Fantasy baseball rankings 2025: Free MLB player projections, picks for Week 5 (April 21-27) at every position

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A month of the 2025 MLB season has already passed and Fantasy baseball owners are starting to dial in their weekly MLB Fantasy baseball rankings. One of the breakout players in the month of April has been Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda, who is fourth in baseball in OPS through April 20. The 26-year-old from Tijuana has shown flashes of pop in brief tastes of life in the MLB over the last three seasons, but he enters Week 5 of this Fantasy baseball season slashing .355/.438/.677 with four home runs, eight doubles and 13 RBI in 20 games.

Aranda has become the type of player you could add to your Fantasy baseball lineups until this hot streak is over. He’s rostered in 75% of CBS Sports Fantasy baseball leagues and is starting in 56% of lineups. The SportsLine Projection model provides season-long Fantasy baseball positional rankings every week to help you build a winning roster.

The SportsLine model is powered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. Their Fantasy baseball cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated every week and the site also provides Fantasy baseball projections daily. Here are the top five players at every position for April 21-27.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball DH rankings

Mervis his 82 home runs in 1,435 minor-league at-bats and that power is what finally earned him an everyday role in Florida. He’s bopped six homers already in 2025, but he’s still available in a staggering 75% of CBS Sports Fantasy baseball leagues. That number will be on the rise with his potential for a 30-homer season.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball catcher rankings

There’s a pretty steep dropoff in productivity from Realmuto to Wells in the eyes of the model, but this is a position where you can make massive gains if you’re streaming effectively. Murphy and Drake Baldwin are sharing catching duties in Atlanta, but Murphy definitely provides a lot of pop when he’s in the lineup with four home runs and an .876 OPS in 10 games so far.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball first base rankings

Arraez doesn’t have the power profile that you’d hope for at first base, but three batting titles in a row paint a pretty clear picture of the value he can add. However, he’s only being started in 68% of leagues while the other four options are in 96% of Fantasy baseball lineups or more. Meanwhile, Alonso leads the NL in RBI (24), slugging (.718) and OPS (1.171).

Week 5 Fantasy baseball second base rankings

Campbell was only a fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech in 2023 but he absolutely blew up in his first full professional season and emerged as a consensus top-10 prospect ahead of the 2025 season. He’s living up to the hype with a .301/.402/.493 slash line over his 21 games in the majors. If you’re in one of the 4% of CBS Sports leagues where he’s somehow still available, scoop him up as quickly as you can.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball third base rankings

Machado has been unbelievably consistent throughout his 14-year big league career and he continues to produce in the middle of a thrilling Padres lineup. He’s slashing .305/.374/.488 so far this season and he’s also been aggressive on the bases, with six steals already putting him on a pace to steal 44 bases on the season. He’s only stolen double-digit bases four times in his career.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball shortstop rankings

The 32-year-old Story signed a six-year, $140 million contract to join the Red Sox prior to the 2022 season but hasn’t been able to live up to expectations because he only played 163 games over his first three seasons. However, he’s finally healthy and producing, with an .866 OPS, five home runs, 14 RBI and six stolen bases over his first 22 games in 2025.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball left field rankings

Chourio slashed .275/.327/.464 with 21 home runs, 79 RBI and 22 stolen bases as a 20-year-old rookie last season and he’s taking another step forward this season with five home runs and 19 RBI in 22 games. Spencer Steer isn’t as flashy of a prospect but he has similar speed and power traits and his .133 batting average with a .171 BABIP would seem to indicate better days are ahead.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball center field rankings

Despite a troubling season in 2024 on an all-time bad White Sox team and a .154 average over his first 19 games in 2025, Robert’s tools are hard to ignore here and his activity level on the basepaths has enhanced his overall Fantasy profile. He’s already swiped seven bags and his jarring .186 BABIP is a sign that there’s probably some positive regression to be expected.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball right field rankings

Fernando Tatis Jr. leads the National League with eight home runs after going yard on Sunday Night Baseball as the Padres beat the Astros. However, he’s been an automatic start whenever he’s been in the San Diego lineup since the outset of his career. The surprise here is Abreu, who is only being started in 85% of CBS Sports Fantasy baseball leagues.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings

It’s important to note specifically with week-long starting pitcher rankings, this list will generally skew towards starters that are likely to make two starts in a given week. Schwellenbach in particular stands out here after his three masterful starts to begin the season. He was finally roughed up a bit in his fourth start but he’ll take the ball against the Cardinals and Diamondbacks this week with both teams cooling off offensively after hot starts.

Week 5 Fantasy baseball relief pitcher rankings

Hader has been almost untouchable early this season, giving up only five hits and one earned run while striking out 13 over 11 innings of work with six saves. Meanwhile, Aroldis Chapman is on his fifth team in four years, but he’s still blowing it by everybody with 13 strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings and a 1.08 ERA on the year in Boston.