Week two of the fantasy season is in the books, and many young players had great weeks. On 4/9/25, the Brewers scored 17 runs against the Rockies, catapulting Jackson Chourio to a bronze medal.
Meanwhile, Brewers catcher William Contreras got a hit and RBI in all six contests and captured the silver. But it was James Wood of the Nationals, who powered his team to a series win against the Dodgers during the early week that took home the gold. Hunter Greene and Cole Ragans had two start weeks and took home the pitching gold and silver, and Jeff Hoffman of the Blue Jays is the first relief pitcher to medal this season with the bronze.
Gold Medal Fantasy Baseball Hitter of the Week 🥇
James Wood, Washington Nationals
The Padres trade for Juan Soto looks like a colossal blunder now that James Wood is an emerging superstar. The 22-year-old is spraying lasers all over the diamond with 92nd-percentile exit velocities, and his bat-to-ball is elite with 98th-percentile barrels.
During his gold medal week, he hit .333 (7-for-21) with four home runs, two stolen bases, seven runs scored, eight RBI, eight walks, and five strikeouts. Wood did the heavy lifting when the Nationals took two out of three at home against the Dodgers, hitting three home runs and knocking in seven in two victories. He's a streaky player because of his strikeout tendencies, but when he's hot, he's as good as anyone in the game.Â
Silver Medal Hitter of the Week 🥈
William 'Wild Bill' Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers
After starting the season 3-for-31, 'Wild Bill' caught fire, hitting .391 (9-for-23) with three home runs, ten RBIs, six runs scored, two walks, and four strikeouts.
No other player in Week Two had more than eight RBIs. Contreras got a hit and drove in a run every game of the week, raising his season average from .097 to .222. Contreras has back-to-back 5+ fWAR seasons and is a fixture in the heart of the Brewers lineup. He's officially taken the mantle from J.T. Realmuto as the best catcher in baseball.Â
Bronze Medal Hitter of the Week 🥉
Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers
Despite having two of the best three hitters of the week, the Brewers were just .500 (3-3) on their road trip because much of Chourio's production happened in the Wednesday night game against the Rockies.
He scored three times and drove in five of his eight RBIs. Still, he had three multi-hit games, batting .286 (8-for-28) with eight runs, eight RBIs, two home runs, one stolen base, zero walks, and four strikeouts. It was a great week for former top prospects as Chourio joins Wood on the leaderboard. It's still early in the season, but the 21-year-old Chourio seems to have improved his power
Honorable Mentions
Taylor Ward, Jung Hoo Lee, Corbin Carroll, Ty France, Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Xavier Edwards
Corbin Carroll had a monster week, batting .417 with two home runs and a stolen base, but with only three RBIs, he's only an honorable mention. He's the lone premium name among the HM's this week, which could mean many of these guys had the best weeks of their season. Speedster Xavier Edwards stole four bases and hit .409, but all his hits were singles. He'll be a great source of speed and average all year but a drain in the power categories.Â
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch helped the Cubs take two out of three from the Rangers and Dodgers. They're both legit and should return good value for managers who drafted them. Jung Hoo Lee was the best player in Korea, but he missed much of last year due to injuries. He's healthy now and putting up All-Star numbers early in the season. While his power may fade a bit, he's a well-rounded player, and managers should hold on tight if they have him on their rosters.Â
Gold Medal Pitcher of the Week 🥇
Hunter Greene, Cincinatti Reds
Greene is far and away the best pitcher in baseball through the first two weeks of the season. He was one out short of a complete game shutout against the Giants on 4/7/25, one of the hottest teams in the league. In that start, Greene averaged 99 miles per hour on his fastball and got over 60% whiff on his secondary pitches (splitter and slider).
Then, he threw seven scoreless innings against the lowly Pirates on 4/13/25, ending the week with two wins, 15 strikeouts, two walks, and six hits allowed. He's an extreme fly ball pitcher, which may eventually haunt him while pitching his home games in Great American Ballpark, but early this season, he looks like one of MLB's best pitchers.
Silver Medal Pitcher of the Week 🥈
Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals
Ragans recorded double-digit strikeouts in both starts this week. His change-up is one of the best pitches in baseball; this week, batters swung 22 times against it and missed 17 of them.
Unfortunately, the Royals only gave him one run of support in his first start against the Twins, so he recorded a no-decision despite his dominance. Ragans proved he could be an ace last year, and he's living up to expectations with weeks like these. Overall, he threw 13 and 2/3 innings with 21 strikeouts, zero walks, eight hits allowed, and one win. If he stays healthy, he'll get Cy Young votes at the end of the season.Â
Bronze Medal Pitcher of the Week 🥉
Jeff Hoffman, Toronto Blue Jays
Hoffman had two multi-inning, high-leverage performances in the second week of the season. In both games, the Blue Jays won in extra innings, and Hoffman was the pitcher of record.
Ultimately, he allowed one hit and one walk in five innings with eight strikeouts and two wins. It looked like a closer-by-committee situation when the Blue Jays started the season with Yimi Garcia and Chad Green lurking, but if Hoffman keeps pitching like this, he'll keep the job. Ironically, the first time a reliever wins a medal, they do it without recording a save.Â
Honorable Mentions
Nick Pivetta, Andres Munoz, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Kyle Hart, Max Fried, Joe Ryan, Joe Boyle
Joe Boyle pitched a great game against the Atlanta Braves, and his reward was for the Rays to demote him to the minor leagues. Max Fried and Nick Pivetta recorded double-digit strikeouts in their lone starts of the week. Andres Munoz recorded three saves and is one of the best closers in fantasy baseball.Â