Things are heating up… Both in Major League Baseball and just outside. While not officially Summer, it might as well be. Will we see these players continue to get hot, or will they have a reverse effect of the weather? Let’s find out!
Shane McClanahan, SP, TBR
If you need a five-inning goose egg, you know who to call: Shane McClanahan!
Now, these articles often focus on players who are lesser-known, lack experience, or are having career years. McClanahan is none of those things. However, he missed two seasons due to two major injuries, and many were wondering if he would have it again. This past month, he was clearly one of the contenders for pitcher of the month (Spencer Arrighetti deservedly got the nod, but it was close). Is he fully back, though, even without some of the velocity he was known for?
McClanahan was once, upon a time, one of the hardest-throwing lefty starters in the sport. Now, his fastball velocity is just above-average. Without exceptional shape, he won’t be earning too many whiffs with it. That’s where his secondaries come in. McClanahan is one of the poster boys for the SWATCH (Southpaw With A Tight CHangeup) revolution. McClanahan is not getting the whiffs with the offering he once did, though it’s still getting swing-and-miss. This is probably due somewhat to the change in the fastball’s effectiveness, though PLV grades the pitch as being better than it previously had been. Is a near 30% swinging strike rate attainable? Probably not, but there will be outings where it will get tons of swings-and-misses. McClanahan also has a slider he uses against lefties, which has actually gotten a higher swinging strike rate than it did in 2023. Though it still doesn’t compare to the rate the pitch had in 2022. The slider always felt like the weak point in the arsenal, but Shane has done an excellent job limiting the damage on the pitch. Lastly, McClanahan has a curveball, which in some outings can be his deadliest pitch, while in others it can find the dirt a bit too much.
Verdict: Mostly Legit. I can’t give the full legit stamp of approval for two reasons. The first being that I don’t think he will ever reach the highs of the healthy months of his 2022 and 2023 seasons (then again, you could probably count the number of pitchers who have reached those highs on one hand). The second being that the Rays will limit him a bit more than the other top pitchers in the Majors. With that said, he has a solid arsenal and has proven that even when he could touch 100mph, his secondaries were always his biggest strength.
Jorge Mateo, 2B, SS, OF, ATL
Atlanta has to be the National League’s premier infield factory.
Look at all the guys who have broken out or have bounced back playing the infield in Atlanta. Mauricio Dubón has been solid, Vaughn Grissom looked great at first, Ha-Seong Kim salvaged his season after struggling with the Rays last year, and of course, Orlando Arcia was an All-Star. The team doesn’t always have stability in their infield positions, but they’ve squeezed some career years out of guys you didn’t expect to perform well.
Jorge Mateo is next up in this category. He currently has a 136 wRC+ and has been one of the most picked-up players in fantasy baseball. Yes, he hits near the back of the Atlanta lineup, but it’s a potent lineup that has tons of players who reach base often and drive home runs often. Mateo currently has his career highs in average, OBP, slugging, and wRC+ this season, and given how low his previous highs were, it seems likely he can maintain them. He’s also pulling the ball in the air a fair bit more, a change that often leads to breakout campaigns.
One thing you definitely can’t take away from Mateo is his speed. He’s one of the very fastest runners in all of baseball, a total menace on the basepaths. When he gets on base, he’s always a threat to steal, and that’s something that Atlanta will take advantage of.
Verdict: Probably Not Legit. This is a quick pickup scenario that will likely lead to Mateo being dropped. He has incredible speed and has definitely performed well, with some major improvements in certain areas. It’s just difficult to see this big of a spike in production being sustainable over a larger sample size. The improvements have been great, yes, but will they last beyond one really hot month? Especially when he’s so far struggled a bit in the first week of June?
JJ Bleday, OF, CIN
This was probably the most unexpected player of the month choice… Ever?
JJ Bleday has looked like a AAAA player for most of his career. He struggled in his short stint with Miami, and while he had a surprisingly strong 2024 with the Athletics in their final season in Oakland, he struggled the next year, culminating in a DFA. The Reds picked him up as a risk-free acquisition, and he began the 2026 season in the minors. Following an injury to Eugenio Suárez and some really strong numbers in Triple-A, he was promoted. Since then, he has been unstoppable.
As noted in plenty of Is it Legit columns, these dominant stretches from perceived AAAA players aren’t super rare. My first article this year analyzed Joey Wiemer, who has been sent down despite maintaining a strong wRC+ even after his initial hot streak. Bleday’s run feels a bit different, though. He has a 174 wRC+, is halfway towards tying his season-high home run record in a fifth of the games, and has a career-high walk-to-strikeout ratio. A low batting average guy, even in his best stretches, he’s approaching the .300 mark on the year. It’s been a dream season for Bleday, and it’s one that is backed by noticeable changes.
The two main elements of Bleday’s game I see improvement in are bat speed and pulled flyball rate. These are two excellent indicators of power, as bat speed is viewed by many as a predictor of exit velocities (though not always), while pulled flyball rates can allow players to well outperform said exit velocities and hit extra-base hits. We may see these rates come down throughout the season, as it is tiring and players are bound to go through stretches where they aren’t fully themselves. But it is great that you can point to something tangible that is driving this weird breakout from Bleday.
Verdict: Possibly Legit. This would be crazy if this kind of production stuck, wouldn’t it? I’m not saying that it will at this level (his wRC+ in May was nutty), but he has taken MAJOR strides towards improving this season. Don’t believe me? Look at the rolling Process+ chart above. His process is looking really good, with his bat speed and pull rates soaring compared to previous seasons. I’m not saying that he will be an MVP or anything, but a career high in home runs, wRC+, average, OBP, WAR, etc. seems likely.
