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Most every week, Scott White will highlight some of the more notable changes to his rest-of-season rankings. You'll find said rankings here and are urged to bookmark them if you haven't already. There's no better resource for gauging player value throughout the long season.

There was a point early this year when I thought Shane Baz had broken out as an ace.

It wasn't a far-fetched idea. He was arguably the game's top pitching prospect prior to having Tommy John surgery in 2022, and his career up to that point, brief though it was, had more or less lived up to the hype. So when he kicked off 2025 with two double digit-strikeout efforts in his first three, the natural response was "oh-oh, here he comes." And thus, I moved him into my top 20 at starting pitcher.

Problem is he then had a 5.80 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 7.1 K/9 over his next 12 starts, complete with zero double digit-strikeout efforts. The natural response then was "well, I guess we got out over our skis." My latest ranking put him at 87th.

But what's this? Back-to-back starts that resemble those initial three, thus making Baz out to be an emergent ace again? How far am I willing to take it this time?

Starting pitcher

  • Look, I know better than to declare Baz an ace now, but he just followed up an eight-inning, nine-strikeout effort with a seven-inning, 11-strikeout effort. Such results are normally reserved for aces, and the fact they're coming from a young pitcher with a top prospect pedigree makes a breakthrough all the more likely. Furthermore, these two starts were just the third and fourth in which Baz made his new cutter a major part of his arsenal. It was, in fact, the biggest part of his arsenal in the eight-inning outing, thrown 40 percent of the time. That usage was cut to 18 percent in the seven-inning outing, but its presence likely played a big role in Baz collecting 14 whiffs on his fastball. The truth is that I don't feel a great attachment to any pitcher ranked outside of my top 55, even those who have flashed some upside at some point, so if a couple good starts from Yusei Kikuchi could move him into that range, then surely the same could be said for Baz, who has more theoretical upside.
  • You know who else is resembling an ace is Ranger Suarez, who, if you eliminate his first start, has a 1.19 ERA in the other 10. He's had a couple other stretches like this in his career, and correction eventually came, so you wouldn't want to take what he's doing now at face value. But he's a talented pitcher, mostly because of his penchant for ground balls and weak contact, and it's not a major concession to have him head up the middle tiers at starting pitcher, which for me begin at 29th.
  • What's this about 29th? Bailey Ober ranked higher than that for most everyone coming into the year, looking like a premier source of WHIP and a decent source of strikeouts. But his velocity lagged from the beginning, and his past five starts have rendered him unusable, seeing his ERA climb from 3.48 to 5.28. The good news is that he seems to have an idea what's wrong, citing mechanical issues that stem from "some left hip stuff." The bad news is that if he hasn't fixed it yet, there's no telling when he will. I'd like to hold onto him for the possibility he turns things around, but "like to hold onto him" is only good for 73rd in my rankings now.
  • The Braves have been careful not to set a timeline for Chris Sale's fractured rib, but seeing as they just shifted him to the 60-day IL, we know he won't be back earlier than Aug. 20.  And that's late enough for me to drop him all the way to 39th in my rankings. In deeper leagues, that'll still seem too high.
  • Clarke Schmidt is another big riser, his four scoreless outings in his past six having lowered his ERA to 3.09. That's good enough to place him 58th in my rankings, actually ahead of Matthew Liberatore. Edward Cabrera, meanwhile, has climbed to 71st. He has a 1.46 ERA in his past seven starts, but only two of them have lasted six innings or more. The walks remain high, and we've seen enough fakeouts from him over the years that I'd prefer to play it cautiously. Also moving up is Chad Patrick, who now sits at 86th. While his ERA has risen over his past few starts, so has his swinging strike rate, and I think that's a better predictor of long-term success.

Relief pitcher

  • Robert Suarez has had a couple of really ugly outings in the past two weeks, raising his ERA from 1.78 and 3.89, and he may not have such a firm grip on the loser role given that setup man Jason Adam is, frankly, better. I've downgraded Suarez from fifth to 14th in Rotisserie leagues as a response.
  • One of those surpassing Suarez now is Aroldis Chapman, who I've similarly moved up to 12th. Not enough has been made of the kind of year he's having, putting together a 1.32 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 13.2 K/9 as a full-time closer.

Catcher

  • An oblique injury, though seemingly of minimal severity, is a good excuse to move Adley Rutschman down finally at a position where seemingly no one ranks high enough. He's now eighth in Rotisserie, sixth in Head-to-Head points, with the Salvador Perez and Yainer Diaz being the source of the discrepancy between the two formats. They've underachieved as badly as Rutschman, but I actually have few long-term concerns about any of them. I wouldn't say any deserve the benefit of the doubt over Hunter Goodman at this point, though, and there may come a point when Agustin Ramirez pushes past them as well.
  • Shea Langeliers is healthy again after missing three-plus weeks with an oblique injury and has homered in each of his two games back. That's enough to move him back into the top 12 at catcher, ahead of Logan O'Hoppe and J.T. Realmuto.

