Projecting Rest of Season Top 10 Hitters in 2025 Fantasy Baseball (Week 8)

May 21, 2025

Ryan Kirksey projects which 10 hitters will finish the season in the top 10 for the 2025 fantasy baseball season as we head into Week 8 of MLB action.

It's often said that fantasy baseball leagues are not won in the first round. Still, they can be lost in that round if you swing and miss on a player that early, especially considering the opportunity cost of other players in that spot. For the most part, the list of the top 10 fantasy baseball hitters shows that you were very safe with the hitter choices in the first 15 picks. Of the top 12 hitters in spring drafts, only two are currently ranked outside the top 40 overall in rotisserie formats.

However, if you selected Juan Soto (currently 95th) or Gunnar Henderson (currently 367th), you are playing catch-up with the rest of your league. While the other players at the top are having strong all-around seasons, it goes to show that even the most sure things (like Soto or Henderson) can disappoint when you least expect it.

In the case of many players, the numbers are starting to stabilize. In other players, more plate appearances are needed to make a firm decision. But in fantasy baseball, the stats we have are all that we can use. Making future judgments based on current data is the name of the game! It's a long season, and much baseball is left to be played. I will take a closer look at the current top-10 hitters in fantasy and make some predictions about who ends up there when it's all said and done in October.

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Current Top 10 Hitters for Fantasy Baseball

According to Yahoo's player rankings, here are the top 10 most valuable hitters in 5x5 roto leagues as of May 19, 2025.

Despite losing a dozen points of batting average this past week, no player can come close to reaching Aaron Judge right now. Not reflected in this table is the fact that he had two more hits, including his 16th home run on Tuesday night. The power is elite, of course, but the average is setting him well ahead of other players. Only one other player (Freddie Freeman, .371) is within 60 points of Judge's batting average this season.

Ohtani and Judge will likely battle for the top spot all season, and if Ohtani hits like he has in the past week, he is going to be the one who wins. Over the last seven days, Ohtani is hitting .333 with five home runs and 10 RBI. He is one of only three players to have double-digit home runs and steals this season, and now he also leads the major leagues in runs by eight.

17 for 17

Shohei Ohtani's Major League-leading 17th home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/2a5pmgTaJ3

— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2025

It seems like the only things that can slow down Pete Crow-Armstong right now are managerial decisions. With Ian Happ returning to the lineup from injury, PCA was moved back down to sixth in the order, seemingly taking away about a plate appearance per game. Ian Happ is a nice player, but PCA is on fire and is also the future. Here's hoping he is back in that top spot soon.

Along with Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong, Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Kyle Tucker seem the most likely candidates to finish the season with 30 home runs and 30 steals. All of them are on pace for that finish now, and have maintained an average, contact rate, and barrel rate that shows those numbers are attainable. Tatis has slowed down somewhat on the basepaths and has only stolen one base since May 3.

Corbin Carroll is the first player since Eddie Mathews in 1959 with at least 14 HR, 50 hits, and 5 triples in his first 45 games of a season. pic.twitter.com/0zh4PciFVD

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 17, 2025

Corbin Carroll, however, has four steals in the past week after starting the season slowly in that category. Right now, Carroll looks like the more valuable asset to roster on fantasy squads. Kyle Tucker could give both of them a run for their money this year, but I think Tucker's batting average floor potential is something that could keep him out of Tatis and Carroll's range.

Elly De La Cruz brought his batting average up 15 points last week, which earned him another spot in the current top 10 hitters. He will likely lead the league in steals again and should approach 25 home runs. As long as he can keep his batting average at or above the league average (.245 right now), he should remain in the top 10.

The two newcomers this week (Alex Bregman and Geraldo Perdomo) replace two New York Mets from last week (Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor). Both Bregman and Perdomo have decent power, speed, and run production, but their averages are driving their value. Only 19 players in MLB are above .300 right now, and these are two of them. What makes them more valuable is that both have at least 190 plate appearances, so there is a lot of volume coming with the high averages.

Projected Top 10 Hitters for Fantasy Baseball

Using a blend of ATC projections, Nick Mariano's projections, and my own opinions, here is my projected top-10 finish for hitters in the last four months of the 2025 fantasy baseball season.

Based on the information above, it's no surprise that the top four in my projections have Judge, Ohtani, Carroll, and De La Cruz coming into the top four by the end of the year. But I have seen enough with PCA and am ready to put him on this list higher than he has ever been. Pitchers keep challenging him, but his strikeout rate is just 24.8%. He is making contact in the zone 84% of the time, which is six percentage points higher than in 2024. He's the real deal.

Kyle Schwarber: Very good hitter of baseballs. pic.twitter.com/rdKtdFF57y

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 21, 2025

Kyle Schwarber is an interesting case. He hit home run number 17 on Tuesday night (of course, he hit another in Colorado), and now he is tied for the major league lead.

This is starting to look like a special power season for him. His current home run pace would put him at 57 on the season, 10 more than he has ever hit in his career. A National League player has not hit 57 home runs since Giancarlo Stanton hit 59 in 2017, so that's why Schwarber stays on this list for now.

Bobby Witt Jr. is still lurking just outside the top 10 hitters with his .302 average and 16 steals. As soon as he can add a few more home runs to his ledger (he has five through May 19th), he will surely rise a few spots and find a comfortable home in the top 10 rotisserie hitters in 2025.

For the first time in 4 years, José Ramírez has 3 stolen bases in a game! pic.twitter.com/09A3rJoijq

— MLB (@MLB) May 12, 2025

Another player who has been hitting very well lately and is slowly working his way back into the top 10 (where he was drafted) is Jose Ramirez. Over the last week, Ramirez is hitting .350 with three home runs and five RBI. He now has nine home runs and 12 steals on the season to go along with a .296 average. Ramirez has also not gone hitless in a game since May 4th at Toronto. Since then, he has been hitting .378/.462/.733.

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