Champ or Chump: Kyle Manzardo and Andy Pages Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

Young players are being called up from the minors like crazy it seems with teams being much less patient than they have been in previous seasons.

Injuries and poor performances by veterans have opened the door to extra opportunities for intriguing players. Two examples of young prospects getting a shot to cut their teeth early on this season are Kyle Manzardo of the Cleveland Guardians and Andy Pages of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

What can these players do for fantasy managers? Let's find out!

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Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) - 8% rostered

Manzardo was mashing the baseball at Triple-A Columbus this Spring, hitting nine home runs and driving in 20 runs with a .303 average. The Guardians called him up on May 6th and he's now appeared in 14 games at the big league level.

We haven't seen his success in the minors translate to the big leagues yet as Manzardo is hitting just .211 with three RBI and zero home runs. He has been sitting against LHP and so he has not racked up that many at-bats just yet (only 38) but still has to be viewed as somewhat of a minor disappointment so far based on what he was doing at the Triple-A level.

Kyle Manzardo now has four straight games with a double for the @CleGuardians! pic.twitter.com/i7xgGhThQ6

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 22, 2024

Manzardo can be ignored in standard leagues and should really only be on the radar of managers in deep leagues right now. He's been more of a chump than a champ so far, though it's far too early to tell what he might offer in terms of fantasy value in the future.

Andy Pages (OF, LAD) - 36% Rostered

Pages was one of the first major hitting prospects called up this season way back in early April. Through his first 125 at-bats at the big league level, Pages has five home runs, 18 runs scored, and 16 RBI. He just went 0-12 in a three-game series against Arizona, dropping his average to .240 which is the lowest it's been since the first week he came up.

Andy Pages - Los Angeles Dodgers (5)
pic.twitter.com/b2hPTb2IDe

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) May 20, 2024

Young hitters are going to have their ups and downs, but the Dodgers have kept Pages up with the club and in the lineup on most nights. His manager has confidence in him and we will likely see him continue to start for the Dodgers.

Even though he's cooled off considerably over the last few weeks, Pages has demonstrated that he can hit major league pitching and should be considered for standard leagues. While many young hitters have struggled to adapt to big-league pitching, Pages looks like a champ and a player that will warrant our attention going forward.

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