Welcome back to the Fantasy Baseball Weekly Mailbag! The mailbag is an opportunity to ask a FantasyPros analyst anything about the ongoing season to make the best and most informed decisions possible. Questions from fantasy baseball managers this week can be seen below.

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Fantasy Baseball Mailbag

Let’s dive into the latest edition of our fantasy baseball mailbag and answer questions from our fantasy baseball community.

What would you do about Elly De La Cruz? I don’t want to start him but I don’t want to bench him because he has so much potential. It seems like he’s not going to turn around anytime soon with how he’s playing.

Elly De La Cruz is just a hot and cold player. In a short career, he has gone absolutely nuclear — for stretches. Then he settles down.

He is in the middle of that settle-down period.

De La Cruz batted .280 with eight homers, 19 RBI and 17 stolen bases in April. In May, he batted .208 with 21 hits, one homer, five RBI and 13 stolen bases. He struck out 32 times in April vs. 40 times in May.

De La Cruz was worse on every front in May. We saw similar results last year, with De La Cruz being utterly incredible after his debut and cooling down after the All-Star break.

De La Cruz will have another good stretch. He will be a contributor to fantasy teams again. If you want off the ride, you could trade away De La Cruz after his next hot streak. He’ll turn it around.

Will Jarren Duran or Jurickson Profar be better for the rest of the season?

The answer can go either way. I think I like Jarren Duran better.

Jurickson Profar’s career hints at regression. He is slashing .330/.426/.495. Those are incredible numbers, yet far below his .244/.329/.390 career line — almost .100 below in all three categories. Profar is 31. I would be surprised if he made lasting improvements this late into his 11-year career.

Duran, on the other hand, is slashing .262/.330/.434, not far off his .259/.315/.424 career slash line. Plus, Duran is just 27. It is more reasonable to believe he has made lasting changes.

Although I like both players, I prefer Duran if I had to pick one.

Should I pick up Wyatt Langford in a keeper league?

In a keeper, a thousand times yes. I’m not sure how many players this league allows fantasy managers to keep, however. Wyatt Langford has been underwhelming this year, for sure. He has a meager .230/.289/.302 slash line. Just recognize Langford’s age and how quickly he made the majors. The 22-year-old was drafted last year and is already in the majors. That is crazy. Give Langford time to adjust. I would not rush to grab him in redraft leagues, but certainly in keepers.

Drop Yandy Diaz or Rhys Hoskins in a points league?

Rhys Hoskins vs. Yandy Diaz is an interesting comparison.

Hoskins is good for power. Diaz is good for contact (though he is batting just .243 this year).

Diaz has been underperforming this year. Hoskins has been his usual self, already hitting 10 home runs even after spending time on the injured list (IL). Hoskins is a very boom-or-bust player who often goes 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and occasionally goes 2-for-4 with a double and a homer, for example. Diaz is more consistent, at least historically. Diaz has been the better player throughout their respective careers.

A difference between the two in 2024 is their strikeout rate. Hoskins strikes out 20.8% of the time, and Diaz strikes out just 13.6% of the time.

Since points leagues heavily penalize strikeouts, I would keep Diaz. My answer might be different in other formats. Both players should be on rosters at the end of the day.

Will Edmundo Sosa still have decent playing time once Trea Turner comes back? I would trade him, but I don’t want to rip people off in a keeper league since I need to make future deals.

Edmundo Sosa played in 104 games last year and gained only 300 plate appearances.

Sosa’s career slash line in 334 games over six years is .259/.320/.415. Much, much lower than his current .305/.371/.568. His career numbers point towards this being just a short-term play.

Sosa is an average bat who has struggled to get starts in his time in MLB. He will keep his playing time as long as he stays hot, though.

There’s nothing wrong with holding Sosa when he is hot like this, but I doubt he will sustain this pace. Sosa isn’t a good trade piece if you are focused on making a fair trade with legitimate players.

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