2025 Fantasy Baseball: JJ Bleday Profile, Preview, Predictions

The Oakland A's gave JJ Bleday a starting job for day one last season. He responded with 159 games of action, makling him an excellent late round buy in deep formats. His approach grades well, and Bleday squared up 67 balls for the year.

JJ BLEDAY GAME TYING JACK IN THE ELEVENTH INNING. THIS TEAM HAS GRIT. #Athletics pic.twitter.com/7TUPVfeqF8
— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) May 23, 2024

OF – JJ Bleday, OAK (ADP – 267.00)

2025 JJ Bleday Hitting Stats Profile | Shawn Childs

The Marlins drafted Bleday fourth overall in the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft. After missing a development season in 2020 due to no minor league baseball, he spent most of the next two years between AA and AAA, leading to a .234 batting average with 137 runs, 39 home runs, 128 RBIs, and seven stolen bases over 807 at-bats. His walk rate (15.2) was elite while striking out 22.5% of the time.

Bleday struggled over his first 460 at-bats in the majors (.183/56/15/43/9), but he earned a starting job out of spring training last season. The A’s had him on the field for 159 games, leading to career highs in almost all categories. Bleday smashed 67 extra-base hits, earning him a high floor in average hit rate (1.799) that was supported by his minor league resume (1.844). He had growth in his strikeout rate (19.5) while posting a favorable walk rate (10.4).

His production was up and down last year, inviting mistakes in lineup decisions for fantasy managers in deep format. In May and August, Bleday hit .270 over 200 at-bats with 36 runs, 12 home runs, and 30 RBIs, and one stolen base. He only had eight home runs and 30 RBIs over his other 394 at-bats, showing his failure risk.

Bleday finished with weakness in his exit velocity (88.5 mph) and hard-hit rate (36.2). His success is power is driven by a high fly-ball rate (47.8) and launch angle (18.6). Unfortunately, his HR/FB rate (9.4) didn’t suggest an impact power swing.

Fantasy Outlook: Last year, the A’s gave Bleday 439 of his 572 at-bats (76.7%) in the second and third slots in the batting order. His walk rate supports a top of the order opportunity, but he must improve his contact batting average (.311) to avoid more days on the bench and a drop to a lower spot in the batting order. When a similar role in 2025, Bleday should be an asset in home runs and runs. I don’t see much help in stolen bases and a below-par batting average should be expected.

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