Zen And The Art Of Fantasy Baseball: ‘This Is Getting Older’ – But Are A Couple Of Old(er) Friends Bucking The Aging Curve?

The Moment of Zen:

This week, let’s discuss a time in life that is unavoidable for anyone fortunate enough to live long enough to see it: aging. 

At some point, no matter what we do to prepare or keep ourselves active or in shape, our bodies will begin to break down. In fact, in a sort of perverse irony, the more we stay in shape in our younger years, thereby making ourselves healthier and potentially able to live longer, the more we might contribute to the process of the body breaking down later in life. As I chase down age 50 (and I seem to be catching it from behind way too quickly), I think about my more athletic, younger days quite often, not because I’m trying to relive the wins and losses but simply because my knees and shoulders and back remind me each and every day that I’ve spent a lot of time running around fields and courts. I have no doubt my current quality of life is better because of how active I once was, so I certainly don’t regret the sports I played. My body just reminds me that father time is coming one way or another.

Buddhist practitioner and writer Susan Moon wrote a lovely essay about aging – her own process as well as her mother’s – called “This is Getting Old.” In it, she discusses how the process of aging makes us give up one thing after another, and as a result, often opens new opportunities along the way. In the article, Moon specifically recounts a moment when a friend of her mother’s told her, “‘You look just like your mother!’ Even in old age my mother was an attractive woman, but does any daughter want to be told she looks just like her mother? It wasn’t so much that I minded if there was a resemblance, but I did want to look younger than my mother.” In this way, Moon is herself reminded that father time is coming for her too. But then she goes on to discuss ways in which her mother’s life has an unexpected richness due to her life experience and her mother’s willingness to embrace the changes that life brings.

Buddhist thought emphasizes impermanence: whatever is happening in this moment, right now, will not continue. It will necessarily change or end. Each of us will age, become ill, and worse. But Buddhism reminds us not to see this process as a trap or a prison sentence – it just is. And if we meet the process wisely and with openness, there is a great deal of richness to be found in it.

How in the world does this apply to fantasy baseball?

Baseball seasons are so long, and the game is so difficult that players’ performances seem somewhat akin to waves in the ocean. At times, the sea is calm, and there are no waves to be found, while at times the waves seem big enough and strong enough to take down even the strongest of structures. Looking at a hitter trends chart can be similar – you’ll see plenty of wave-looking shapes: at times, even the players we depend on are just awful. It seems they can’t buy a hit, they’re impatient and confused at the plate, and putting the players in our lineups is nothing but pain. The hitter-trend charts will bottom out at those times. At other times, the player seems to do no wrong and feels as though he’s carrying our fantasy teams. Here come the wave shapes on those charts!

This process of highs and lows is why fantasy baseball requires managers to exercise patience and resolve – dropping a guy who is 0 for his last 30 feels like a good idea, but it might be anything but. If you were to take a close look at the top offensive players in the game, you’d see streaks of 50 to 100 PAs where nothing good happened. Pete Crow-Armstrong started the season looking like last year’s second half collapse might be just who he is now: through April 20th, he was 18 of 84 (.214 BA) with 1 HR, 5 RBI, and only 4 SB. He’s now the front runner for NL MVP. Yordan Alvarez, the front runner for AL MVP, had a 7 of 44 (.159 BA) streak in May. Ben Rice is the no. 6 overall player and no. 5 hitter for the season according to the Razzball Player Rater, yet since June 1st, he’s hit just .218. Even worse, since July 22nd, he’s gone 8 of 59 (.136 BA) with 2 HR, 6 R, and 4 RBI. I hope you didn’t cut any of these guys.

Also, in baseball just as in life, the process of aging plays a part. With players who are getting older (in baseball years at least), decline is a real issue. As a result, as fantasy managers, being patient with aging players is harder than it is with young stars like Crow-Armstrong and Rice or players still in their prime like Alvarez. With older guys, when a long, bad streak rears its ugly head, it’s reasonable to wonder if the guy is just washed. Two such players who have piqued my concerns this season are Gleyber Torres (mostly due to injury) and Marcus Semien. Yet, both guys show up on the MLB leader board for runs scored over the last 15-game period. This led me to a deeper dive to find out if there’s value to be had. Here’s what I found.

All stats referenced below are as of beginning of day on Sunday, August 9th.

Gleyber Torres

Torres has been mostly fine this season – when he’s been in the lineup, that is. For the season (which is just 267 plate appearances due to two separate month-long IL stints related to oblique strains), he’s hitting .261 with 7 HR 39 R, 29 RBI, and 0 SB. While those numbers don’t pop off the screen, extrapolated to a full season’s worth of 650 PA, the pace would work out to 17 HR, 94 R, and 71 RBI. That kind of statline is plenty helpful for an MI slot in a 15-team league, maybe even a 12-team league.