First base

  • The wheat has separated from the chaff at first base, and by now, it's clear that Jonathan Aranda and Michael Busch are the two early-season risers with the most staying power. So even though each has platoon concerns, it's time to give them their due. Aranda is up to 11th for me, ahead of Vinnie Pasquantino, and Busch is up to 15th, ahead of Tyler Soderstrom.
  • Giancarlo Stanton's return from a lengthy IL stint has only led to Ben Rice stealing even more at-bats from Paul Goldschmidt. The 37-year-old is coming off a disastrous June and has plummeted to 21st in my first base rankings, behind even Spencer Steer.

Second base

  • Jazz Chisholm has of course climbed at all three of the positions where he's eligible now that he's looking healthy and productive again, but second base is where he's most valuable. He's back to No. 2 at the position, and with the way Jose Altuve's, Ozzie Albies', Marcus Semien's and Jordan Westburg's seasons have gone, I'd say he's one of only two studs there.
  • Speaking of Albies, I've dropped him to eighth, following Semien and Westburg down the primrose path of mediocrity. I'd like to keep the faith in the 28-year-old given how reliable he's been over the years, but as I've written elsewhere, I'm not sure he's cut out for a year like this one, when the ball isn't carrying as well. Obviously, you're not dropping the eighth-ranked second baseman, but the fact he still ranks that high is an indictment of the position itself.

Third base

  • It's become increasing clear that Max Muncy's decline was entirely vision-related. Since he began wearing glasses April 30, he's slashed .291/.418/.582, homering 13 times in 52 games. I never would have imagined it coming into the year, but he's become a top-12 third baseman for me (top-10 in Head-to-Head points) to round out what I think might be the clearest top 12 at any position. After them come Jordan Westburg and Alec Bohm, who seem like they're a tier behind.
  • And just a few spots after them comes Cam Smith, who now ranks 17th, and he seems like he's an additional tier behind. But he's rapidly rising, slashing .322/.377/.479 in 41 games dating back to mid-May. We've seen in recent years that high-end hitting prospects typically need a couple months to adapt to the majors, and Smith may be following that same timeline. I say "may be" because he has only four home runs during that span, but two have come in his past four games.

Shortstop

  • Guess I should go ahead and address the Mookie Betts of it all. The perennial first-rounder is down to sixth, dropping behind the likes of Trea Turner, Gunnar Henderson and, at least in Rotisserie leagues, Oneil Cruz. I came real close to moving him behind C.J. Abrams as well. It's not just that he's fallen short of expectations so far. It's how. His average and max exit velocities, which have always been modest by stud hitter standards, are both down a couple miles per hour in a year when higher exit velocities are needed to send the ball out of the park. It wouldn't be surprising for someone with his track record to snap back into place one day, but I'm not necessarily counting on it. This ranking better reflects that (as does dropping him behind Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Schwarber in the outfield).
  • We don't have a timetable for Jeremy Pena's fractured rib, but it doesn't seem like the sort of injury that would justify him keeping his spot in the rankings. I've dropped him behind Maikel Garcia, Dansby Swanson and Geraldo Perdomo, drawing the line at Willy Adames even though I think better days are ahead for him.

Outfield

  • Now that Ronald Acuna has taken to stealing bases again, delivering four in his past 17 games, it's time to rank him as if the ACL injury hadn't happened. I'm willing to go as high as third in the outfield, behind not just Aaron Judge but also Kyle Tucker, who I'm not sure is Acuna's lesser in any particular category (home runs, maybe?). Certainly from a Head-to-Head points standpoint, Tucker's 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio gives him an edge.
  • Now that we're past the midway point, I need to stop being so Pollyannish about underachieving early-rounders. Moving Mookie Betts down is a big part of that, but dropping even further in the rankings are Jarren Duran and Jackson Merrill, who now place 17th and 18th. My concerns for them are less concrete than for Betts, but Seiya Suzuki, Jazz Chisholm and Christian Yelich are so productive in their own right that I don't think I'm discounting Duran's and Merrill's upside with this move.
  • Byron Buxton has been nothing short of studly this year, with numbers rivaling Pete Crow-Armstrong's when you account for the couple weeks he missed with a concussion in mid-May. But there's the rub. Buxton's name is synonymous with injuries -- the most games he's played in any of the past eight seasons is 102 -- and while it's possible he defies the trend this year, it's obviously hoping against hope. The highest I can get him is 19th, which is right behind Duran and Merrill but just ahead of Teoscar Hernandez and Brent Rooker. It basically marks the point in the outfield rankings where the second- and third-round contenders end.