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Hitter List 9/4: Your Hitting Guide For The Playoffs

Your hitting guide for the fantasy baseball playoffs.

Scott Chu
Hitter List 7 Hours Ago

With the playoffs approaching for many and everyone in crunch time, this article will use a new format to guide you through the short-term decision-making that comes into play at this point in the season.

I will group players into tiers and go over each team’s lineup and outlook for the next three series. Players will be classified as Auto-Start, Solid Start, Streamer, and Desperate. If I don’t list a guy, it’s because you don’t need him.

  • Auto-Start – Just leave them in all season. Don’t get cute.
  • Solid – A safe start at the moment, but if they’re struck by a slump, they could get moved down to Streamer by the next update.
  • Streamer – Worth considering in a 12-teamer due to a hot streak, a specific matchup (such as heading to Coors), or a specific tool (such as speed). It may also include players who I would usually consider a Solid Start, but are dealing with playing time issues due to either injury or platoons that might cause them to play in fewer than four or five games that week.
  • Droppable  – Players you might be too attached to based on early-season performance or name value. You can drop them for Streamers in a H2H playoff context or a very tight roto race, but you ought to keep them over Desperate options.
  • Desperate – For players in deep leagues or can provide one specific stat. Prospects waiting to be called up will usually be in this category.
  • IL – This will be limited to hitters who would actually make one of the tiers above immediately upon activation AND have a chance to be activated for two or more series.

 

And of course, the usual details still apply:

  • As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, which is typically the most popular fantasy baseball format. They will only factor in the five standard categories: runs, RBI, home runs, batting average, and stolen bases.
  • These are not best ball or draft and hold rankings. The 12-team redraft format with daily moves is the fundamental opposite of that. Pure volume plays are not valued as much here as in those no-move formats.
  • I take rankings like this more as art than science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their biases, strategic philosophies, risk assessments, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked well for me, but it might not be an excellent fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your leaguemates’ player evaluations, or your current waiver wire, and if I could, it’d be weird in a bad way.
  • This is a safe space for me where I answer to no one but myself…and you if you leave a comment.
  • I’m doing my best to use five starts or 10 appearances as the threshold for positional eligibility. I have not included presumed eligibilities based on likely new positions, but I’ll add them once those eligibilities are earned. This is just a maintenance thing, and we will update eligibility throughout the season. Feel free to let me know if I’m missing any!

 

Ranking Philosophy

 

To keep things in the same ilk, here are a couple of notes on how I generally evaluate hitters before we dive in:

 

  • In 12-team formats, I don’t see much value in guys who only provide stolen bases. It’s an important category, especially in Roto, but in shallower formats, there are too many other (and better) ways to get the steals you need without sacrificing production in the other categories.
  • No stat is an island, and they should all be taken in proper context. For ranking purposes, the primary starting points I use are plate discipline, wRC+, quality-of-contact metrics (also known as Statcast batted-ball data), lineup context, and the skills we can measure with tools such as our PLV Hitter Attributes (available to PL Pro members). I also use various projections (some free, some I buy) and dollar value generators.
  • Positional eligibility, specifically multi-eligibility, is neat but isn’t a huge factor in many 10- and 12-team leagues anymore due to the prevalence of multi-eligible players. It’s more valuable in deeper contests like the NFBC or in leagues with limited roster moves (draft-and-hold leagues, transaction limits/costs, extremely short benches, etc.). Still, the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.
  • Similarly, I don’t penalize players for only qualifying in the utility slot. At most, it is a mild inconvenience if a DH-only player is available at a great value and you already have filled your utility spots.
  • Regardless of true talent, anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 to 100 at-bats. It could even last over a month with no change in potential or skill. It also could be wildly meaningful. We can’t and don’t know which will be valid until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends can give us hints.
  • One of the most difficult things to account for in these rankings is the dynamic between low-ceiling players with clear roles and players with higher ceilings who lack a clear path to playing time. I try to note this in the blurbs as much as I can.
  • THIS IS NOT A TRADE CHART. Trade charts need to account for “market” value, which is largely perception-based.

 

Check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast featuring Scott Chu and Brett Ford, which also happened to be a finalist for Best Baseball Podcast of 2021 by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA)!

I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday starting around noon ET that lasts through the rest of the day and into the weekend, so feel free to join the fun and ask questions or make comments.

