Nine Braves Players Ranked in Yahoo, ESPN Top 100 Fantasy Rankings

The Atlanta Braves make up nearly one-tenth of the top 100 rankings, though where players rank and who is ranked differs a bit

There are plenty of Braves options to choose from for your fantasy drafts / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Nine Atlanta Braves players have been ranked in Yahoo Sports’ top 100 fantasy players for 2025. They also had nine reps in the top 100 of ESPN’s fantasy baseball list as well. Think of it this way. In theory, with 30 teams, everyone should have around three players ranked. Meanwhile, the Braves have triple that theoretical number.

Even though he’s returning after Opening Day, right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. ranks the highest among Braves players at No. 21 on the list. According to ESPN, he’s No. 24. Had he played a full season last year, he’d likely be higher on both lists, but being a top-25 guy after missing most of a season is a sign of what they expect from him when he returns. 

The remaining players are listed as follows. They’re ranked in order of their Yahoo fantasy rankings with their ESPN rankings included as well:

• First baseman Matt Olson (No. 24 on Yahoo; No. 44 on ESPN)
• Third baseman Austin Riley (No. 29 on Yahoo; No. 30 on ESPN)
• Starting pitcher Chris Sale (No. 34 on Yahoo; No. 32 on ESPN)
• Second baseman Ozzie Albies (No. 35 on Yahoo; No. 48 on ESPN)
• Center fielder Michael Harris II (No. 45 on Yahoo; No. 53 on ESPN)
• Closer Raisel Iglesias (No. 68 on Yahoo; No. 76 on ESPN)
• Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (No. 79 on Yahoo; No. 33 on ESPN)
• Starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach (No. 84 on Yahoo; Outside ESPN Top 100)
• Starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (outside Yahoo top 100; No. 99 on ESPN) 

The two outlets seem to agree somewhat on where they rank Acuña, Riley and Sale. But it widely differs after that. ESPN likes Ozuna much more than Yahoo does and they differ on which starters are top 100 worthy. 

Yahoo is also being kinder to Olson after what was a down year by his standards. He’s still the fourth-best first baseman according to both websites, higher than Pete Alonso. However, the rankings make clear that Yahoo expects more out of him in general in 2025 than ESPN does. For what it’s worth, he’s probably going to play all 162 games again, which means you won’t have to swap him out unless it’s an off day. 

One season was all it took for the fantasy experts to be higher on Sale again. He’s a top 10 starting pitcher on both Yahoo (No. 6) and ESPN (No. 7). It’s impressive given he probably sat around as a free agent in a lot of leagues until May of last year - when he won National League pitcher of the month and put himself back on the map. 

But the health will remain a question mark until proven otherwise. Even last season, the injury bug caught him at the proverbial finish line. He’s probably never giving a team 33 starts again. But if he can get the Braves between 25 and 30, then he’s going to be healthy enough to be effective and warrant his rankings.