So, I don’t love giving 1st basemen as sleepers, because I believe you need to draft a top one. Why? If everyone in your league has a great 1st baseman, it does not help you to have a lousy one. Très simple, as they say in Frenchlish class. I took a Frenchlish class, which was taught by a French fry dressed as a French maid. I’d tell you more, but that French fry was super distracting and I learned nothing. So, about 1st basemen and needing a top one? Kinda samesies for shortstops, right? Yeah, I think so, but we do have middle infidel slots, so here we are. That is me pointing out that I do not think you should punt shortstop and draft Masyn Winn. I like Winn, but I also like to win, and will draft a top shortstop. Last year, Masyn Winn went 15/11/.267 in 587 ABs. Silly thing to get the boosters juiced on your under the wears in the nethers, but I kinda love that he saw that many at-bats. In what is an ever-expanding Kevin Cash-ian universe that isn’t due to explode for another millennia, I keep stumbling on all of these sleepers who I love that won’t hit vs. lefties. It’s not the end to them, as mentioned in a few who I have gone over, but all hail Masyn Winn, who actually has no obvious splits and a glove that will keep him in the lineup every day. So, what can we expect from Masyn Winn for 2025 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
PSYCHE! My 2025 fantasy baseball rankings are all on Patreon. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out next month. Anyway II, the Masyn Winn sleeper:
Masyn Winn hit .267 with a 17.1 K% and .303 BABIP as a 22-year-old rookie. I’m sorry, explain to me like I’m a Big Ol Dummy how he’s not going to hit higher than .262 as Steamer projects. The hate is so strong for young players with no track record. Projections are helpful, and you should not ignore them, but there is a big blind spot where they just discount what a young player does and expect them to just repeat vs. expect them to get better. If you were to look at projections — not just Steamer either — you’d think no one ever got better. Bobby Witt Jr. just won the MLB batting title with a .332 average, he’s being projected to hit .297. I don’t know how to do this research and likely wouldn’t do it even if I knew how, but I wonder how many players are expected to get better, according to projections. I’d bet less than 10%. Everyone is expected to get worse. Geez, projections, glass doesn’t always have to be half-empty. Masyn Winn made some weak contact — 87 MPH average exit velo, 3.7 Barrel%, 32.7 Hard Hit% — but also makes a lot of contact for a 22-year-old.
Speaking of 22-year-olds (I was), in 62 games in the 2nd half Masyn Winn hit 10 homers. If another 22-year-old did that, people would be Uncle Luke’ing “Don’t stop, get it get it.” And with good reason! Again, no player ever got markedly better, according to projections. He hit 15 HRs last year and they’re saying he’ll get all the way to 17. Wow. Dare to dream. Last year, he had a 37 FB% and 8.4 HR/FB%, but 40+ in the minors and 13.8% for HR/FB in Triple-A. If he gets to 40 FB% and 14% HR/FB, then he’s going to hit 25 HRs. Wasn’t that hard for me to dreamscape up to that number.
Will Masyn Winn’s 11 steals from last year get a boost? I have no idea. Could they? Absolutely. He’s fast. He stole 28 bags in Double-A, but in Double-A some catchers need a relay throw to 2nd base. Steals are about want as much as anything. Or in this case if Marmol wants. Last year Elly De La Cruz nearly stole as many bags as the Cards as a team. It’s easy to get a guy to 15 steals with the Pitch Clock 12, but it’s hard to just Trust Fall a guy into a 30+ steal season. Can Winn steal that many? I think so. Will he? I doubt it.
Masyn Winn reminds me of Jeremy Pena (15/20 last year), but the huge difference is Pena’s 27 years old. So, a younger Pena. Call him Pena Co-young-lad-a. And I like them, and making love in the rain. If Pena’s on the X axis and Winn’s on the Y axis, they just crossed and Winn’s line is going up and Pena’s is going straight and I know what the X and Y axises are. Oh, and Masyn Winn was around the 100th best player overall on the Player Rater last year and is being drafted around 200th. That makes no sense and why you must draft him; I demand of you. For 2025, I’ll give Masyn Winn projections of 94/24/60/.271/15 in 591 ABs with a chance for more, especially on steals.