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

Gabriel Moreno doesn’t strike out much, plays nearly every day, hits the ball fairly hard, bats third, and is a catcher. Don’t overthink it, even if the offense has been fairly slow lately.

Even if Corbin Carroll goes ballistic this month, there’s no real path to returning the first round value you spent on draft day. Still, he hit four homers and swiped five bags last month and looked a lot better than he did during his putrid July, so you might as well keep him rolling.

Geraldo Perdomo might be in the Solid tier for points leagues, but in standard leagues he doesn’t quite do enough apart from ratios and steals to get us excited. That said, he’s hitting the ball a bit better of late, so maybe there’s still a path to finishing the season as a top 100 hitter.

Tim Tawa has been a perfectly cromulent starter for the D-Backs over the last 30 games, hitting the ball hard (93.5 mph average exit velocity) and blending in a little speed as well (six steals). I don’t think there’s a ton of post-2026 appeal for Tawa, at least not in 12-teamers, but his bat is hot and he is eligible at first, third (in leagues requiring only 10 appearances), and outfield.

Lars Nootbaar is swinging a hot bat, but that bat only sees time against righties. He should start all three games against Houston, but it looks like he’ll sit twice against Kansas City when Cameron and Lynch take the mount (though he may get into that game about halfway through since Lynch doesn’t go very deep).

Ryan Waldschmidt plays most days and gives you solid ratios, but those ratios will be fairly empty.

 

Athletics

The team will be in Sacramento next week, so that gives everyone a boost during those matchups. Too bad they’re missing all of their best hitters.

Lawrence Butler would be in the Streamer bucket if the A’s were going to see more lefties or was on the road a lot, but neither applies for next week. Very few lefties are on the docket, and he won’t see any in the first home series, so go ahead and fire him up. Don’t expect him to be awesome during his four-game stretch in Seattle, but next week he’s at home a ton and should be excellent (if this was JUST talking about next week, he’d be in the Solid tier).

Henry Bolte is extremely streaky but is coming off a massive game and is locked in at the top of the order, so stream away.

Zack Gelof would be droppable in 12-teamers if he wasn’t going to be at home all next week. I’m not a fan of the skills, and most of his production this season was during an insane stretch of incredible luck. I’m not that interested in using him during the Seattle series.

Jonah Heim hits at the bottom of the order, but plays most days and could be a useful streamer next week.

 

Atlanta

The batted ball quality for Michael Harris II isn’t as good as it was back in April (which is more about how insane it was in April), but he’s been fantastic during this 16-game on-base streak. Sure, he’s outperformed his xwOBA by 98 points in that stretch, but even if he dips a bit, he’ll still be a top-30 hitter by the end of the season and a borderline top-10 outfielder (outfield is loaded at the top).

I suppose I’m being a little edgy putting Ronald Acuña Jr. in the Solid tier instead of Auto-Start, but he’s hitting .217/.289/.380 since coming off the IL at the end of July, and he has just one extra-base hit (a double) in his last 14 games. The strikeouts are up, the quality of contact is down, and he’s about to face some rough pitching matchups. Still, you’ve probably got to start him because he’s Acuña (unless it’s, like, an eight-teamer, THEN maybe you can bench him).

Ozzie Albies is maddening at times, but he’s making tons of contact lately and is hitting .310 over his last 11 games and has a 16-game on-base streak going. Considering the overall strength of second base, you probably don’t have better options right now.

Mauricio Dubón can cover a lot of positions but is very mediocre at it (from a fantasy perspective). His value is mostly limited to points leagues because he doesn’t strike out.

Sean Murphy has some big hits lately, but his plate discipline is abysmal, and I don’t buy any of it. Still, he plays a lot and is a viable second catcher.

Austin Riley is striking out in bunches and has a .491 OPS in his last 64 plate appearances.

 

Baltimore Orioles

Gunnar Henderson had two home runs, four runs scored, and five RBI in that six-game set in Sacramento and Coors, though really that comes from a single massive game and five disappointing ones. Still, he’s capable of these kinds of explosions in any stadium, and he’s flashing well-rounded skills according to our Process+ metrics.

