Every single fantasy baseball season is an individual entity. We have a clean slate with which to start fresh. However, at the same time, we do have to look backward to look forward. Sometimes that works to our advantage as a poor season will ultimately lower the draft capital needed in the next year. There’s a reason why players receive top prospect consideration, and one bad season doesn’t erase those tools or upside. For this exercise, we are looking at five potential post-hype sleepers for the 2025 season. At a minimum, these players are being drafted outside the top 175 but are still young enough not to be forgotten about.
2025 Fantasy Baseball Post Hype Sleepers – Hitters
Victor Robles, OF, Seattle Mariners
To say that Victor Robles used to be a top-tier prospect would be an understatement. If there were a prospect list, Robles was on the top of it. That worked to mixed results in Washington.
In 2019, everything went great for Robles as the Nationals won the World Series. The outfielder hit .255 in 155 games as a 22-year-old while hitting 17 home runs and stealing 28 bases. The problem though, is that over the next four seasons, Robles hit just 11 home runs to go along with 35 stolen bases. The majority of Robles’ time was not spent at the big league level, but he was reduced to a mere footnote.
Instead, he found his way in 2024 and changed the narrative of his career. In 91 games, Robles hit .307 with 34 stolen bases while scoring 44 runs. He did have a .370 BABIP, but speed is also a large part of Robles’ game. However, his .257 xBA is a more reasonable expectation for 2025, but there is nothing to be ashamed of there. Well, at least as long as Robles continues to run.
Considering he’s slated to open the season as Seattle’s leadoff hitter, that shouldn’t be an issue. Perhaps more impressively, Robles did walk 7.1% of the time last year while bringing his strikeout rate down to 18%.
We do need to adjust our expectations compared to former top prospect Robles, but he is a viable option for stolen bases this season who shouldn’t be ignored.
Heliot Ramos, OF, San Francisco Giants
We’re going back a long way here as Heliot Ramos was a first-round pick in 2017. It wasn’t until last season though when Ramos played in his 35th major league game.
Ramos played in 121 games and the outfielder certainly showed up on our radar. Despite striking out 26.1% of the time, Ramos hit .269. More importantly, he finished with 22 home runs and 72 RBI as he made his presence felt in San Francisco’s lineup. With a .200 ISO, Ramos showed some real power. When the ball hit the bat, good things happened as Ramos posted an elite 14.5% barrel rate.
That batted ball quality will lead to sustained success. A 47.4% hard-hit rate also leads us to the same conclusion as Ramos’ production doesn’t look fluky. Considering Ramos’ average launch angle was only 10.4 degrees, I’d argue that there is some clear 30-home-run upside here as he begins to lift the ball more.
Josh Jung, 3B, Texas Rangers
This might be more health-related than anything else. But we don’t care about the why when Josh Jung is being selected multiple rounds after where he was in 2024.
While there is some concern that Jung did have wrist surgery last year, he also played in 42 second-half games last year. All of the news is that Jung is fully healthy, had a normal off-season, and is entering Spring Training without any restrictions. Overall, it wasn’t a terrible season for Jung as he hit .264 with seven home runs and 16 RBI.
A closer look though shows that Jung was clearly not generating the power he needs to be successful or that he’s capable of. In 2023, Jung hit 23 home runs to go along with 70 RBI in 122 games. He had a .201 ISO but that dropped to .157 last year. We know that the wrist is the clear culprit for that. From a barrel rate perspective though, Jung only went from 11.9% to 9.9% in 2024. Considering the injury Jung was dealing with, it’s impressive he still maintained solid contact skills.
At the least, repeating his 2023 season is a reasonable expectation with upside from there.
Joey Bart, C, Pittsburgh Pirates
It really doesn’t get any more of being a top prospect than being the second overall pick. That seems like it happened ages ago as the Giants selected Joey Bart back in 2018. He was supposed to be the replacement for franchise cornerstone Buster Posey, but instead, Bart now calls Pittsburgh home.
While the Giants clearly wrote him off, it doesn’t mean we should from a fantasy perspective. The Pirates took advantage of the opportunity and inserted Bart into their lineup last season. All Bart did was hit .265 in 80 games with 13 home runs and 45 RBI. Bart had a .198 ISO and 9.4% barrel rate as he showed, for the first time, his potential.
Bart played last year in his age-27 season and clearly showed that there was something to his billing as a top prospect. That’s not to say Bart is going to be a true difference-maker, but would anyone be surprised if he finished the season as a top-15 catcher?
The fact that Bart is slated to receive the majority of playing time behind the plate this year does play a large part in that. Batting in the middle of the lineup for Pittsburgh should also help Bart rack up the RBI.
Connor Norby, 3B, Miami Marlins
Depending on your league rules, Connor Norby also gets a little more consideration after playing 12 games at second base last year. He figures to receive regular playing time at the hot corner for the Marlins this year, but the versatility is a nice plus. The fact that Norby should begin the season batting near the top of the order makes things even better.
Between the Orioles and Marlins last year, Norby played in 45 games. While he showed off his potential at times, the results were choppy; as expected. Norby hit .236, but he did have nine home runs, 20 RBI, and 32 runs scored. That came on the heels of a successful minor league career.
Norby isn’t without some faults though as he does have to watch the strikeouts. In the minor leagues, hitting for a strong batting average didn’t seem to be much of an issue. This year, that will likely be the last skill to appear, but in the meantime, we shouldn’t ignore some of his batted-ball metrics.
Last year, Norby finished with a .202 ISO along with a 14.8% barrel rate. If he continues to hit the ball at that level, good things will happen.
For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.
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