The month of May is officially over, and there were plenty of players who took a huge step forward in that time. Of course, one month isn’t a large enough sample to assume they will keep up their newfound production permanently, but some trends are much more sustainable than others. That’s the purpose of this series, where we analyze recent top performers to determine if it’s just a flash in the pan or something we can expect moving forward. This week, we’ll take a look at two hitters and one pitcher that have been especially good as of late.
Jonathan Aranda, 1B, TB
Jonathan Aranda just wrapped up an exceptional month of May, slashing .374/.464/.560 with 17 runs, four home runs, and 18 RBI in 26 games. On the season, he’s now batting .283 with a .386 on-base percentage and 11 home runs, only three less than the 14 he hit in 106 games in 2025. It was an odd month of April for the first baseman, who hit .220 in the first month after hitting .316 last season. The increased power is not necessarily a surprise either, as the .515 xSLG he posted in 2025 was better than his .489 SLG, leaving room to improve in that regard.
All of his quality of contact metrics are above-average pretty handily, including a 47.7% hard-hit rate (83rd percentile) and 40.4% launch angle sweet-spot rate (90th percentile), along with walking at a robust 14.1% clip. There wasn’t enough excitement surrounding Aranda heading into this season, likely due to a broken wrist that cost him a third of the games in 2025. The disjointed season derailed the hype around him, but he’s simply been an elite hitter over his past 163 games.
Verdict: Legit. He was once an exciting prospect that stagnated due to Tampa Bay’s unwillingness to play him every day, but the 28-year-old has been an outstanding fantasy contributor from the moment he stepped into a full-time role. The underlying metrics were off the charts in 106 games last season, and he has seamlessly transitioned those into this year. Aranda is a good bet for a great batting average, while being even better in OBP leagues. The weakness was always a lack of home runs for a typical first baseman, but now, he’s on a 30-homer pace.
Brooks Lee, 2B/3B/SS, MIN
Brooks Lee had a big performance on May 31, launching two home runs and tallying three RBI. He’s been especially hot over the past 14 days, batting .286 with seven runs, three home runs, and 10 RBI, which is good enough to be a top 8 or better option in that span at second base, third base, and shortstop. On the season, he’s slashing .256/.314/.429 with a .328 wOBA, which all represent career highs. He has 18 extra-base hits on the season, which is over halfway to the 32 he collected in 139 games last season.
The bad news is that his underlying metrics don’t appear much different than they did in 2025, and there’s not much to like about them overall. All of his quality of contact metrics fall in the bottom 20 percent of the league, which is not a good omen for these increased power numbers to continue. The bright spots for the 25-year-old are his 17.8% strikeout rate and 18.2% pull air rate, but those aren’t elite enough numbers to completely override the general lack of pop.
Verdict: Not Legit. The quality of contact is too similar to last year and not good enough in general to expect any consistent power to stick. That doesn’t mean Lee will be completely useless in all fantasy formats, as the pull air rate does give him enough pop to matter in deep leagues. Especially with his triple eligibility, the flexibility makes him a helpful asset in deep 15+ team Roto leagues with middle and corner infield spots. However, in terms of shallower leagues, he shouldn’t be considered anything more than a hot-hand streaming play if you’re desperate.
Spencer Arrighetti, SP, HOU
Not only was Spencer Arrighetti great in May, but he’s looked elite ever since making his season debut on April 15th. He’s yet to allow more than two runs in a start through eight outings, and seven of them were one run or less. Over that span, he’s posted a 1.34 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 43 strikeouts, and 26 walks in 47 innings. While this is a huge breakout for someone who has a career ERA of 4.00 and a WHIP of 1.35, this actually isn’t the first time the 26-year-old has displayed a run of dominance. In August and September of 2024, he posted a 2.72 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP with an elite strikeout rate of 31.0% and a walk rate of 8.3%. This made the righty a trendy sleeper pick heading into 2025, where he ultimately underperformed and spent most of the season injured.
While it may look like he’s finally delivering on that breakout upside, it’s important to note that there are still some major flaws present now that weren’t there for his hot streak in 2024. His strikeout rate is a middling 21.7%, and his walk rate ranks in the 11th percentile at 13.1%, which is not a combination that typically leads to success at the major league level. On top of that, he possesses a 36.4% groundball rate, which once again is not good considering how few hitters he is striking out. That’s a lot of balls put into play in the air, and at the moment, he’s surviving by maintaining a 29.8% hard-hit rate, which ranks in the 91st percentile.
Verdict: Slightly Legit. Arrighetti has shown enough bright spots throughout the first 43 games of his major league career to give me confidence that he won’t revert to being a 5.35 ERA guy like he was last season. When everything is working for him, he definitely has it in him to deliver some lights-out performances, as he did when he struck out 10 on April 15 or when he struck out eight Yankees in seven one-run innings on April 26. However, he’s walked four or more batters in five of his eight outings this season, and it’s not sustainable to leave them on base as often as he is. This isn’t a step forward into being an elite fantasy option, and regression is certainly coming, but not enough that he’ll turn back into waiver wire fodder.
