Heading forward here at Fantasy Trading Room, we’ll be posting a weekly article detailing the performance of players who’ve gained traction recently on platforms such as Fangraphs and Baseball Savant. Rather than a waiver wire article, these are the players the baseball world is talking about and we’re here to break down why they’re creating buzz.
We’ll also score them 1-10 on the Buzzworthy scale, which measures how likely they are to continue their head-turning production.
Seiya Suzuki
(OF, Chicago Cubs)
Seiya Suzuki is in the midst of his best MLB season yet. While his batting average is down from .283 last season to .265 this year, he’s pulling the ball in the air more to produce higher-quality contact.
According to Baseball Savant, just 15.2% of Suzuki’s batted balls were pulled line drives or fly balls last year. This season, that rate is up to 26.4%. That change has put him on pace for a .552 SLG and 39 home runs, which would blow last season’s career-high mark of 21 out of the water.
The Cubs outfielder is also hammering left-handed pitching, which he struggled to take advantage of last season. After slashing just .274/.384/.444 against southpaws last season, he’s batting .340 with a 1.193 OPS and six home runs against them already this year.
Buzzworthy Score: 8/10 (Showing signs of sustainable success)
Pete Crow-Armstrong
(OF, Chicago Cubs)
Pete Crow-Armstrong has emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate in the National League. He leads the Senior Circuit in bWAR by a significant margin (3.8 to Paul Skenes’ 3.2) and has electrified baseball with his defense, speed, and offensive prowess.
While the back of his baseball card is certainly impressive – Crow-Armstrong has 15 home runs and 21 stolen bases to go with a .281/.319/.562 slash line – he isn’t likely to maintain this level of offensive output as pitchers adjust to him. The 23-year-old has the 3rd-highest chase rate among big leaguers at 43.5%.
No batter since 2015 has ever maintained an OPS as high as Crow-Armstrong’s (.881) with such a high chase rate. While he is certainly a very talented player who could be an All-Star for years to come, he’s likely to regress to somewhere near a .260/.310/.520 slash line in the future.
Buzzworthy Score: 5/10 (Talented, but AVG and OBP will likely regress)
Trent Grisham
(OF, New York Yankees)
Trent Grisham has been quite the Juan Soto replacement in the Yankees outfield. With 13 home runs (two more than Soto), an .846 OPS (47 points higher than Soto’s) and a 98th percentile chase rate, the Yankees outfielder is doing his best impression of the former Yankees superstar.
While he has roughly four more home runs than we’d expect based on how many balls he’s barreled (see the image above), Grisham is showing convincing signs that his breakout season is for real. Although his surprising power output may decline – he’s on pace for 36 homers, which would be 19 more than his career high of 17 – it’s reasonable to expect a .250/.330/.450 slash line the rest of the year given his career-low strikeout rate.
Buzzworthy Score: 6/10 (Expect HR, SLG regression, but the AVG and OBP are real)
Addison Barger
(3B, Toronto Blue Jays)
Addison Barger has been outstanding for the Blue Jays this season. After being drafted in the 6th round of the 2018 draft by Toronto, Barger posted a .260/.354/.460 slash line over parts of six minor league seasons before breaking out with the big league club this year.
Barger’s walk and strikeout rates are consistent with his whiff and chase rates. That – and his .305 xBA – are good indicators he will keep hitting for a high batting average. Barger’s average exit velocity of 94.7 MPH ranks fourth among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances.
Like I wrote in a waiver wire piece earlier this year, that power is consistent with what we saw in the Minor Leagues. Across six minor league levels, the third baseman posted a .210 ISO (isolated slugging percentage) that would rank 40th among 169 qualified MLB batters this season. His pop, as well as his high expected batting average, indicate his .274/.338/.508 slash line could be here to stay.
Buzzworthy Score: 9/10 (Exciting talent and excellent underlying metrics)
Lucas Giolito
(RHP, Boston Red Sox)
From 2019-2021, Lucas Giolito was one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Over that span, he accumulated a 3.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 10.6 bWAR, and 526 strikeouts in 427.2 innings pitched.
Since then, Giolito has largely fallen off a cliff in terms of production. From 2022-2025, Giolito has a 4.88 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and 407 strikeouts in 378 innings pitched. That includes his ERA this year, which was at 4.78 before catapulting to 6.42 after getting rocked by the Angels on Wednesday.
While he gets swings outside the zone – his 29.6% chase rate is good for 66th percentile among qualified pitchers – he hasn’t done much else that indicates any improvement moving forward. His 5.37 xERA, 19% whiff rate, and .303 opponent xBA all indicate that Giolito’s best days are behind him.
Buzzworthy Score: 2/10 (Likely to continue down a bad path)
Jake Bird
(RHP, Colorado Rockies)
Jake Bird, a UCLA product drafted a round before Addison Barger in 2018, is having a career year in his age-29 season. The right-hander is one of three relievers in baseball this season with at least 30 innings pitched and an ERA under 1.60.
Perhaps he should enjoy the success while it lasts. Pitching at Coors Field has long been a prime suspect for inflated ERAs, and Bird walks over 10% of the batters he faces. He’s also been hit hard this year – his 42.2% opponent hard-hit rate is in the bottom 40% of qualified pitchers – which isn’t a good sign for his future success.
What’s more, Bird’s two best pitches have gotten worse since last season. According to Stuff+, a pitch grading metric hosted by Fangraphs, Bird’s changeup and curveball have both become less sharp. While his cutter and fastball grade out as slightly better this season, Bird will likely revert back to his career numbers (4.03 ERA in 212.1 IP) sooner or later.
Buzzworthy Score: 4/10 (Walk rate and pitch quality don’t indicate sustained success)
Andrew Abbott
(LHP, Cincinnati Reds)
Andrew Abbott, the Reds’ 26-year-old starting pitcher, has a 2.18 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 53.2 innings pitched. While he clearly won’t maintain that ERA the entire season, there are signs that Abbott’s success is no fluke.
Abbott throws four pitches at least 10% of the time: a four-seam fastball, changeup, sweeper, and curveball. Batters are hitting .193, .103, .217, and .261 off those offerings, respectively.
With an 81st-percentile strikeout rate and a 91st-percentile opponent xBA, Abbott’s underlying metrics back up future production on the mound. While he does walk more batters than is ideal – his 9.6% walk rate is in the 35th percentile of qualified pitchers – his career 3.50 ERA in 301 innings pitched and deep arsenal indicate his breakout year is for real.
Buzzworthy Score: 7/10 (Deep arsenal and track record indicate a productive season is ahead)