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Shane Baz 2025 Player Outlook: Strong Finish To 2024, But Limited Upside Leaves Little Value
17 mins agoTampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane Baz finally made his long-awaited return from Tommy John in July of 2024. His performance should give managers guarded optimism heading into 2025 fantasy drafts as the former first-rounder made 14 starts, posting a 3.06 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 79 1/3 innings. Although those were good numbers, the 6-foot-2 hurler's FIP (4.07), xFIP (4.39), and SIERA (4.33) were significantly higher than ERA, while the righty's K% of 21.6% was surprisingly below league average (22.6%). Some of that can surely be attributed to rust, and on the bright side, eight of his 14 games went down as quality starts. The last four were particularly good, recording a 2.59 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, and a 25.3% K%. He tallied a 4:23 BB:K over that stretch, good for a strong 20.9% K-BB%. Prudent managers will keep an eye on the 25-year-old's spring, but with potentially lower-than-advertised strikeouts, a modest amount of ERA regression, a career-high of 120 IP, and his environment in Tampa depressing any potential win total, Baz appears relatively fairly priced at his current NFBC ADP of 168, with RotoBaller ranking him at 174 overall.