Coby Mayo feels like a Solid start right now while everything is grooving, but he’s struggled to consistently keep the strikeout rate below 30%, and if it spikes again, the performance will drop. Still, he’s on a seven-game hitting streak, and there’s no reason to jump off the boat right

Christian Encarnacion-Strand was supposed to have a huge performance after he was blistering hot in St. Louis and travelling to to Sacramento and Coors, but it ended up being a total dud. He’s striking out more, barely ever walks, and sat against two of the three righties against Colorado, so I’d just let him go.

Luis Robert Jr. hit fourth in his first start for the O’s and managed to hit a double and put up some counting stats. That’s nice and all, but Baltimore is absolutely going to platoon him with Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, Leody Taveras, and to a lesser extent, Dylan Beavers. If/when Tyler O’Neill gets back, it will get even messier.

 

Boston Red Sox

As bad as Roman Anthony looked before he went to the IL, he looks amazing now. He has multiple hits in four straight games, with four of those hits going for extra bases (two doubles, a triple, and a dinger).

Mickey Gasper might sit against lefties, but that’s fine for a catcher as he’ll play against all righties. He’s hitting second in the order, his plate discipline is out of this world (11 walks and just four strikeouts in his last 14 games), and his barrel rate is a whopping 23.5%. I’m not sure what has gotten into Gasper, but right now, I’m willing to just run with it as far as I can.

Ceddanne Rafaela has cooled off in a big way and also has just a single stolen base in his last 25 games on three attempts. He’s too good to cut, probably, but the drop-off is noticeable and painful.

On one hand, Trevor Story has plenty of hits since returning to Boston, and a double in four straight. On the other, he has plenty of strikeouts, too, and those hits feel extremely lucky based on how he’s not hitting the ball that hard at all. He’s a fine streamer, but I wouldn’t be feeling terribly confident about it.

Adley Rutschman rocked the O’s on Thursday, but otherwise has struggled to perform and to stay healthy. There’s upside as they continue to plug him into the middle of the order, but how often he plays is a huge question. If you need stability, you might consider him Droppable instead.

Caleb Durbin has one of the worst average exit velocities in the league, and it’s gotten even worse lately (81.5 mph with 0 barrels and a 16.1% hard-hit rate in his last 19 games). A lot of his success earlier in the season was driven by good batted-ball luck, and that seems to have dried up. He is streamable in points, but otherwise, I’d look elsewhere if possible.

Jarren Duran doesn’t play against lefties, though right now the Red Sox will only see one over the next two series. The more annoying thing from a fantasy perspective is that he is wildly volatile and hits near the bottom of the order. I think there are likely better outfield streamers in most 10-12 teamers.

 

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs might be the streakiest offense in the league, but when they are hot, they blow their opponents out of the water. Lately, that has been driven by Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, and Alex Bregman. Leave them locked in.

How on Earth does Michael Busch have just two runs and two RBI over the last two series batting between PCA, Suzuki, and Bregman? If he can’t produce right now, when can he?

Ian Happ is slumping again and is now fully platooned. Sure, he might explode here and there, but I’d rather go find someone with more playing time and more dependability in my playoff run.

Carson Kelly only plays every other day but is swinging a hot bat right now. There are a lot of catcher-eligible hitters who play every day, so for Kelly to perform at their level, he needs to keep smashing every other day, especially considering that I virtually never recommend holding two catchers in a single-catcher format, as that bench spot is almost always more valuable when used for streaming pitchers or other hitting positions. The one caveat would be if you have two of those elite catchers from early-season maneuvering.

Pedro Ramirez, Matt Shaw, and Tyrone Taylor have put up numbers lately, but mostly because the entire offense is white-hot. I don’t think any of them are anything more than a “keep riding the Cubs” play.

 

Chicago White Sox

Miguel Vargas is walking a boatload, and that’s kind of hurting his upside right now. When he does hit the ball, he’s still hitting it well, and I am confident the extra-base hits will come back.

Munetaka Murakami strikes out constantly, and there’s only so much a high walk rate can offset that. He’s hitting .186 since returning from the IL in July, and while that 18.4% barrel rate in that time looks awesome, it’s worth noting that the barrel rate is based on batted balls, and Murakami has substantially fewer of those than other hitters since over 50% of his plate appearances end in a walk or strikeout. In OBP, he’s more of a Solid play, but in standard leagues, he’s more like a high-end streamer that you probably won’t cut since the power is so tempting. In points leagues with a strikeout penalty, he might not even be that.