Upon Torres’s second IL return, however, the veteran second baseman finished July with an underwhelming run of 7 of 37 (.189 BA) with just 1 HR, 3 R, and 5 RBI. It would be completely reasonable to wonder if injuries were going to get the best of him this season. In August, however, he’s picked up his pace in other ways (if not batting average), and this improvement extends to the end of July as well. Over the team’s last 15 games (12 of which Torres has played in), though he’s gone just 10 of 49 (.204 BA), he has 3 HR, 11 R, and 11 RBI. Those numbers play.

A look at his season-long performance gives me reason to think the low batting average yet high run-producing version of Torres might be here to stay. His bat has slowed down quite a bit (his bat speed is just 67.9 mph so far this season compared to an already not-fast 70.1 mph in 2025). Is it possible the slowdown is due to his oblique injuries? Sure, but he’s also quickly approaching 30-years-old, so age-related decline isn’t impossible. Regardless of whether the slower bat speed is here to stay, he seems aware of his slower bat and is willing to work within his current limitations. His HH%, Barrel%, EV, and maxEV are all down from last year. But he appears to be compensating by swinging at more pitches without completely selling out for power by becoming a strike-out nuisance. His CSW% and O-swing% are both up from last year, understandably leading his Contact% and Z-Contact% to go down this year, but not to problematic levels. His Contact% is still right around 80% (79.3%), and his Z-Contact% is at 85.7%. His BB% is actually up from last year (up to an elite 15%, which puts him in the 96th percentile) even though his K% is also up (but to just 19.1%). Along with his K%, his Chase% is up from last year, but it’s still elite at 18.4% (which means that 99% of the league is worse in that they chase more often than he does).

Don’t expect his batting average to improve much anytime soon (in fact, his .241 xBA suggests he’s been lucky overall this season), but I do expect him to continue to be more aggressive finding pitches he can hit. I’m fine with that, especially in leagues where my batting average is either really strong (so he won’t hurt it too much with his lower average) or is just terrible (so nothing can hurt it anymore…). Plus, in today’s game, a .241 BA isn’t terrible at all. 

Torres is swinging more and finding pitches he can do damage on, yet he’s still getting on base. Works for me. And he’s widely available in NFBC 12-team leagues (49% rostership), as well as in CBS (44% rostership), ESPN (47.9% rostership), and Yahoo (45% rostership). He can even be found in Fantrax leagues here and there (81% rostership). Anywhere I’m in need of an MI, I’m interested.

Marcus Semien

Semien has looked bad for some time now. Last year’s statline of a .230 BA with just 15 HR, 62 R & RBI, and 11 SB over 534 plate appearances wasn’t what I was looking for (well, the SBs were fine). This season’s numbers don’t exactly scream “impact player!” either: he’s hitting .213 with 14 HR, 41 R, 40 RBI, and 8 SB. But two things immediately get my interest with his current season line: 1) his xBA is .247 – not great, but I can live with it, and 2) he’s had only 387 PAs so far. That means he’s outperforming last year’s numbers: he’s on pace for a season-long total of 24 HR, 69 R, 67 RBI, and 13 SB. The run and RBI numbers still aren’t impressive, but I’ll take the homers and steals, especially with the .241 xBA. 

Semien isn’t starting games quite as often as Torres is right now, but he’s getting at-bats through both the starts that he does get and pinch hitting appearances. In fact, he’s appeared in the Mets’ last 17 games while starting 14 of them. Over that period, he’s gone 13 of 53 (.245 BA, right in line with his season-long xBA) with 5 HR, 11 R, 11 RBI, 2 SB while putting together an OBP of .322 with the help of a 10% BB%. Despite the run-producing increase, his 18.3% K% over the period is well under control.

Like Torres, Semien’s EV and maxEV are down from last year, and his bat speed is quite slow (68.6 mph). Still, the bat speed is steady compared to last year’s, and his HH% and Barrel% are both up. Again, like Torres, his run-producing uptick seems to correlate with a decision to swing more often: his CSW% and  O-swing% are both up from last year’s while his Contact% and Z-Contact% are both correspondingly down. But as we’ve already seen, his K-rate is totally fine, so I’m happy about his aggression. And he’s definitely being more aggressive – his Chase% is up 5% from last season (from 23.5% to 28.5%), yet, again, his K-rate is fine. 

Semien could also provide value at an MI spot, and he’s widely available almost everywhere. If he keeps up the power upturn, he’s a must roster in many leagues.

Let’s hear it for the old(er) guys. Both Torres and Semien seem to be embracing the changes age is bringing and finding ways to work within their new realities – and they might still have ways they can help us yet. May we all meet our new challenges with similar openness and wisdom.

Until next week. –ADHamley