2025 Fantasy Baseball: Ryan Mountcastle Profile, Preview, Predictions
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Since his breakthrough power season in 2021, Mountcastle has underperformed fantasy expectations over the past three years.
Ryan Mountcastle has five home runs in his last seven games! pic.twitter.com/RfMYT93W8c
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 8, 2024
1B – Ryan Mountcastle, BAL (ADP – 246.6)
In 2023, I was bullish on an uptick in batting average and power. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed after two months (.234/33/11/38/2 over 227 at-bats) when he landed on the injured list for a month with a battle with vertigo. Upon returning to the starting lineup after the All-Star break, he hit .353 over his next 139 at-bats with 24 runs, seven home runs, and 25 RBIs. Mountcastle suffered a left shoulder injury on September 13th, leading to an empty September (.220/6/0/3 over 41 at-bats).
Mountcastle had further regression in his average hit rate (1.570) last season while missing a month late in the year with a sprained left wrist. Halfway through 2024, he hit .273 with 43 runs, 11 home runs, 40 RBIs, and two stolen bases over 300 at-bats. Mountcastle finished with bust stats over his final 173 at-bats (.266/11/2/23/1) with a weaker BB/K ratio (7:46).
His strikeout rate (22.3) was a career-best, but he took fewer walks (5.3%). Mountcastle finished 58th in exit velocity (90.8 mph), 62nd in hard-hit rate (45.2), and 163rd in launch angle (10.4), highlighted by his sliding fly-ball rate (34.0) and HR/FB rate (10.5).
Fantasy Outlook: Mountcastle will be a free agent in 2027, requiring him to pick up the pace with his bat if he wants to paid. Ryan O’Hearn was a much better player last year, and Cody Mayo has 155 games of experience at AAA (.283/101/37/128/5 over 575 at-bats). The sexiness of Mountcastle’s bat has left the building, but he still has the foundation
RANKINGS
Top 5 Catchers | Catchers 6-10 | Catchers 11-15
Top 5 First Basemen | First Basemen 6-10 | First Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Second Basemen | Second Basemen 6-10 | Second Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Shortstops | Shortstops 6-10 | Shortstops 11-15
Top 5 Third Basemen | Third Basemen 6-10 | Third Basemen 11-15
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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