Colson Montgomery is striking out even more than Murakami for the last few weeks, but he’s getting a bit more out of the balls he puts in play. He’s a lot like Murakami in terms of how to value him, albeit with a lower floor since he’s a lot more aggressive.

Sam Antonacci no longer plays against lefties and hasn’t hit a home run since July 29. Since that day, he’s also hitting just .217, and the run scoring is way down. Antonacci is potentially salvageable in points leagues because of his solid discipline, but he’s no longer the high-floor play we hoped for.

Chase Meidroth is also possibly worth something in deeper points leagues, but otherwise, it’s just an empty, mediocre average of late.

Tristan Peters had a cool run, but you can move on now.

Andrew Benintendi plays against righties and bats fourth, but that’s about it.

 

Cincinnati Reds

All hail Sal Stewart, who has nearly twice as many homers and RBI as any other National League rookie. He’s just third in fWAR in that group due to his less-than-stellar defense, but with Benge struggling of late and Wetherholt on the shelf, he is running away with the NL ROY.

Elly De La Cruz is scoring tons of runs (thanks to Sal), and if he could get the ball back in the air a bit, the homers would take off as well.

JJ Bleday has looked better the last two weeks, but as you’ll see in the next blurb, the Reds are about to see a wave of lefties, and his OPS against same-side pitching this season is just .660.

Héctor Rodríguez is the new leadoff guy against righties, but the problem is that he’ll see four lefties this week, plus Dustin May and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Oh, and a week from now, he’ll see two lefties in his first three home games. That’s not an ideal set-up.

On the flip side, Dane Myers is the leadoff guy against lefties, and while most of them are quite tough, he’ll get looks at the top of the order.

 

Cleveland Guardians

Steven Kwan and Chase DeLauter are slowing down just a bit, but both seem to play especially well against the Tigers and are facing them in a four-game series at home. That should get those engines going again.

The home runs haven’t happened for Adell as much as we’d like in 2026, but the batted ball quality has been strong and he’s in the middle of the order for the Guardians, which I suppose is better than being in the middle of the order for the Angels?

Being a rookie is hard. Don’t blame Travis Bazzana for struggling with it.

 

Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are in Coors for the weekend, but then hit the road for next week.

Jake McCarthy and Hunter Goodman have been good enough that I think you start them regardless of where they play. Sure, they’re better in Coors, but they’re still good on the road.

TJ Rumfield has 14 walks in his last 10 games, and while 10 of those came against the Nats, his plate discipline has been pretty solid against other opponents as well. He’s actually hit for nearly the same average at home and away, though Coors gives him a meaningful bump to slugging. He’s seeing the ball incredibly well right now, so just leave him in there.

Willi Castro’s positional eligibility and mostly everyday role make him more useful than the OF-only Mickey Moniak and Cole Carrigg, though in shallower leagues you can probably cut him after this weekend. You can definitely drop the other two Sunday, though (or earlier if you want to).

Kyle Karros would be an interesting streamer at home if he still has a full-time gig when he returns.

 

Detroit Tigers

The favorite for the AL ROY is an Auto-Start in point formats, but in standard leagues, Kevin McGonigle is held back a bit by this slumping Tigers offense. Hopefully the return of stud hitter Riley Greene can perk things up over the final month.

I have no idea what is wrong with Dillon Dingler, but everything has plummeted. In keeper/dynasty, you need to hold, obviously, but in redraft, you can let Dingler go. Ditto Gleyber Torres, who may see his playing time reduced down the stretch.

Max Clark is hitting a respectable .255/.340/.468 in his last 10 games heading into Thursday, including a three-double outing on Wednesday. While his overall production has been a bit lackluster, Clark remains a high-upside prospect who might still give us a run of hotness before the season is through.

Hao-Yu Lee has hit well of late, though counting stats in Detroit are hard to come by so the overall value has been limited

 

Houston Astros

Yordan Alvarez is the best pure hitter in the league. August was the first month his expected slugging was below .620 (it was .444). When your “slumps” still lead to a .287 batting average and 29 combined runs and RBI in a month, you’re probably pretty awesome.

Jeremy Peña is striking out quite a lot lately, and his batting average is suffering for it, but he’s still producing thanks to the extra power he’s bringing to the table.

