The nights are getting cooler and so are some of 2025’s breakout bats. We’ve reached the point in the fantasy season where sentimentality has no place in your lineup. A roster spot is earned, not gifted. If a player can’t produce, the next hot hand is waiting to take his place. Even names like Corey Seager or Roman Anthony, who’ve spent too much time on the shelf, are cuttable in single-season formats. The hard part? Deciding whether to let go of players who helped carry you through the summer. This stretch isn’t for the cautious, it’s for the decisive and tactical. In this week’s hitter profiles, we’ll spotlight three slumping bats and ask the brutal question: is it time to finally drop them? No more trades. Only the dreaded cut.
Jordan Beck
A breakout season looked to be taking shape for Jordan Beck, who flashed across-the-board skills with 14 homers, 15 steals, and a respectable .270 average for the ever-exasperating Colorado Rockies. The problem? Almost all of that production came before the calendar flipped to August. Since then, the wheels have come off. Over the past 30 days, Beck has appeared in 25 games, nearly 100 at-bats, and managed just four runs, four RBI, and two stolen bases while batting .225.
That surface line actually flatters him. A bloated .370 BABIP has covered up just how rough the underlying performance has been, as Beck has struck out in a staggering 36% of his plate appearances over that span. This isn’t simply bad luck; it reflects a concerning shift in his approach. After swinging at 75% of pitches in the zone last year, his zone swing rate has cratered to 65% in 2025, suggesting he’s both more tentative and easier to attack. Opposing pitchers have noticed, and the whiffs are piling up. Even with this profile, Colorado continues to pencil Beck into the cleanup spot, a decision that seems more about organizational inertia than performance. For fantasy managers, though, the leash is shorter. Beck’s early-season flash was exciting, but right now he looks more like a drag on lineups than a difference-maker. Unless he makes an adjustment at the plate, it’s time to cut bait on this struggling young upstart.
James Wood
Here we go with what feels like blasphemy by scrutinizing a player many were ready to lock into the first round of 2026 drafts. James Wood has been a breakout force this season, blasting 27 homers with 15 steals while carrying a .258 batting average in just his second big-league campaign. That’s already superstar territory for a 22-year-old, but the last couple of weeks have been a reminder that even rising stars hit turbulence. Over his past 54 plate appearances, Wood has looked unusually human. He’s striking out at a staggering 39% clip, and his production has been propped up by a sky-high .500 BABIP, a number that screams unsustainable. Even more concerning, his fly-ball rate has dipped to just 16%, which has sapped his home run power despite an uptick in line drives.
That said, we need to zoom out. Across the full season, Wood’s underlying profile remains extremely encouraging, with a Statcast page that glows red in all the right places. His raw power is undeniable, his speed is real, and his ability to impact the ball consistently is not in question. A two-week slump is frustrating, but doesn’t erase what he’s done across five months.
There’s no world where Wood belongs anywhere near the cut list. He’s too talented, too impactful, and still on the ascent as a hitter. This brief skid may cool the “first-round lock” discussion, but we’re still looking at a player who will likely be drafted inside the top 20 overall next season. Growing pains are part of the package with a 22-year-old still learning how to adjust back when pitchers adjust to him. The upside remains intact, and when he finds his launch angle groove, the power/speed combo will resume terrorizing opponents.
James Wood lines his 27th home run the opposite way. pic.twitter.com/dPhdlu6vLI
— MLB (@MLB) September 2, 2025
Hunter Goodman
We’re heading back to the thin air of Colorado for another name on the struggle bus in Hunter Goodman. Part of the catcher “changing of the guard,” Goodman belongs to a new wave at the position alongside Drake Baldwin, Agustin Ramirez, and others, giving fantasy managers more depth at backstop than we’ve seen in years. And to his credit, Goodman has delivered a breakout season with a .285 average, 28 homers, 85 runs scored, and a sparkling 124 wRC+. That’s elite production at a traditionally shallow position. But the shine comes with some cracks under the hood. Goodman’s .340 BABIP looks inflated, especially when paired with just 47th percentile sprint speed and a .251 xBA. Add in a plate approach best described as “see ball, swing hard” driving a 26% strikeout rate against only a 6% walk rate. The power is very real, but we may be watching the apex of a career year rather than the baseline of things to come.
Recently, the floor has started to wobble. Over the past two weeks, Goodman has still popped three homers, but the underlying profile is shaky with a 33% strikeout rate, a meager 2% walk rate, and a BABIP that has ballooned to .375. In other words, the surface-level results are being held up more than they should. This is the volatility we should expect from a hyper-aggressive approach, resulting in big damage when the ball finds the barrel, but plenty of empty trips in between. From a fantasy perspective, Goodman isn’t anywhere near drop consideration. Catcher is deep, but not that deep, and 28 homers with counting stats in Coors Field will always play. That said, he’s sliding into “matchup play” territory when the plate discipline vanishes. Against right-handers at home, he remains a strong start, but on the road or against tougher arms, fantasy managers should have their eyes open to the streakiness.
Would you drop Beck before any of the following: Barger, Friedl, Mullins, or Arraez.
I would for either of Barger or Friedl. Barger being the target first.