I am doing a series where I offer up three fantasy baseball questions for every MLB team. I look at under-the-radar stats, playing time projections, projected roles, and off-season news to try and highlight the issues facing you in your 2025 fantasy baseball drafts. We’ll do this thing in divisional order, and this time around I’ll consider three questions for the 2025 Baltimore Orioles.
3 Fantasy Baseball Questions for the 2025 Baltimore Orioles
How Will Felix Bautista Bounce Back?
In 2023, Felix Bautista had an insanely great season. He made a lot of fantasy baseball managers look smart as he saved 33 games with just a 1.48 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. It goes a step further though as Bautista struck out an elite 110 batters in 61 innings. That helped make up for the fact that he walked 26 batters. With strikeout ability like that, Bautista really doesn’t need much else.
Now that he is healthy and ready to return in 2025, Bautista is being drafted as the elite number-one closer he was. While I used the past tense there, it’s truly an unknown situation. The problem though, is that Bautista is being drafted as if his health is a known quantity without issue.
Unfortunately, Bautista did have Tommy John surgery, so we can’t pretend he’s completely healthy. While word from Baltimore is that Bautista would be ready to go for the season, they are taking things slow. Prior to appearing in a game, Bautista is throwing more live batting practice sessions. While it’s hard to truly read into what’s happening in February, it is telling for how Baltimore might handle Bautista this season. The fact that Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano have closing experience also helps the narrative of the Orioles taking things slow.
How Will Tomoyuki Sugano Adjust to the MLB?
Now 34 years old, and after a few up and down seasons in Japan, Tomoyuki Sugano is slated to make his MLB debut this April. Between the intermittent success, his advanced age, and his not overpowering the opposition, there isn’t a ton of hype around the right-hander.
Sugano only averaged 92 miles per hour with his fastball last year, but he also limits the walks. Last year, Sugano had a 1.67 ERA with just a 0.95 WHIP while relying on his defense. However, there is still something missing and Sugano could be substantially undervalued this season.
With a six-pitch mix, Sugano continues to keep hitters off balance. You will have to make up the strikeouts elsewhere, but there’s limited risk here. In his spring debut, Sugano threw two scoreless innings while allowing two hits and a walk. As the spring progresses, it will be interesting to see how he continues to adjust.
What Should we Make of Jackson Holliday?
As far as top prospects go, Jackson Holliday is pretty high up there. The problem though, is that his debut last season didn’t reflect that. Holliday got just two hits in 34 at-bats in his first 10 games while striking out 18 times. Strikeouts proved to be an issue all season in multiple MLB stints as he struck out 33.2% of the time.
In 73 games at Triple-A, Holliday hit 10 home runs with eight stolen bases but that success didn’t translate to his time with Baltimore. While his power is continuing to develop, he struggled all season with the Orioles.
While he could prove to be a 20/20 player, it’s unclear as to whether that can happen in 2025. At this point, it’s not something I’d bank on, but it is certainly in the realm of possibilities.
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.
