostered 13% of Yahoo! leagues
Fantasy managers have to like what they are seeing from Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin this season. He is currently batting .357 with five home runs, four doubles, and 15 RBI in his 29 major league games. Baldwin has also been red-hot at the plate recently, hitting .571 with three home runs and nine RBI over his last 10 games.
More importantly, Baldwin started back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday for the first time since April 15 and April 16. Therefore, it appears the Braves are open to giving the rookie more opportunities at the plate moving forward. If that's the case, he should be added in some 12-plus team leagues and all two-catcher formats heading into Week 8.
Baldwin ranks in the upper half of the league in almost every offensive category, including expected slugging (.539), barrel rate (13.8%), squared-up rate (31.3%), and strikeout rate (16.5%). Just keep in mind that Sean Murphy will also see time behind the plate, meaning the rookie might only see three to four starts every week.
If you can afford him sitting out every other game, then he is a solid add in some formats. He has been seeing the ball well as of late, and his metrics suggest that he could be a solid fantasy option in 2025.
Will Benson, OF, Cincinnati Reds
Rostered 8% of Yahoo! leagues
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Will Benson started the season down at Triple-A Louisville following a rough 2024 season. Benson hit only .187 with 154 strikeouts across 128 games last year. Since being called up, though, the 26-year-old is making the most of his opportunities.
Benson is on an absolute heater at the plate, and no one has been able to stop him. The lefty slugger went 10-for-19 with five home runs, one double, and 10 RBI in six games against the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians last week. He also had the first multi-home run game of his career in Sunday's 3-1 win in which he accounted for all three runs.
Will Benson is out of this world right now 🤯
He has 5 homers in has last 4 games! pic.twitter.com/gYqnc7lefg
— MLB (@MLB) May 18, 2025
His strong week at the plate has resulted in him being added in a ton of fantasy leagues heading into Week 8. However, Benson might not be a long-term answer for your team. He strikes out a lot, has a 31.7% whiff rate in his first nine games this season, and will eventually cool off. That doesn't mean that fantasy managers can ride his hot streak for the time being.
Benson has seen the ball well since being recalled from Triple-A, and no one knows how long this hot streak will last. So, adding him amid this stretch might not be a bad idea for fantasy managers.
Other Standout Performers
- Jordan Beck (sell)
- Miguel Vargas (sell)
- Taylor Ward (buy)
- Ezequiel Tovar (buy)
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