I am doing a series where I offer up three fantasy baseball thoughts for every MLB team. I’ll take a 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 next up are three thoughts for the 2025 Miami Marlins.
3 Fantasy Baseball Thoughts for the 2025 Miami Marlins
Tread Carefully with Xavier Edwards
It’s very easy to be excited about Xavier Edwards. The young shortstop took advantage of his opportunity last year as he stole 31 bases in 70 games. If he gets semi-regular playing time in 2025, would 50 stolen bases really be that surprising?
The good news here is that the Marlins really don’t have many options other than to stick with Edwards. That’s both in the starting lineup and stop their order. It goes without saying that this is a great development as it gives Edwards plenty of opportunities to rack up those stolen bases. But, will he hit enough to stay in the lineup? Based on the current state of Miami, I’m more concerned about him being in the lineup than where he bats. However, batting leadoff is always going to be preferable.
Edwards has no power to speak of. Last year, he hit just one home run and had an ISO of only .094. Perhaps even worse, he barreled just four balls and had a 23.9% hard-hit rate. He did hit .328, but a .254 xBA pours some cold water on that.
What works in Edwards’ favor though, is that he does put the bat on the ball. Between an 84.7% contact rate and walking 10.9% of the time, he gives himself plenty of chances to use his speed. Even if there’s some regression to the batting average, Edwards should hit and get on base enough to stay in the lineup. Runs scored might be tough based on the Marlins’ struggles, but he’s going to steal bases. Just beware that they will be one-dimensional stolen bases.
There is Upside to Jesus Sanchez
It feels like Jesus Sanchez has been a prospect with unfilled expectations for a while now. As he enters his age 27 season, it appears that is on the verge of changing.
Last year was Sanchez’s best performance on multiple levels. He played in a career-high 149 games and batted a respectable .252. We have to live with strikeouts, but Sanchez will draw a walk at times which helps from an OBP perspective. Sanchez showed a power/speed combo with 18 home runs and 16 stolen bases. He added 64 RBI and 60 runs scored while settling into the cleanup spot behind Jake Burger.
This was the first time Sanchez was a stolen base threat, but his batted ball metrics show room for upside. Sanchez’s average exit velocity jumped to 92.5 miles per hour to go along with a high of 117.2. He continued to strike the ball well with a 12.2% barrel rate along with a 50.9% hard-hit rate. While he only had a 7.7-degree average launch angle, that leads me to believe that, at the least, he can sustain his 2024 production.
But when looking at his .267 xBA, .478 xSLG, and .345 xOBP, there is more value to be found.
Don’t Judge Connor Norby on the Batting Average
When it comes to Connor Norby, we are going to have to live with the strikeouts. In the minor leagues, Norby had them relatively under control and managed to hit for a high average. Adjusting to major league pitching is a completely different story, so Norby’s performance shouldn’t be a surprise. He really struggled at first and ultimately hit .236 in 45 games while striking out 33% of the time.
The results that come when Norby does make contact though are quite enticing. In 194 plate appearances, he had 20 RBI and 32 runs scored. Batting second should help him to see pitches to hit between Xavier Edwards’ speed and the power of Jake Burger behind him.
When it comes to putting the bat on the ball, Norby did so with thunder last year. He had a .202 ISO along with a 14.8% barrel rate. Norby has a reasonable path to 20 home runs and 10 stolen bases this season which plays at around pick 280.
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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Jake Burger was traded in early December.
You are correct. The initial article was written prior to that and when we posted we grabbed the old copy. The updated version is now live.