Top 100 Hitters: Soderstrom Brings The Pop

As we dive deeper into the 2025 fantasy baseball season, player trends are starting to solidify, and savvy managers are already separating from the pack. Whether you’re chasing the next breakout, cutting ties with underperformers, or stashing value before a big-league call-up, this week’s risers, fallers, and sleepers can make all the difference. Injuries are piling up, early-season hot streaks are proving legit, and those cold Aprils? They’re quickly turning into red flags. This week, we spotlight Tyler Soderstrom’s scorching bat lighting up Sacramento rising in our rankings, along with digging into Vinnie Pasquantino’s disappearing act at the plate. Let’s break down the latest movement in our Top 100 Hitters for the rest of the 2025 fantasy baseball season.

Rising

• Tyler Soderstrom – The fantasy ranking industry seems slow to react, which can be a detriment to fantasy owners. Most rankings published in the past week still have Soderstrom sitting outside the top 100 which is an outright injustice. This season, he has improved his strikeout rate to 20% while maintaining a .309 average with nine homers. That performance has resulted in a 212 wRC+. He ranks near the top of the league in most power metrics, including barrel rate, expected batting average, exit velocity, and more. Soderstrom is firmly in the conversation with other first basemen such as Willson Contreras, Christian Walker, and Cody Bellinger. In fact, if he continues his improved plate approach, he could surpass that group.
• Randy Arozarena – It might seem strange to see a guy hitting .200 with only nine total runs climbing the rankings, but Arozarena is looking more like his 2023 self than what we saw in 2024. Despite his struggles last year, he still managed a fourth straight 20/20 season. This year, he’s already tallied four homers and six steals in just 94 plate appearances. In 2025, he’s made a notable adjustment at the plate raising his walk rate and cutting down on strikeouts. He has the lowest chase rate since 2021 and is swinging at first pitches more aggressively than ever. Simply put, he’s identifying pitches better and attacking those he can damage. The .200 average is a concern, but it’s driven by a .229 BABIP, while his xBA sits at a more respectable .243. If he’s available at a discount, Arozarena could be a major difference-maker the rest of the season.
• Trevor Story – It’s been several years since Story was making a name for himself as a first-round talent in Colorado. Since arriving in Boston, injuries have limited him, but he’s still flashed his trademark tools in short bursts. In 2025, he’s as healthy as he’s been in five years and is off to a hot start hitting .318 with five homers, six steals, and a spot in the heart of Boston’s lineup. It’s hard to fully trust a player with such a rocky recent history, but the performance is hard to ignore. His sprint speed ranks in the top 15% of the league, and he could easily finish the season with 30 steals and 20 homers. This has all the makings of a comeback player of the year campaign.

Falling

• Mark Vientos – Falling out of our rankings this week is a preseason favorite who many expected to break out in 2025. Unfortunately, that hasn’t come to pass even though he hit his first two homers of the season this week. If you were watching, both barely cleared the fence and do little to boost his falling stock. Despite the homers, Vientos is hitting just .167 with six RBIs and a 67 wRC+. Looking deeper, it’s clear two major adjustments are impacting his play: first, pitchers have figured out he can’t handle breaking balls and are feeding him a steady diet of sweepers and sinkers. Second, Vientos has become far less aggressive, dropping his first-pitch swing rate to just 23% which is well below his career and league averages. Pitchers are exploiting this passive approach, and that’s a major red flag.
• Vinnie Pasquantino – Vinnie is trending down in the rankings this week, dropping 23 spots and edging dangerously close to falling outside the top 100 hitters for the season. His strikeouts are up, his hard-hit rate is down, and he looks like he’s pressing at the plate. His batted-ball profile shows an increase in fly balls and pull rate suggesting he may be selling out for power. For a player who was expected to deliver a strong batting average with decent pop and a line drive approach, his value is starting to slip. There’s still bounce-back potential here, but he needs to show signs of life and fast.

Watching

• Nick Kurtz – Enough may have already been written about Nick Kurtz, but given what he’s shown since turning pro, the attention is warranted. In the minors this season, Kurtz is slashing .329 with seven homers and a combined 40 runs and RBIs. He boasts a mature approach and carries the pedigree of being the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft. Athletics manager Mark Kotsay recently said, “He’s done as much, or more, than what’s needed,” suggesting a call-up could come within days, not weeks. Once promoted, Kurtz should slide into the heart of the lineup at the hitter-friendly Sacramento ballpark and make an immediate impact. Pick him up now before it’s too late.
• Mike Yastrzemski – Yastrzemski continues to be the kind of player who’s always on the verge of cracking the back end of the Top 100 Hitters, but just can’t quite get over the hump. In 2025, he’s hit a solid .288 with three homers and a decent handful of counting stats. What lands him on the watch list this week is the improving quality of contact as he’s posting the highest exit velocities of his career, along with a .267 xBA and better contact rates. The signs are promising, especially in a lineup that has produced the fourth-most runs in the league. He’s worth a flyer if you’re dealing with injuries or looking for depth in deeper leagues.