Pitchers and catchers have reported for every MLB team. Spring training is just around the corner. Unfortunately, injury news has already surfaced for players such as Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor, Jackson Holliday, Anthony Santander, Spencer Schwellenbach, Shane Bieber and others. I didn’t include any injured players among the following fantasy baseball risers and fallers. The highlighted players were four risers in average draft position (ADP) from January 28 to February 12, and all have a top-90 ADP, putting them within the first eight rounds of 12-team mixed leagues.
Fantasy Baseball Risers
Fantasy Baseball Risers
Manny Machado (3B – SD): 32.4 ADP on 1/28 and 29.2 ADP on 2/14
Manny Machado is the 25th batter selected in ADP and was the 23rd-ranked hitter by our value-based ranking (VBR) metric in 2025. Machado is an outstanding cornerstone for fantasy baseball squads.
He’s exceeded 600 plate appearances in 10 consecutive non-pandemic shortened seasons. Machado is a genuine five-category contributor, logging the following stats in 159 games and 678 plate appearances last year.
- 91 runs
- 27 homers
- 95 RBIs
- 14 stolen bases
- 8.1 BB%
- 19.3 K%
- .275 batting average
- .271 expected batting average (xBA)
- .460 slugging (SLG)
- .495 expected slugging (xSLG)
- 123 wRC+
There’s nothing flukey about Machado’s 2025 performance, and his ability to stuff the box score makes him an excellent target at his ADP.
Brent Rooker (OF, DH – ATH): 44.6 ADP on 1/28 and 41.8 ADP on 2/14
Brent Rooker and teammate Tyler Soderstrom are both risers. Soderstrom’s ADP rose from 90.4 on January 28 to 84.2 on February 12, but Rooker got the nod because an approximately three-pick climb in the first four rounds is pretty significant.
According to Baseball Savant, Rooker was tied for 24th in barrels per plate appearance rate (9.3 Brls/PA%) among qualified batters in 2025. He crushes the ball, and his 30 homers in 2025 were tied for the 30th most blasts. Rooker also scored 92 runs and rattled off 89 RBIs. The slugger is an outstanding source of power and run production.
He also chipped in six stolen bases last year after swiping 11 the previous season. Rooker isn’t a massive batting average liability, either. His .262 batting average aligned with his .261 xBA, and he had a .293 batting average and .263 xBA in 2024. Furthermore, Rooker’s offensive contributions receive a significant boost from the Athletics playing at Sutter Health Park again this year. According to Baseball Savant’s 2025 park factors, Sutter Health Park was second in park factor for runs (117), second for hits (107), second for doubles (122) and tied for sixth in homers (112). Rooker is a rock-solid target in the fourth round, and other A’s hitters, including the rising Soderstrom, are also desirable picks.
Edwin Diaz (RP – LAD): 53.2 ADP on 1/28 and 42.2 ADP on 2/14
Edwin Diaz has moved up almost precisely one round in 12-team mixed leagues from January 28 to February 12. Diaz was lights out for the Mets in 2025. He recorded the following dominant stats in 62 appearances:
- 66.1 innings
- 6 wins
- 28 saves
- 1.63 ERA
- 2.49 xERA
- 2.49 xFIP
- 2.18 SIERA
- 0.87 WHIP
- 48.4 GB%
- 8.1 BB%
- 38.0 K%
- 18.0 SwStr%
- 33.6 CSW%
- 110 Stuff+
- 93 Location+
- 105 Pitching+
Diaz will close for the defending World Series champs. He offers everything gamers could want from an elite reliever. Diaz should help immensely in ratios, strikeouts and saves. In fact, Diaz’s Zeile consensus projection has him leading MLB with 37 saves this year, four more than the second-highest total. Whether Diaz is worth his ADP entirely relies on a gamer’s drafting preference. Those who are willing to spend an early-round pick on an elite reliever should get their money’s worth from Diaz. However, gamers willing to embrace more variance for saves can enjoy Diaz costing elite-closer drafters an earlier selection.
Mason Miller (RP – SD): 54.2 ADP on 1/28 and 43.8 ADP on 2/14
The cost of elite relievers went up from January 28 to February 12. Diaz was already highlighted as a significant riser, but Mason Miller also moved up 10.4 picks in that period. Jhoan Duran, Cade Smith and Andres Munoz aren’t featured, but they ticked up as well.
Miller was outstanding for the Athletics, but his pitching kicked up in 22 appearances for the Padres. He logged the following statistics in 23.1 innings in those appearances:
- 0.77 ERA
- 1.95 xERA
- 1.09 xFIP
- 1.50 SIERA
- 0.73 WHIP
- 50.0 GB%
- 12.0 BB%
- 54.2 K%
- 22.2 SwStr%
- 39.7 CSW%
- 122 Stuff+
- 88 Location+
- 112 Pitching+
Miller saved only two games for the Padres upon his arrival. Fortunately, he’ll serve as San Diego’s closer this year, and he demonstrated the lights aren’t too bright for him in a closing gig, saving 28 games for the Athletics in 2024 and 20 for them in 2025. Miller is projected in a two-way tie for the second-most saves (33), but he’s projected for more strikeouts (105 versus 94), a better ERA (2.58 versus 3.04) and a lower WHIP (0.98 versus 1.06) than Diaz. There’s an argument for flipping him ahead of Diaz, but either is an elite RP1 for a fantasy squad.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.