Hitters to Buy For the Stretch Run
Looking for a handful of under-the-radar names that could help take fantasy teams to the promised land down the stretch.
It’s time for the playoff push! Some leagues are already in there, and other leagues are rapidly approaching. It’s time to make our final moves to get these teams into shape to take home the crown.
I will rip through each position and spot a few names that stand out. Most leagues have passed their trade deadlines, so I’ll try to limit this to players widely-available on waivers.
Catchers
Austin Wells
He has solidified himself as the Yankees catcher, and he’s been hitting the middle of the lineup. He’s started 19 (of 23) games since the All-Star Break and has hit #4 in 15 of them (and he has not hit lower than #6). And he is certainly earning that prominent lineup spot with a .341/.418/.524 slash line in these 98 PAs. He’s homered three times with a 9.0% Brl% and driven in 16 runs. He’s a talented hitter, and he’s in a fantastic situation right now, batting behind Soto and Judge.
Joey Bart
Fantasy managers have been very slow to buy into Bart, and understandably so. He has been a bad hitter in his career (216 games, .686 OPS), and he’s on a non-exciting team. But to his credit, Bart has taken full advantage of the opportunity that Pittsburgh has given him. He has a .273/.349/.509 slash line in 186 PAs, homering 11 times and limiting strikeouts better than before at 27%. That, along with the Henry Davis disaster season, has him playing most days of the week; he’s even getting reps at DH.
First Base
Triston Casas
I would have to imagine that the guy in your league who drafted Casas has had him stashed on IL all season, but maybe there are some leagues out there where it’s too costly to use an IL slot for as long as he’s been on there. He hasn’t appeared in a Major League game since April 20th, but that will change tonight (August 16th) as he makes his long-awaited return from the rib injury.
If by some chance he’s available, you should get him on your team and plug him in for the rest of the year. He’s an extremely talented hitter with an .843 OPS and a 12.7% Brl% since last season began.
Nolan Schanuel
It’s a good overall strategy to buy into very young players around mid-season. It takes some time for these guys to really adjust to Major League pitching, and oftentimes, we see that development occurring in-season. That seems to be the case with Schanuel, who has a fantastic .818 OPS in the second half. His best skill is getting on base (.396 2H OBP, 16.8% BB%), so he’s a huge boost to teams in those types of leagues.
Second Base
Jorge Polanco
Polanco has long been an underrated Major League hitter. He never gets talked about much, but for his career, he sports a very solid 110 wRC+. The first couple months of 2024 were a disaster for him, as he slashed .195/.293/.302 in his first 181 PAs as a Mariner. Then he spent some time on the IL, and since then, he’s done this:
.229/.301/.405, 6 HR, 24 PA/HR, 2 steals
So it’s still not a great line by any means, but he’s hit homers at a good rate.
And he continues to improve. Over 88 PAs in the second half, he’s slashing .247/.330/.532 with six homers (14.5 PA/HR), scoring 14 runs and driving in 13.
Polanco certainly doesn’t possess a “league-winning” upside, but he’s solid across the board, and it looks like he’s finally got his footing in Seattle.
Shortstop
Xavier Edwards
This is not a points-league play because Edwards is delivering his value entirely through the stolen base. Since the break, his 16 steals lead the league by three bags. He has a 37% stolen base attempt rate, which is through the roof, and he’s been getting on base at a fantastic clip (.442). There’s reason to believe he can continue to get on base enough to maintain this steals pace with his high line drive rate, low strikeout rate (16.7%), and high walk rate (14%).
MLB Steals Since The Xavier Edwards Call-Up
Elly De La Cruz 27
Shohei Ohtani 21
David Hamilton 21
Xavier Edwards 19
Jose Ramirez 18
Jarren Duran 18
There’s no power and limited counting stats here, so it’s only a play for teams in need of steals. Nobody has helped fantasy teams more in that category lately than Edwards.
Zach Neto
Chances are someone has gotten to Neto already (maybe even YOU if you read the daily notes!) because he’s been on a real heater. Since July 1st:
145 PA, .304/.392/.520, .912 OPS, 6 HR, 11 SB
That is the 18th-highest rate of fantasy point scoring since July 1st. Truly impressive stuff.
