I am doing a series where I offer up three fantasy baseball thoughts 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 nuggets that might help you in your 2025 fantasy baseball drafts. We’ll do this thing in alphabetical order, and this time around I’ll consider three thoughts for the 2025 Tampa Bay Rays.
3 Fantasy Baseball Thoughts for the 2025 Tampa Bay Rays
Junior Caminero is a Post Hype Candidate
Admittedly we are talking about someone who was the top fantasy baseball prospect last year, so this does sound a little strange. Early ADP doesn’t entirely take this into account as Junior Caminero is coming off the board around pick 105, but this is going to be on a league-by-league basis. Some fantasy baseball managers could be scared off by Caminero’s less-than-stellar debut. However, that shouldn’t be held against him.
Tampa Bay promoted Caminero and dumped him right into the middle of the lineup. That is where he’s expected to remain this season after hitting .243 in 177 plate appearances. Caminero showed some power with six home runs and 18 RBI while scoring 15 runs. Based on his talent and minor league production, we know that Caminero is capable of more though. It’s also important to remember that Caminero is still just 21 years old even if he is no longer the new and shiny option.
The biggest problem for Caminero, and it’s understandable, was consistency. As he adjusted to major league pitching, he simply didn’t have it. Although, he certainly showed promise and potential with an 11.8%-barrel rate and 45.7% hard hit rate. Caminero’s 89.7 mile-per-hour average exit velocity dims some excitement, but his 116.3 max exit velocity presents that optimism.
There isn’t a huge lift to expect Caminero to hit 30 home runs with 90 RBI and 80 runs scored in 2025 with room for more.
Don’t Sleep on Josh Lowe
Health wasn’t an asset for Josh Lowe as he only played in 106 games. After seeing Lowe drafted in the top 100 it was a disappointing season for the outfielder who is now being drafted around pick 160. That could represent significant value if the power comes back. It would also be helpful if Lowe could stay on the field and make it through 140 games.
If that occurs, Lowe should have his second season of at least 30 stolen bases after stealing 25 last year in limited time. It was concerning though to see his home runs decrease from 20 to 10 while his ISO fell from .208 to .150. There is the possibility though that a hindered Spring Training along with Lowe’s oblique/hip injury did contribute to his power struggles.
From a batted ball perspective though, Lowe did generate some optimism. His barrel rate remained strong at 10.3% while his hard-hit rate jumped to 46.1%. Lowe also generated a career-high average exit velocity at 90.8 miles per hour, so he did hit the ball well. The biggest question might be where his batting average lands between .292 in 2023 and .241 last year.
Zack Littell is a Solid Depth Option
I know that it’s all about the strikeouts. They are ever-present across every aspect of the game and the more common they become, the more you need from a pitching standpoint. The other side of that is that pitchers who don’t generate much in the way of strikeouts quickly become devalued.
But all the way down to an ADP well past 300? That seems to be a bit extreme of a correction for Zack Littell.
We know about Tampa Bay’s reputation for getting the most out of their pitchers, but it was interesting to see Littell have the lowest average fastball velocity of his career in 2024 at 92.5 miles per hour. At the same time though, he had career highs in both starts (29) and innings (156.1) that eclipsed his previous marks substantially.
By lack of strikeouts though, Littell still struck out 8.12 batters per nine innings, so it’s not like he’s a complete liability. Perhaps even more importantly, at just 1.78 walks per nine innings, Littell does a great job of limiting the walks. The right-hander had a 3.63 ERA last year with a 4.31 xERA and 3.88 FIP offering a modest set of expectations.
The key of Littell is consistently throwing a first-pitch strike while pitching to contact. After a rate of 69.1% in 2023, it was 66.3% last year even with the bigger workload. Once again, Littell should be, at the least, a dependable streamer or injury replacement.
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.