I’ve got Isaac Paredes in the Streamer bucket, but considering third base has few options, you probably should just hold him. His plate discipline is rather insane of late (14 walks to just four strikeouts in his last 15 games), if you’re into that sort of thing.

Christian Walker, Cam Smith, Jose Altuve, and Daulton Varsho have all been valuable at one point or another this season, but none are showing signs that they are on the verge of turning things around right now, so feel free to stream away.

 

Kansas City Royals

Carter Jensen is back at it again, hitting .283/.418/.604 in his last 15 games heading into Thursday’s slate, along with a 95.5 mph average exit velocity and five homers. Lock him in and don’t look back.

The plate discipline has eroded for Jac Caglianone over his last nine games (13 strikeouts with just one walk), but he’s getting the ball in the air 38.5% of the time, and that’s the more important variable.

Vinnie Pasquantino has looked a lot better since coming off the IL on August 17, so go ahead and keep streaming him until the power fades.

Salvador Perez still plays every day, and while he hasn’t looked like his old self outside of a strong July, he’s been good enough as a backend backstop to focus your attention elsewhere unless something really exciting lands on the wire.

 

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

While Zach Neto isn’t quite as hot over the last few series as he was in the middle of the month, he’s still hitting the ball well and scoring runs.

Is Mike Trout struggling over the last month? Yes. Is Mike Trout having the worst power season since his debut in 2011? Yes. Am I going to tell you to cut or bench a healthy Mike Trout? No, I am not. Perhaps the news of the sale of the team that has let him down in every imaginable way to new, seemingly competent ownership will give him a boost.

Wade Meckler and Vaughn Grissom have given us flashes here and there only to fizzle out entirely as quickly as they came on.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani is banged up but I’m not benching him. Bad luck has been impacting his performance as well and he’s still stealing bases, so I think he’s just fine.

Tommy Edman is hitting well and will see a few more lefties in the next two series.

If Will Smith is playing four of every five games, I’d cruise with him. If it’s more like three, then I’m out.

Max Muncy is being platooned these days, though in OBP he’s more like a Streamer. Third base being what it is, you might be stuck with Muncy anyway, but I’m not a huge fan at the moment as he’s ice cold and will sit at least twice in the next two series, if not three times.

Yeah, Kyle Tucker. I mean, what else are we waiting for at this point? I’m sure we will find reasons to believe in 2027 drafts, but there’s no need to keep waiting in 2026.

Andy Pages is unlikely to return before the final week of the season, so he’s not listed above.

 

Miami Marlins

If Otto Lopez was a first baseman or outfielder, he might not be in this tier, seeing as he just hit his first home run of the second half a few days ago and is slashing just .235/.271/.301 since the Break. But he isn’t. He’s a second baseman. He also has a 16-game on-base streak that includes five steals and a much better average.

Heriberto Hernández will see several lefties this week and has hit well lately. Keep it rolling.

Kyle Stowers has been heating up since returning to the lineup on August 24, though he’s also striking out a ton. Still, he’s playing against both righties and lefties. If there weren’t so many lefties in the next two series, I might have pushed him to Solid, but that will have to wait.

Javier Sanoja is a points league streamer who is coming off a hot August and who gets to see more lefties on the horizon (which boosts his value significantly, as he has a .862 OPS against southpaws and just a .702 against righties).

Griffin Conine has sat against most of the lefties of late, and with more coming, he’ll keep sitting. The power is enticing, but the contact woes are just too much to overcome most of the time.

Jakob Marsee is playing more against lefties and has been surprisingly good over his last 11 appearances (.965 OPS with a pair of homers and a pair of steals).

Xavier Edwards is worth holding onto in your IL spot if you need some ratios and steals, but otherwise, you can cut him loose.

 

Milwaukee Brewers

Jackson Chourio is on a ridiculous heater right now, with four homers, two steals, a staggering 18 combined runs and RBI with a .424/.441/.848 line in his last seven outings.

William Contreras only has 13 home runs this season, which is a significant disappointment, but he’s been much better of late, getting on base at least once in 14 of his last 15 games with 267 combined runs and RBI and an OPS of 1.080. He should finish the season with 15 homers along with 80+ runs and RBI, though his ceiling may be a bit lower than we’d like due to his slumps and ground ball issues.