Neto fits the Schanuel category here as a very young hitter who is clearly improving on the job. He’s just 23 years old, so he and Schanuel seem to be two bright spots for the future of the Angels.
Third Base
Eugenio Suarez
I have no idea what has gotten into the Diamondbacks, but their bats have been humming. And Suarez is a big part of that. In the second half:
108 PA, .309/.352/.649, 8 HR, 14.7% Brl%, 23% K%
The strikeout rate is the most notable thing there. We know this guy can hit the long ball even at the age of 33. What was holding him back a ton early on was the strikeout rate. From March through June, he struck out 29.2% of the time. That, plus a lack of impact on the ball, generated a .308 SLG. He was unusable for fantasy baseball. But that has corrected, and clearly, he’s swinging the bat more effectively on contact as well - he’s been fantastic.
Can it keep up? I don’t know, but for right now he’s a nice addition to your fantasy team if you need some run production at the hot corner.
Outfield
Joc Pederson
He still sits against lefties, so that makes him a little bit tougher to play in a weekly league. However, he makes up for that lost production in a hurry. He has a career-best 158 wRC+ this season.
He has homered 19 times in 341 PAs. That’s a homer every 18 trips to the plate. He’s also made contact gains with a 24% K%, and that’s led to a nice .285 batting average.
In a daily changes league, he’s one of the most valuable hitters in the league. His production is so, so good against righties that combining him with a replacement-level player when he sits against a lefty makes for a fantastic player that should be nearly 100% owned.
Chances are that the only leagues where he’s available are these weekly ones, but even with him sitting twice a week, it’s worth a spot.
Wilyer Abreu
It’s a double-dip with the platoon bats, but I have to shout out Wilyer Abreu here. He is a young hitter (just turned 25) who is having a bit of a breakout season in Boston. On the year:
321 PA, .271/.336/.514, 28% K%, 9% B%, 14 HR, 48 R, 47 RBI, 7 SB
He has scored 2.10 fantasy points per PA, and that puts him comfortably in the top 25 in baseball.
You lose him when they face lefties, that’s true, but he has made up all of that ground and more lately with six homers in just 74 PAs in the second half. His .631 second-half slugging percentage is 20th-best in the league. He’s a very impressive young hitter and he should be owned in more fantasy leagues.
Jhonkensy Noel
A third straight recommendation with questionable playing time, but Noel has started the Guardians’ last three games and four of their last five, so it’s possible he’s busting into the lineup now.
The production has been great when he’s in the lineup:
94 PA, .253/.298/.598, .896 OPS, 9 HR, 16.9% Brl%, 31% K%
So it’s an “empty power” profile, to be sure. That will make it tough for him to produce consistently and might be a reason he doesn’t end up being a starter for them.
The reason to keep an eye on Noel (if nothing else) is the raw power.
Only four hitters in the league swing the bat harder than Noel:
Swinging the bat that hard will result in a lot of extra-base hits. Oftentimes, what we see with these guys is prohibitively low contact rates. That hasn’t been the case with Noel so far at a 71.6% Contact%.
He’s also been able to lift the ball with just a 39% GB%.
I have little doubt that the per-PA power production will be useful in fantasy leagues; it’s just a question of how often he will play.
Let’s see what the Guardians do with their lineups this weekend, and if Noel is in there all three times, we might want to consider jumping at him.
More Options
I ended up naming a lot of guys that probably aren’t available in sharp leagues, so here are some other names that are very much available and are swinging the bat well of late:
Matt Wallner: He’s a platoon bat with a huge strikeout issue (35% K%), so he the risk is big here. But the power is for-real, there are no questions about that.
Michael Toglia: Similar to Wallner with the strikeout problems (29%), but he’s an everyday player with multiple-position eligibility, and the Rockies play 55% of their remaining games at home.
Gabriel Moreno: The bat wasn’t awake until July or so, but since then, he’s slashing a solid .333/.406/.476 in 96 PAs.
Gavin Lux: I’m not shocked to see Lux hitting for a good batting average (.303 over his last 125 PAs); that’s always been something we expected from him as a line-drive hitter with speed and a decent strikeout rate. What we’re getting lately is more power. He’s homered five times since July 1st, and he’s lifting the ball more than before (42% GB%). He is also a good on-base guy, so you can boost him up the list in those leagues (10.4% BB%, .384 OBP since July 1st).