Fantasy Baseball: Shane Baz Flashing Ace-Level Upside In Dynasty Leagues
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In the wonderful world of fantasy baseball, drafters must make decisions based on scouting reports, past game outcomes, evaluate injury recovery times, and process small pockets of on-the-field data. At the same time, they must rank these players within their starting position and compare them against a wide range of skill sets and other positions.
Coming into 2025, Shane Baz had a short major-league resume due to missed time with his slow recovery from TJ surgery. When researching him over the winter for the upcoming baseball season, this was my fantasy outlook.
Shane Baz Preseason Fantasy Baseball Outlook:
The fun and excitement with Baz starts in 2025. He looks poised to give Tampa and fantasy teams meaningful innings, putting him on a path to post a sub-3.00 ERA and 175+ strikeouts with about 160.0 innings pitched.
As excited as I was about his potential this year, Baz was a trainwreck in spring training (10 runs, 13 hits, two home runs, five walks, and four strikeouts over 9.2 innings). His lack of success scared some drafters away or caused them to reshuffle pitching rankings.
Baz was on my early radar, and I fought for him in my AL-only league ($10). I thought he was too good an arm to allow a team cheating starting pitching to land him as a potential ace.
When the light came on for the start of the season, I debated whether to start Baz in Week 1 due to his horrible March results. Thankfully, I hit submit and trusted my preseason research. With three starts in 2025, Baz has been an absolute beast, especially considering his price point in drafts. He’s allowed three runs and 16 baserunners over 19.0 innings with 27 strikeouts.
Shane Baz's first 3 starts 👀🔥
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 15, 2025
- 6 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 10 K
- 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K
- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 11 K#MLBCentral | @RaysBaseball pic.twitter.com/QJ4buSRunX
His average fastball (97.0 mph) has elite velocity. He relies on an electric swing-and-miss curveball (15 strikeouts) and a developing changeup. Baz served up both of his home runs off his slider.
His sample size of success is short, and Tampa may limit his innings late in the season. Baz is on an elite path, making him a pitcher to acquire, if possible, in dynasty formats.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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