Brice Turang has struggled in the second half, hitting just .220 with three steals on five attempts and three measly homers. Still, this offense is scoring tons of runs, and he hits at the top of it. Turang is capable of setting the scoreboard on fire when he heats up, and you probably don’t have much choice but to hope for that to happen.

Jake Bauers doesn’t put a lot of balls in play these days (24.4% walk rate, 25.6% strikeout rate in his last 20 games), but the batted ball quality is still solid, and he hits in the middle of the order.

Christian Yelich was quiet all season, but he’s breaking out lately, with 19 combined runs and RBI in his last 13 games and a 1.023 OPS.

Garrett Mitchell hasn’t hit the ball poorly, but he’s yet to show he can get back to the crazy spike we saw in early July. No need to keep waiting (though I doubt many of you have been).

Luis Lara is putting up some numbers lately, but he’s only really seeing time against lefties. The Brewers do have quite a few coming up on the schedule, but I don’t have enough confidence in his underlying abilities to recommend Lara while he’s merely on the short side of a platoon.

 

Minnesota Twins

Luke Keaschall has steadily improved all season after a very painful start, and he more than doubled his home run total in August (now 9 total heading into Thursday). In a stunning turn of events, Keaschall is slugging .493 so far in the second half, and while I don’t expect that to continue, you might as well get some while the getting is good.

Kody Clemens has cleaned up the plate discipline issues that freaked me out a month ago and, in doing so, has started mashing the ball again.

Royce Lewis is as streaky as he is injury-prone, but things are looking good of late and options at third base are limited.

Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper are exciting young prospects, though both hit at the bottom of the order and production may be erratic at times.

Byron Buxton is right on the border of droppable, as he won’t be back until the final one or two weeks of the season. In roto, I might be inclined to hold until I get a date, but in a H2H playoff I’d likely be willing to move on if I didn’t have room on the IL.

 

New York Mets

Between injuries and slumps, it’s been a disappointing season for both Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, but I’m not ready to abdon ship by any means.

Carson Benge has slowed down over the last eight games in a big way, but right before that he was smashing the ball, so I’d be awfully choosy about which outfielder I looked to as a replacement if I felt that’s what I had to do.

It’s been a lot of ups and downs for Bo Bichette, and while the overall numbers are not at all inspiring, he does have a hit in four straight and a double in three of those games.

A.J. Ewing seems to have been fully relegated to the bottom of the order, so he’s an easy drop for me.

Marcus Semien is still a second baseman, and he’s hitting .300 over his last 12 games. That said, he’s only slugging .325 in that stretch, so it’s more of a points play than anything else.

 

New York Yankees

Sure, Ben Rice hasn’t been the world-beater he was to start the season, but in his last 10 games he’s hitting .310 with a .380 xwOBA, so it’s not like you’re doing anything cute like benching him.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has tamed his strike out rate in a massive way, is taking more walks, and is hitting the ball harder. What’s not to like? He’s just a streamer in points leagues because, well, his style of play is terrible for points, but everyone else ought to feel very happy about what the overall results.

Spencer Jones has really surprised me over the last few weeks. The zone contact rate is a lot more sustainable (hovering around 80%), and while the strikeout rate is obviously not great, but the quality and rate of contact is

Sounds like Aaron Judge will be activated sometime in the next 10 days, so if anyone had dropped him, go fix that right now.

 

Philadelphia Phillies

A small caveat for Luis Arraez: if you’re not using him as a second baseman and you’re in a category format, you can consider him Droppable instead.

On the season, Trea Turner has been a borderline top-60 hitter, but the last 20 games have been an absolute disaster (no homers, one steal, and a .171/.261/.207 line) and the metrics under the hood are the worst they’ve been all season. In a playoff scenario, I’d at least explore what other options are available.

Bryson Stott can cover second a third, a rare trait, so it’s hard for me to call him Droppable. That said, if he’s been more of a utility/fill-in for you, you can look elsewhere, especially since the speed has dried up.

JT Realmuto plays a lot and isn’t awful, if you need a second catcher or something.

 

Pittsburgh Pirates

I don’t care about the strikeouts for Oneil Cruz, especially when the walk rate is in the double digits and he’s swiping bags (four since he returned on August 18).

Brandon Lowe would be an auto-start if he didn’t sit against the occasional lefty. That said, the distinction is somewhat meaningless as you’re going to start him every day he’s active anyway.

