We have made it past the All-Star break, and I already feel out of breath. So much has happened, from the Red Sox winning 15 in a row to some incredible offensive performances from these gentlemen to all the trade rumors that have been swirling. It’s exciting to be writing these down the stretch, though, as this is the period of the season it’s been building towards. From day one, Is It Legit? has been covering players to ask whether they will maintain this level of production for a whole season. We are now at the point where our questions will be answered. Will these players from this week’s edition continue to mash? We shall see.
Wilyer Abreu, OF, BOS
Wilyer Abreu is a player I view as Mr. Consistent. If you look at his past few seasons, the results are generally the same. The funny thing is, he’s gotten these results differently. When he started in the Big Leagues, he was a big-swinging power hitter who took massive hacks and struck out a ton in the process. He’s slowed it down quite a bit since, though, trading in some bat speed for fewer strikeouts, more walks, and an overall higher average. He also has improved his launch angle, as his sweet spot percentage has risen nearly five whole percentage points, which makes quite the difference, as it raises him from the 19th percentile to the 75th percentile in the stat.
Despite being super consistent, he has exploded right out of the All-Star break, putting on a show in the series against the Rays. He hit four home runs and was 5-for-14 at the plate. The timing of his hits was impeccable too, as he was always ready to answer back against a Rays offense that was hitting decently well despite getting routed by the Red Sox. He now sits at 15 home runs on the year, and a career high is looking doable. His previous high was 22 last season, and that was only in 115 games. If he gets on another tear in terms of power again, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that he can surpass that with a month left in the season.
Wilyer Abreu’s Process+ visualized
Verdict: Possibly Legit. He won’t be as hot as he has been lately for the rest of the season, but I can see 2026 ending as a career year for Abreu, who is on a team that went from being the bottom of the barrel to a likely playoff squad. Abreu will continue to contribute, and the improved production from the lineup surrounding him will likely help boost his fantasy value a lot.
Drake Baldwin, C, ATL
If you thought Abreu looked dominant last week, wait until you see what Drake Baldwin did. He destroyed the Royals, hitting .714 in the series against them to go along with three home runs. It’s a bit of a return to form for Baldwin, as it hasn’t quite been smooth sailing for him since his return from injury. But is he fully back?
Baldwin opened the season by making a case that he’s the best catcher for fantasy in the bigs. Between March and April, he had a wRC+ of 143. Before going down in May, he looked even better, putting up a wRC+ of 177. Unfortunately, the trend of improvement didn’t continue, as his mark in June upon return from injury was -44. That’s a really ugly number, especially coming from a player who was looking like a borderline top 10 hitter. So for the rest of the season, is he going to look like he has in March, April, May, and July? Or is he going to look like he did in June? I’m betting on the former.
Throughout Baldwin’s career, he’s avoided the strikeout quite well. Before June, he’d never had a month with a strikeout rate above 20.3%, which in itself is a better rate than average. In June, he struck out 44% of the time, which isn’t sustainable for any hitter, let alone one who is great at avoiding the K. It’s even more impressive that he hasn’t struck out often in his career, as his power metrics are immense. He combines hitting the ball hard with hitting it at an optimal angle, which makes up for his low pulled flyball rates. If he can turn it on and keep playing at a solid level for the rest of the second half, I could see him being a 30-home-run hitter. And, perhaps in the future, he can set his sights on possibly breaking the forty barrier.
Drake Baldwin’s Process+ visualized
Verdict: Legit. The fear should be gone with Baldwin as he essentially salvaged his 2026 campaign in a three-game series. He has one of the best skillsets of any player, and he does it at the catcher position, where you often have to settle for solid but not great production. He’s an underlying stats darling who’s still continuing to develop into the best offensive catcher in baseball.
Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B, OF, SDP
Fernando Tatis Jr. has had a bit of a similar arc to Baldwin. At least, in terms of being both a candidate for Patience or Panic? and Is It Legit? all in one season. He opened the season with a ridiculously long home run slump, despite having one of the highest hard-hit rates in the entire Major Leagues and being known for being an elite power bat. He also was moved to second base for a period of time this season, an interesting experiment that actually saw him hitting significantly better while playing the position. Though this is a small sample size, correlation does not equal causation.
In both June and July, Tatis has put up a wRC+ of 140. This is a huge step in the right direction, as the number was below 100 in the first month of the season and was just hovering above that mark in May. It’s interesting, though, as the batted ball data doesn’t suggest too much of an improvement in June and July. His highest hard hit rate was in the first month of the season, which was his worst. And it’s not like those were all going on the ground either, as his highest groundball marks in a month have been in July and May. What this really shows is skill-based positive regression. Tatis has showcased power pretty extensively for the whole season, and has decent discipline and contact skills. Even if not much is changing in terms of batted ball data, he’s begun seeing the results he probably deserved months ago.
Fernando Tatis Jr.’s Process+ visualized
Verdict: Legit. Tatis is the player you drafted him to be; you just maybe had to wait a few months for him to show it. The raw power and speed combination is otherworldly, and while this probably won’t be a year discussed when he hangs them up, there’s time to salvage it, and he’s definitely showing that he can do just that.
