Rolling In The Deep: Time To Finally Take The Baty?

All right, friends, the weeks are dwindling down, and the end of the MLB season appears in clearer view by the day. There’s just not a ton of time left to improve a still-in-contention fantasy team, or to scout younger players, thinking ahead to 2026. Let’s try to treat the fantasy baseball season as we do summer overall, though, and enjoy the end of it as much as we do the beginning and the middle. There may not be much you can do in terms of a deep league team overhaul at this point, but why not take advantage of this time to stay connected to what’s happening with player production and roster moves while we still have over a month of baseball left?

This week, we’ll wade into mixed league waters and look at players with a range of CBS ownership percentages while still keeping under a 25% threshold, going from highest to lowest. As often happens, even in this short list, we’ll find some old faces, some new faces, and some relatively new faces that feel like old faces because we’ve been talking about them and wondering if they’ll ever reach their fantasy potential for so long.

NL

Brett Baty. Is it possible he’s finally, truly turned a corner? He’s rewarded manager Carlos Mendoza’s faith in him with a very impressive offensive run, hitting .370, with a perhaps even more important .433 OBP, plus 4 homers (and a steal for good measure) over the last two weeks. That was a lot more faith than I had, as I drafted and dropped him early in at least a couple pretty deep leagues. Anyhow, others are taking notice as well, as he’s gone from 17 to 19% owned in CBS leagues (check that, make it 20% now!) If he can keep up anything close to these numbers as the season concludes, the window to buy low could be closing if you’re in a league where you can still make moves. If nothing else, this little run alone, along with watching some of his at bats and hearing the Mets’ announcers talk about the noticeable improvements he’s made at the plate, has me thinking Baty might be moving up a bit higher than I expected when it comes to my draft rankings for next year.

Paul DeJong. I will admit that when I first started this blurb, I put it in the AL section because I forgot DeJong is on the Nationals. So he was definitely under my radar despite the fact that he is one of those guys who just seems to turn back up at a few points in the season, year after year, to be moderately deep-league useful. He’s gone from 3 to 8% owned in the last week, which would suggest that something is going right for him. Funnily enough, or maybe not funny at all, his numbers over the last two weeks are incredibly similar to Baty’s, as he’s hitting .325 with 4 homers and a steal. He qualifies as third and short in most leagues these days, and I do find that the MI/CI dual eligibility has been a very helpful thing this year. While his veteran presence may not give you a boost in fantasy, it may help him stay in the lineup in Washington so that he can provide some of those counting stats that do help your fantasy team.

Adrian Del Castillo. Castillo goes up from 6 to 7% owned this week, and if you need a catcher in a deeper league he may be of some use for the remainder of 2025. I was interested in ADC going into the season, which didn’t really work out so well, given that he’s been in the minors and/or down with a back injury most of the year. He’s finally up with the big club and getting regular at bats (mostly against righties), and over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .281/.343 OBP with 2 homers and 8 RBI. He’s only played 3 games at catcher this year, so obviously losing C-eligibility heading into 2026 would be an astronomically large hit to his value, but he’s a player worth monitoring as we see how his playing time and production play out in 2025.

Daylen Lile. It’s time to check in on Lile again to see how things have been going for him, as he checks in at just 3% owned (up from 2% though, which is a 50% increase in ownership no matter how you look at it!) It turns out things are actually going pretty well, as he’s hitting .309 with a .356 OBP over the last two weeks, in a healthy 45 plate appearances over that time. He’s only attempted three steals since the beginning of July, which is quite a disappointment in my eyes, but at least he was successful on all three attempts. I think it’s worth noting that he’s been getting his fair share of at bats against lefties, so doesn’t seem to be perceived by the organization as a straight platoon guy for now. I’m not sure he’ll ever enter the standard league conversation, but I’m not ready to take him off my deeper league radar for now or next year just yet.

AL

Kyle Teel. Teel is another guy many were pretty excited about heading into 2025 after becoming a member of the White Sox in the Garret Crochet trade, but have perhaps forgotten about after a long summer. He’s up to 23% owned now, so many are tuning back in after tuning out earlier this year. In the last two weeks, Teel is hitting .308 with 2 homers, not to mention a .386 OBP. Drafting him as a second catcher in mixed leagues this year may not have worked out too well, but it doesn’t mean I won’t consider trying it again next year, depending on how things fall into place.

Colby Thomas. Thomas continues what’s quickly becoming a recurring theme; he’s another guy who I, A) was excited about heading in to the season, B) lost hope for due to lack of major league at bats and injury, C) got re-interested in when he had a cup of coffee or two, D) lost interest in again when that didn’t go so well, and E) now late in the year may be worth yet another look at. He’s gone from 7 to 15% owned, so one of the larger jumps we’re looking at this week. He’s yet another player who’s had an extremely productive last two weeks, hitting .291 with 3 homers. He also may be on the short side of a platoon, which certainly doesn’t bode well for either his current or future fantasy prospects, but I’m still intrigued enough to continue monitoring.

Adam Frazier. I told you there’d be some old faces this week, which brings us to Frazier. He’s the epitome of a seasoned veteran who continues to get MLB opportunities largely due to his experience rather than his current skill set, but at bats are at bats, as we always need to remember in deep leagues. He’s racked up a solid 42 plate appearances in the last two weeks for the Royals, getting on base at a .381 clip. He qualifies at both 2B and OF, so don’t forget he exists if he’s available in your very deep league and you’re looking for a low-key guy who might throw an occasional counting stat your way without hurting your average.

Tyler Tolbert. Tolbert joins a fairly long list of ultra deep league fantasy names, who make our radar for one reason and one reason only, which is as a Hail Mary attempt at acquiring a few stolen bases for owners who are beyond desperate for them. Tolbert’s season stats look pretty silly on paper, as his 2025 stat sheet shows a grand total of 30 plate appearances, with a ridiculous-in-comparison 17 steals. His entire weekly line as I write this is zero at bats with one caught stealing, so I do mean desperate. I have a league or two, though, where I think making the money could literally come down to one or two steals, or the lack thereof, so at some point everyone may be on the table.