Bryan Reynolds has been hitting the ball a lot harder lately and striking out a lot less, even if the results haven’t followed yet. In fact, he has a .429 xwOBA since August 20, which is top-10 in all of baseball. I’d scoop him if he was on the wire. This quality will eventually turn into results.

Whether it’s health or something else, Esmerlyn Valdez just doesn’t get it done these days. He has a 43.8% strikeout rate since the start of August and just two home runs (though both of them came int he last six games).

Rafael Flores Jr. had an awesome run but he’s fallen a bit in the batting order and has a -18 wRC+ over his last 12 appearances. Go ahead and stream someone else.

Spencer Horwitz had led off in Griffin’s absence but where he hits in the lineup is less clear after Griffin is back.

Konnor Griffin should be activated today and I’m comfortable putting him right back in your lineup. O’Hearn is less interesting but may be activated in the next 10 days.

 

San Diego Padres

I’m sure someone would rather call Ty France an Auto-Start and I won’t stop you. The walk rate has spiked in an extreme way of late, which is peculiar (it’s 15.4% in his last 89 trips to the plate, which is well over double his season average and nearly triple his career rate).

Xander Bogaerts is not having a good season by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s been a bit better of late and is hitting the ball quite a bit harder than he had earlier in the year, so there might be something there? Also, the Padres will see a ton of lefties, and while his 2026 numbers against them aren’t great, he has historically performed well against them.

Samad Taylor was hot before he hit the IL but no longer has a full-time role.

Ethan Salas is a wonderful baseball prospect, but a lot of his hype is over that elite defense, not the bat.

Dustin Harris only plays against righties, so he gets ignored this week because of all the lefties on the schedule.

 

San Francisco Giants

Bryce Eldridge exploded over the last few weeks, showing strong plate discipline again and tons of power over the last 20 games. It could disappear at any time, but the upcoming schedule isn’t all that scary so go ahead and let it ride.

In a points league, Jung Hoo Lee is easier to keep around, but his value in category leagues is all tied up in his batting average and how often those hits can lead to runs or RBI. There are about three good hitters on this team at any given moment, and he is one of them, so that makes those counting stats harder to come by.

Drew Gilbert has been leading off and Turner Hill has hit fourth, which has led to some short-term success. I don’t expect that to continue though. I mean, Hill, for example, has somehow turned three walks and six hits into five runs and seven RBI over the last six games, and only one of those hits was for extra bases. That kind of counting stat efficiency is ridiculous and unsustainable, especially on a team like this one.

 

Seattle Mariners

Cal Raleigh is going to suck us all back in again for 2027, ain’t he? Oh well, I’m here for it.

Dominic Canzone is hitting well lately, but also the Mariners are about to face a TON of lefties in the next three series, so temper your expectations a bit (but not that much, as the lefties on the docket aren’t especially dangerous).

It pains me to admit it, but in a category format where you don’t care so much about steals or batting average, Josh Naylor would be Droppable. The underlying numbers have fallen off a cliff lately, with the only saving grace being that the upcoming matchups are very enticing for hitters. It’s the same reason for my Julio Rodríguez optimism, though he’s also just having a bit of a better year overall.

Cole Young has struggled a bit of late, a lot of lefties are coming, and the underlying data isn’t great.

J.P. Crawford plays a lot right now, but when Brendan Donovan comes back it could get weird? Hard to say at the moment, but he’s a volume play for deeper leagues in the short-term.

 

St. Louis Cardinals

You can be a little rosier on everyone during this weekend’s series in Coors. Thomas Saggese is a guy who is very enticing exactly for this reason (and less so after they leave).

Jordan Walker’s plate discipline has been atrocious of late (3 walks to 21 strikeouts in his last 16 games) but some very strong batted ball luck is carrying him to good outcomes of late. Hopefully he resolves the plate discipline problem before the luck runs out.

Alec Burleson is getting crushed by grounders right now. This hasn’t been an issue for him so far in his career, so I’m hoping it’s just a short-term issue that we forget ever happened by the end of the season.

Joshua Báez is going to be like this for a while, most likely: he’ll hit some moonshots and strike out in big bunches. In keeper/dynasty you obviously remain invested, but in redraft the volatiulity may be too much to bear.

