8 Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers - Jose Altuve, MacKenzie Gore, Teoscar Hernandez, Max Meyer, more

June 3, 2025

Connelly's fantasy baseball risers and fallers for Week 10 of 2025. He assesses hitters and pitchers performing well and poorly to determine their future value.

Welcome, everyone, to another edition of RotoBaller’s Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers article series for Week 10 of the 2025 season! Today, I'll be taking a look at names like Jose Altuve, MacKenzie Gore, Teoscar Hernandez, and Max Meyer.

Keeping up with the latest hitter and pitcher trends is a key component for a successful season, and RotoBaller is here to help fantasy managers! Each week, I will select a few players who have performed well recently and a few who have not, and I will analyze their performances to determine how their future outcomes may be affected.

At this point in the season, fantasy managers are starting to get a sense of where they stand and what they can do to improve. Hopefully, they can take advantage of some Riser and Faller trends to keep pushing!

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Fantasy Baseball Hitter Risers

All stats are current as of Sunday morning, June 1, 2025.

Jose Altuve, Houston Astros (2B, OF)

.268/.315/.418 Slash Line, 9 HRs, 22 RBI, 4 SBs

At age 35, Jose Altuve’s slow offensive start may have led fantasy managers to think that the end was near. However, he has really picked things up lately, slashing .347/.377/.653 with five home runs in the last two weeks.

The main improvement in this stretch has been his batted-ball profile. Altuve has never hit the ball hard, but has maximized his swing to fit in his home park of Daikin Park. However, he has impacted the ball well in his recent stretch, with an 88.7-mph exit velocity and a 21.6-degree launch angle.

Jose Altuve: 4-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI

The @Astros win their 3rd straight. pic.twitter.com/qniBRWXzWP

— MLB (@MLB) May 28, 2025

Altuve's stolen base pace has slowed down, but he is now on pace to hit his most home runs in the last three seasons. His bat speed has slowed down, but no one wants to be the fantasy manager who gave up on a player of Altuve's caliber too early.

Ryan O'Hearn, Baltimore Orioles (1B, OF)

.333/.420/.542 Slash Line, 9 HRs, 21 RBI, 3 SBs

Ryan O'Hearn never hit the fantasy radar while with the Royals, but he has been a useful option the last three seasons with the Orioles. He is currently having a career season, slashing .333/.420/.542 with nine home runs and 21 RBI in 193 plate appearances. Should fantasy managers be taking him more seriously?

O'Hearn has hit the ball hard throughout his career, and this season has been no exception. His 9.1-degree launch angle is a career-low, but his Statcast page is covered in red. His expected stats are excellent, including a .326 expected batting average in the 99th percentile of baseball.

Ryan O’Hearn has been so good this season pic.twitter.com/LTJZes8WSm

— 𝙆am Brice (@kambrice1tv) May 25, 2025

The one thing that has slightly limited his fantasy value is his lack of playing time against left-handed pitchers. He has actually hit lefties better than righties this season, but he has only earned 34 plate appearances vs. 164 against righties.

O'Hearn has been a solid fantasy option so far this season despite not being quite an everyday player. His approach to the plate and performance against lefties could force the issue in a struggling O's lineup, making him a high-floor fantasy option with the potential for an even higher ceiling.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Risers

All stats are current as of Sunday morning, June 1, 2025.

MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals

2-5, 3.16 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 36.2% Strikeout Rate, 68 1/3 IP

Fantasy managers have had high hopes for MacKenzie Gore throughout his career, but he has never put it all together until now. Should they buy his 2025 performance?

Gore’s pitch-mix selection supports his increased performance. His four-seamer has historically not yielded great results, but he has decreased its usage in favor of his curveball and slider, which have shown better results. Specifically, his increased strikeout rate can be attributed to this, as his swinging-strike rates on those pitches have been 19.6% and 25.3%.

MacKenzie Gore is the 1st pitcher to 100 Ks this season!

(MLB x @loanDepot) pic.twitter.com/ML8oQQ5Gia

— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2025

There is still some ambiguity between his underlying metrics and his peripherals. Gore has allowed a lot of hard contact in the air. His 3.30 xERA and 2.47 SIERA are both solid, but he has allowed hard contact throughout his career and has never gotten results this strong.

Overall, Gore has made the most of his skill set so far in 2025. There are supporting metrics, but there is also still ambiguity. I wouldn’t call him a sell-high candidate per se, but I would be surprised if he maintains his peripherals for the whole season.

Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies

4-0, 2.97 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 24.6% Strikeout Rate, 30 1/3 IP

Ranger Suarez missed the beginning of the season with lower back stiffness, but he has made up for it since returning at the beginning of May. While his first five starts have been stellar, he has stumbled at times in his fantasy career. Should fantasy managers take his performance at face value?

Underlying signs point to yes. Suarez's Statcast page is mostly very red, including his expected stats. He has done an excellent job limiting hard contact and is in the top five percent of baseball for both average exit velocity and hard-hit rate. His 12.6-degree launch angle is almost twice his career average, but that shouldn't matter if he continues to generate weak contact.

