The sprint to the finish is on! Playoffs are underway in my head-to-head leagues, and I’ve entered full streaming mode in my roto contests. I imagine you all are in the same spot. Because of how little time is left in the season, I find myself focusing much more on recent performance and upcoming matchups rather than track record. My hope is to hit it big with waiver adds and cut bait on any stragglers. As a result, I have finally given up on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. in a couple leagues after he failed to show any signs of life following his activation from the 7-day concussion IL. Far from being laggards, my featured players today were two of the best performers in the month of August. If someone had told you on August 1st that these guys would both have compelling cases for AL Player of the Month, no one would have taken them seriously, but that’s baseball for ya. Each player I examine will be sorted into one of the following categories: “not legit,” “probably not legit,” “possibly legit,” and “legit.” All stats are through the games of Monday, August 31.
Tristan Peters, OF, CWS
August: 87 PA, .320/.414/.640 (194 wRC+), 14 R, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB
2026: 414 PA, .278/.344/.465 (127 wRC+), 54 R, 12 HR, 52 RBI, 7 SB
Perhaps this season’s most surprising All-Star, Peters had an impressive second act in August after a rough July (77 wRC+). His 194 wRC+ in August tied him with Bryce Harper for the second-best mark among qualified hitters. Most of the damage was done from August 22-26, when Peters was on another planet, homering in five straight games. According to Elias Sports, that five-game homer streak is tied for the longest ever by a rookie. I certainly didn’t see this power binge coming from Peters, who only had six long balls coming into this month and never posted an isolated slugging (ISO) above .180 at any stop in a minor league career spanning nearly 500 games.
Peters has been a revelation this season for the White Sox, grading out as an above-average hitter, base runner, and center fielder. Despite the offensive production, his bat speed (69.8), barrel rate (5.7%), and max exit velocity (108.5 MPH) are all comfortably below average. To make up for this, Peters is aggressive in the zone, helping to keep his strikeout rate low. His zone swing rate of 75.7% ranks 14th-highest among 163 hitters with at least 400 PA. His chase rate is slightly above average at 34.5%, but that puts him 62nd among that same group, indicating that his swing-happy ways have some bounds. Peters also pulls 26.9% of his batted balls in the air, an elite mark that allows him to make the most of his air contact. Of his 12 homers, 10 are to the right of right center field, and all of them are to the right half of the seats.
Verdict: Probably not legit. Peters has a well-rounded game, but I don’t see a ton of fantasy upside here, historic homer streak notwithstanding. He’s a nice streaming play for the next week when Chicago faces nothing but righties, but he struggles mightily against lefties (.156 AVG, 1 HR, 11.1% Hard Contact %) and will continue to sit against most of them as a result. Much like Brandon Marsh in previous seasons, that caps his counting stats and makes it tough for him to reach 20 homers or 15 steals. The batting average is solid, but it’s not enough to make up for everything else. Peters is a decent outfielder to rotate in and out of your lineup in 15-teamers, but my interest ends there barring an improvement in his contact quality.
Cal Quantrill, SP, TEX
August: 31 IP (6 appearances, 5 GS), 2 W, 29 Ks, 1.45 ERA, 0.84 WHIP
2026: 89.2 IP (28 appearances, 11 GS), 6 W, 68 Ks, 3.01 ERA, 1.10 WHIP
Not to be outdone by Peters, Quantrill posted the second-best ERA among qualified pitchers last month, helping to stabilize the Rangers’ staff with Nathan Eovaldi on the IL. Quantrill was in the bullpen as recently as August 8th, when he threw a scoreless inning to close out a 5-1 victory against the Orioles. Since then, he’s cemented his rotation spot by only allowing four earned runs across four outings (24 IP) with a 25:3 K:BB ratio. This is a guy who has posted good seasons before, but it’s been awhile. After going 23-8 with a 3.16 ERA across 336 IP between 2021 and 2022, Quantrill failed to post an ERA below 4.98, WHIP below 1.45, or strikeout rate above 17% in any of the ensuing three seasons. To be fair, he spent all of 2024 in Colorado, but these putrid numbers landed him off anyone’s fantasy radar.
Like Patrick Corbin in 2025 but with considerably better numbers, Quantrill has resurrected his career with the Rangers. Globe Life Field now rivals Seattle’s T-Mobile Park for the most pitcher-friendly venue in the league according to Statcast’s three-year rolling park factors. In terms of arsenal or stuff changes from recent seasons, there hasn’t been anything drastic. The biggest adjustment Quantrill has made is basically scrapping his breaking balls (8% combined usage of the curveball and slider) in favor of more splitters and a trifecta of fastballs in the mold of a lower-octane Drew Rasmussen. Given his pedestrian 12.5% K-BB%, the skills still aren’t that strong, but even that mark would be his best since 2020. While he still has feel for the splitter, this is an approach that works.
Verdict: Possibly legit. I’m not betting on Quantrill in 2027, but I’m seeing enough here to happily plug him into my lineup for the remainder of 2026. He’s clearly in a groove, and his rotation spot is secure given the statuses of Eovaldi and Jack Leiter, who recently suffered a setback. Plus, his tentative matchups to end the season are as follows: vs TBR, @ SEA, vs BOS, vs TOR, and @ MIN. That’s three home starts in his next four, and the only road start in that stretch is in T-Mobile Park. For those of you whose fantasy championships appropriately end before the season’s final week, you can go ahead and ignore that Twins matchup, making Cal’s run even more appealing. Start away.