If Ivan Herrera is your only catcher in an OBP league, he’s a little tougher to ditch, but in all other scenarios he’s not someone you need to keep. The underlying skills haven’t been there for a while and I don’t expect them to come back in 2026.

JJ Wetherholt wants to return, but tendonitis is tricky. I don’t want to drop him yet, if I can help it.

 

Tampa Bay Rays

Chandler Simpson may never hit a major league home run unless he catches just the right windstream in a triple-A-sized stadium, but the contact has been much better of late and he’s stealing in bunches again.

Liam Hicks no longer plays close to every day and isn’t hitting the ball that hard (not that he usually does), so there is likely a catcher who can better serve you.

Jonathan Aranda was awesome in the first half and I think he can still be that in the future, but he’s just a first baseman, so if you’re in a redraft league you can probably find a hotter replacement.

Cedric Mullins is taking a boatload of walks, rarely striking out, and hitting the ball much harder than usual, so if you’re desperate and he’s facing a righty, you can give it a whirl and see what happens.

 

Texas Rangers

I know those who roster Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford will feel like this is too rosy of an outlook, but both have been hitting the ball hard and simply not getting rewarded for it of late. In fact, since August 20, Corey Seager has a top-10 xwOBA.

Brandon Nimmo is one of the streakiest players in the league, both in terms of how often he oscilates between hot and cold, and also how extreme the difference between the two can be.

Over his last 13 games, Jake Burger has a 20% barrel rate, a 50% hard-hit rate, and a .387 xwOBA. Also over his last 13 games, Jake Burger has an actual wOBA of .293 and a .186/.271/.395 line. That’s some terrible luck that should reverse itrself, though if you’re already all set at first base in a 10-12 teamer and you’re not starving for power, you could consider him droppable (especially in OBP).

 

Toronto Blue Jays

George Springer is hot again, so why not?

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was in the Droppable category before Wednesday night’s explosion, which buys him just a bit more time. If you dropped him, that’s fine too.

Ernie Clement has been bad for a while and there’s no need to keep holding outside of deep points leagues.

Brett Bateman is great in points leagues, but it’s mostly just average and whatever runs this weird offense can muster.

Nathan Lukes is a bit hot and should keep playing against righties, but I was more interested when he was hitting second.

I’m not going to put him above because it’s mostly irrelevant but there’s a non-zero chance Anthony Santander plays a few games by the end of the season.

 

Washington Nationals

Over his last 16 games, CJ Abrams has been one of the worst hitters in all of baseball. A lot of that is just the nature of his game: Abrams is a wildly aggressive hitter, and right now he’s putting way too many bad balls in play while simultaneously swinging and missing quite a bit more than during the middle of the season. He’s too talented to consider dropping, and this kind of thing can turn around on a dime, but it’s one of the reasons aggressive hitters can be so frustrating to rely on.

Meanwhile, Daylen Lile has been one of the hottest hitters on the planet, with five homers, two steals, and a 1.308 OPS since August 21. Notably, September of 2025 was when Lile truly broke out, hitting six homers that month with a 1.212 OPS. Is this history repeating itself?

Brady House sits on Wednesdays and Sundays, apparently, but he’s hitting the ball well and showing strong discipline over his last 11 games and can fill-in at third base.

Nasim Nuñez sort of looked like a breakout candidate in the middle of the year, but the walks have disappeared again and at this point he’s a true one-category contributor, which is almost never worth the cost.

Abimelec Ortiz has looked worse and worse the more he plays, so all you can really look forward to now is the fact he hits second (which I imagine will stop being true quite soon).

Dylan Crews has shown flashes here and there, but he’s been bad for about a month now and he’s not really a strong keeper candidate either, making him just a backend dynasty lotto ticket at this point.

 

Photo by Icon Sportswire | Design by J.R. Caines (@JRCainesDesign on Twitter and @caines_design on Instagram)

Scott Chu

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Scott Chu is a Senior Fantasy Analyst here at Pitcher List and has written about fantasy baseball since 2013. He's also the inventor of Fantasy Curling (as seen the Wall Street Journal) and co-host of the Hacks & Jacks Podcast on the PL Podcast Network, and 4x FSWA Award nominee for Best Fantasy Baseball Podcast. In addition to being a fantasy analyst, he's a dad of three, animal lover, Simpsons fanatic, amateur curler, a CODA, and an attorney.

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