Is Rays Rookie Jake Mangum a Fantasy Baseball Steal or Trap?
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The early season oblique injury to Jose Lowe led to the Rays calling up Mangum last Saturday. He rewarded their trust with back-to-back stellar games (7-for-8 with three runs, four RBIs, and three stolen bases) while moving to the cleanup slot in the batting on Tuesday night.
Jake Mangum now leads Major League Baseball with a .636 batting average. He is now 7-for-8 (.875) in the last two games. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CBdDJWOkU7
— Left Field Lounger (@LFLatMSU) April 2, 2025
Is Jake Mangum a Fantasy Baseball Steal or a Trap?
Mangum is a switch hitter with three seasons of experience at AAA (.309 with 141 runs, 13 home runs, 129 RBIs, and 44 steals over 1,009 at-bats). His walk rate (5.3) is below the league average while having a favorable strikeout rate (17.1). He turned 29 on March 8th, with no previous major league experience.
Many times in fantasy sports, the best replacement for your team’s injured player is the next man up, taking over his playing time. Ideally, this theory works better over short spurts. The Josh Lowe teams in deep formats have questionable replacement options that fill his skill set shoes (20/20 player with upside). Mangum fills the speed role in this equation, along with potentially a better opportunity in at-bats due to his switch-hitting bat.
At the very least, Mangum should be added in all AL-Only formats. He falls into the “hot player of the week category” while lacking the pedigree to draw a high bid in the free agent. I’m viewing him as a week-to-week fill-in, as I’m heavily invested in Lowe. I can’t add him until Sunday in leagues with FAAB bidding. His success over the next five days will set the bar for his investment value.
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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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