The Moment of Zen:
This week, I’ll touch on a central Buddhist concept called dukkha (also spelled duhkka). While the translation of the word is more complex than our common Western understanding of the word reflects, most commonly, dukkha is used to identify a form of suffering – in particular, dissatisfaction or discontentment with life or what reality is actually like. Those who suffer most from dukkha are those who tend to think that somewhere else is better than here. Some other time is better than now. Dukkha also applies to the “if only” folks among us. You’ve heard some version of it: “If only” x had happened instead of y, things would be better. Dukkha.
If we’re being honest, all of us allow ourselves to get trapped in cycles of dukkha. It is awfully tempting to start thinking about greener grass elsewhere whenever something we want falls short of expectations or when our current situation seems worse than what could be. The problem, from a Buddhist perspective, with falling into the cycle of wishing things were better than they are and lamenting the current state is simple: nothing works out completely as we would like. There’s always a way that our current situation could be better. Focusing on moments from the perspective of “if only” or “I wish” will lead us to be continually wishing for something more instead of appreciating and experiencing the moment we’re in.
Sure, sometimes, the moment we’re in is objectively terrible, but wishing even those terrible times away causes us not to be completely available to experiencing and learn from what is happening at the time. It also keeps us from being available for others around us who might need our support during the trials of life.
But, frankly, most of the time, our reality is pretty ok at worst – after all, we are able to spend ridiculous amounts of time on fantasy baseball, so life can’t be all bad. Yet part of the human condition is that we want more. This continual seeking teaches us that only extreme moments of pleasure or joy are acceptable, which is a tough – i.e. basically impossible – bar to clear. The Buddhist approach would be to connect with the moment, not wish the situation away – simply be in the moment, understand it for what it is, and – dare I say – appreciate and feel gratitude for its joys, sadnesses, complexities, and challenges. This more refined approach gives us a fuller experience of life and allows us to receive life for what it is instead of running around it.
You might be thinking, “So, are you just supposed to be satisfied with your situation in life no matter what?”
The Buddhist answer likely is “of course not.” Wanting things to improve keeps us moving forward – the key is not to wish things were better now but instead to engage at this moment in the process of improving what we can actively impact, not wishing for change but instead creating change a little at a time. Doing that over and over will inevitably find us in a better situation than we originally found ourselves.
How in the world does this apply to fantasy baseball?
In this game, we spend a lot of time wishing we had made different decisions:
Why did I play him instead of this other guy who ended up having a great week?
Why did I draft that pitcher who is getting blown up week after week or who has torn up his elbow?
What an idiot I must be…
Playing the game as described above makes the already difficult experience of fantasy even more difficult, maybe even miserable. But I suspect we all have a player or two (or ten) who regularly make us feel that kind of discontentment. But it isn’t the player’s fault we feel that way; it’s ours.
My personal dukkha comes in the form of one Michael Harris II. I am sure Harris is a lovely person. I love watching him play, especially the field. And I have found his hit tool enticing for years, so in 2025, I would have been the one in your draft picking him in the 3rd round. The projections said the pick wasn’t unreasonable, he smokes the ball (HH% of over 45% for his career), and he has a surprisingly good Z-Contact% (upper 80%-range) for such a free swinger. Harris’s 30 HR / 30 SB upside is undeniable and easy to chase. Many of us in the fantasy community have also been guilty of expecting Harris’s impressive hit tool to continue to develop to the point that he is a near superstar level. I still believe that player is in there.
But Harris swings at almost everything. He swings in the strike zone (67.8% Z-Swing% for his career), and he swings outside the zone (an absurd 40% O-Swing% for his career). That kind of discipline – or lack thereof – means that long stretches of mediocre play, maybe even virtually un-rosterable play, are essentially guaranteed. And this makes Harris infuriating to have on a fantasy team.
If we take a look at Harris’s surface stats for each of his 4 years, it’s easy to dream of his upside:
| Year | PA | BA | HR | R | RBI | SB |
| 2025 | 641 | .249 | 20 | 55 | 86 | 20 |
| 2024 | 470 | .264 | 16 | 58 | 48 | 10 |
| 2023 | 539 | .293 | 18 | 76 | 76 | 20 |
| 2022 | 441 | .297 | 19 | 75 | 75 | 20 |
But one thing you might notice in those stats is a maddening level of inconsistency. Except for HRs, each of his other stat lines comes with a wide range of potential outcomes:
– 48 points in BA
– a range of 21 R
– a difference of 38 RBI
– apparent steadiness at 20 SB, except there’s also the 10 SB season.
Michael Harris might be the best player in the game for weeks at a time, and he might just as easily be the worst in the game for other long stretches. Let last season’s splits tell you a story:
| Part of 2025 | PA | BA | HR | R | RBI | SB |
| 1st half | 368 | .210 | 6 | 22 | 44 | 12 |
| 2nd half | 273 | .299 | 14 | 33 | 42 | 8 |
Those 1st half numbers are unplayable – Harris was routinely dropped by frustrated managers.
But then in the 2nd half, he was on pace for 32-35 HR, 80ish R, 100+ RBI, and 20+ SB.
Maddening. The guy can be an absolute difference maker, and he can be a disaster to roster.
Dukkha. Why does Harris qualify as mine? Because when I see last year’s 2nd half numbers, I see the player who lives in his body, and I love that player. And when I see that player I love, I keep forgetting about the other player who also lives in his body.
So I draft him. Again. And again. And again. After the 2025 season, though, I want nothing to do with him; I want to let anyone else draft him so I won’t. I don’t know if my health can take another half season like last year’s first half, so my first inclination is to protect myself – avoid the suffering.
But if I allow my emotional reaction to dictate my drafting, I run the risk of missing out on an extremely helpful player. His 2026 projections explain why:
| Proj Sys | PA | BA | HR | R | RBI | SB |
| Razzball | 532 | .270 | 19 | 66 | 70 | 17 |
| BatX | 574 | .261 | 18 | 75 | 75 | 19 |
| OOPSY | 574 | .280 | 21 | 75 | 75 | 19 |
| ZiPS | 609 | .275 | 22 | 74 | 80 | 19 |
Our own site’s projections are the least bullish of the four I listed, yet Harris still ranks as the 74th player on the Razzball Preseason Player Rater. Since his current ADP is around 100, the potential profit on a Michael Harris pick is tough to ignore.
The decision gets even more difficult when I run my SGP calculations. Depending on the type of league I might play him in, Harris goes from of questionable benefit (he ranks slightly below ADP based on my SGP for OCs) to a potential significant profit (he comes out with 30 picks worth of profit in draft and hold formats).
The simple fact is, based on projections and his yearly season-long stats, Harris is largely a good bet in most leagues relative to his ADP. That’s all good and well, but can I deal with the stress of rostering him?
I suppose I’ll have to see rostering him as an opportunity to practice my tendency to fall into the pit of dukkha. So, for now, I’ve decided I will draft him and then close my eyes for the season so that I don’t suffer from his inconsistency – or, more precisely, my own desire for Harris to be someone who Harris is not. If I stick with him for an entire season, ignoring the inevitable downturns and not getting too high during his hot streaks, his career numbers and his hit tool both suggest I’ll benefit. Remind me of that come June if he has 3 HRs and is batting .175.
Good luck with your own creators of dukkha, and may we keep the perspective to know when probability should outweigh our emotional responses.
Until next week. –ADHamley
