Jordan Walker’s fantasy charge has ESPN eyeing a No. 1 finish
ESPN’s Eric Karabell says Walker, Yankees bats Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice, and Nationals rookie Foster Griffin could define fantasy baseball’s second half.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Jordan Walker hit the All-Star break with 22 home runs, 74 RBI and a fresh Home Run Derby crown, and ESPN’s Eric Karabell says the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder has a real path to the top of the site’s fantasy Player Rater.
Karabell wrote that Walker entered the second half ranked fifth on ESPN’s Player Rater across hitters and pitchers, even though 16 players had more fantasy points in standard ESPN formats. The gap, he explained, comes from the difference between roto and points scoring.
Walker’s plate profile is not dragging him down much, according to Karabell. He has an 8.1% walk rate and a 24.8% strikeout rate, and he is tied for 25th in strikeouts while on pace for 167.
The power is the headline act. Karabell noted that Walker and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero lead MLB in average exit velocity this season. Walker also leads baseball in RBI and is on pace for 38 homers and 126 RBI.
Walker’s comeback season is doing real damage
Karabell framed Walker as one of fantasy’s top waiver wins of the season after he was largely passed over in ESPN standard drafts. The bounce-back has been sharp: Walker had a .787 OPS over 117 games as a rookie in 2023, then struggled across 2024 and 2025 with a combined .211/.270/.324 slash line and 11 homers over 162 games.
This year, he opened with nine home runs and 23 RBI in the first month. Karabell wrote that a June dip, a .732 OPS with three homers, has been followed by a July rebound that included a 1.116 OPS and four homers before the break.
Karabell said Walker could pass the names ahead of him, including Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood, Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. He also noted that Shohei Ohtani entered the second half at No. 13 on the Rater, while Walker was ahead of him as a hitter.
Two Yankees bats are also on ESPN’s radar
Karabell also pointed to Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice as possible top-20 fantasy hitters by season’s end. The two Yankees drove in runs in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, becoming the first Yankees teammates to do so in the event since Roger Maris and Tom Tresh in 1962, according to Karabell.
Bellinger was named All-Star Game MVP after driving in two runs in the first inning. Rice followed with another run-scoring hit, while Chicago White Sox hitter Miguel Vargas later added a solo homer.
Rice reached the break with 29 home runs, and Karabell wrote that only Alvarez, Wood and Caminero had more fantasy points among hitters. Bellinger’s surface numbers were quieter at .254 with 11 homers, but Karabell credited his value to durability and discipline: 94 games played out of the Yankees’ first 96, a 12.7% walk rate and a 14.9% strikeout rate.
Foster Griffin’s rookie run keeps rolling
Karabell’s other big call centered on Washington Nationals left-hander Foster Griffin, a 30-year-old rookie who reached the break at 10-2 with a 2.77 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and nearly a strikeout per inning.
Griffin, a 2014 first-round pick by the Kansas City Royals, rebuilt his career in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants before signing a one-year, $5.5 million deal with Washington, according to Karabell.
Karabell wrote that Griffin ranked sixth among pitchers in fantasy points, ahead of Chase Burns, Max Meyer and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Since June 1, Griffin led MLB with a 1.25 ERA over seven starts, and he had allowed one run or fewer in each of his past seven outings.
The warning label is velocity: Karabell noted Griffin averages 91.5 mph with his fastball. The production, though, has been loud enough for ESPN’s analyst to call him a serious fantasy rookie leader entering the second half.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.