Ranger Suárez has allowed just a 1.2% barrel rate through five starts this season, good for the best in MLB 🔔💪 pic.twitter.com/GDK9Hrbwdh

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 1, 2025

There isn't much more to say other than Suarez has excelled so far in 2025. It may be justified to doubt that he will end the season as one of the best pitchers to limit hard contact, but there are no signs to indicate that he will not continue to do a great job of it. He should continue to be a high-floor fantasy option even if he experiences some regression.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Fallers

All stats are current as of Sunday morning, June 1, 2025.

Teoscar Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers (OF)

.298/.324/.556 Slash Line, 10 HRs, 42 RBI, 5 SBs

Teoscar Hernandez's season stats look excellent from a fantasy perspective. However, he is batting just .244 with one HR in 11 games since returning from the injured list with a groin strain. Should fantasy managers be worried?

Fortunately, while his peripherals aren't inspiring in that timeframe, his underlying metrics are. Hernandez has absolutely crushed the ball since returning with an average exit velocity of 97.8 mph and a 17.5-degree launch angle. He has barrelled up nearly a quarter of his batted balls in that time with a .360 BABIP to show for it.

Somehow, this hasn't shown itself in his batting average. Additionally, he has struck out at an elevated 34.1% clip, which is much higher than his 22.2% mark for the season but is more in line with his 29.3% career average.

Baseball is a game of streaks, even for the best players. Hernandez simply seems to be on a relative down streak that has coincided with his return from the IL. The good news is that he has impacted the ball well, suggesting that his previous injury may not be behind his performance.

Hopefully, Hernandez will soon be rewarded for hitting the ball so hard.

Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves (1B)

.238/.335/.458 Slash Line, 12 HRs, 31 RBI

Matt Olson has more or less provided the power fantasy managers were expecting this season, but his .238 batting average is one of the lowest of his career. He has provided even less lately, batting just .200 with no home runs in his last six games.

Olson is a difficult player to evaluate in that he hits the ball so hard, but doesn't always see the results in his batting average. His 94.8-mph average exit velocity is actually the hardest of his career, although his 13.3-degree launch angle is the lowest.

Typically, I would say that such a strong batted-ball profile is due for regression in terms of seeing a higher batting average. However, Olson has shown a history of crushing the ball but getting marginal batting averages to show for it. The good news is that his power should result in around 30 long balls, with a batting average that is, at worst, slightly disappointing.

At this point, fantasy managers have seen this play out enough to know that they will be on an up-and-down journey with Olson throughout the season. He has always managed to produce by the end of the season, so they will need to just have faith that this season will be like the rest.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Fallers

All stats are current as of Sunday morning, June 1, 2025.

Max Meyer, Miami Marlins

3-4, 4.53 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 24.2% Strikeout Rate, 59 2/3 IP

Max Meyer started the season looking like the former fantasy prospect he once was. However, he has allowed three runs or fewer in just one of his last six starts, and his season peripherals show it. What should fantasy managers make of his recent performance?

Unfortunately, two major things stand out to Meyer's detriment. The first is his batted-ball profile. He has allowed a lot of hard contact, with his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate in the fifth and 11th percentiles of baseball, respectively. His 8.7-degree launch angle is ok, but his .313 BABIP shows that the hard contact has resulted in baserunners.

The second issue, which is likely fueling the first, is Meyer's pitch location. Meyer has kept his slider (his primary pitch) towards the bottom of the zone for the most part. However, his four-seamer and sweeper have been left in the middle of the zone, and his changeup and sinker have been left up in the zone.

Meyer has gotten strong results with his slider and changeup, but his fastballs have gotten crushed, and his slider has really been his only go-to pitch. He won't have many win opportunities given the offense behind him, so his stuff has to stand on its own to provide fantasy value.

Max Meyer, Wicked 91mph Back Foot Slider. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/wIew1mXER6

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 16, 2025

At this point, Meyer is more of a streamer depending on the matchup. His next matchup is a great one against the Rockies at home, so his performance should be telling.

JP Sears, Athletics

4-5, 5.18 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 17.5% Strikeout Rate, 57 1/3 IP

JP Sears had an excellent start to the season, but he has managed a bloated 13.86 ERA in his last three starts. Sears has never been a high-end fantasy option, but he has provided value in the past. Can he get back to looking like his first eight starts?

Home runs have been a huge issue for Sears lately. He has allowed eight HRs in his last three games, with only one of the games being in hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park and against a lackluster Angels lineup.

Additionally, his fastball has been an issue all season. The pitch doesn’t have much velocity at 92.2 mph and has gotten hit hard with a .330 batting average against and a .608 slugging percentage.

Sears’ fantasy value has fluctuated throughout his career, and this season has been no different. He is currently in a slump, although I would not expect his bad HR luck to continue to this degree.

At this point, I would treat him as a streamer, although he will need to get out of his funk before considering him again.

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