10 Hitters for the Stretch Run

Jeff Zimmerman has been doing a fantastic job of looking at potential streaming pitchers down the stretch so I figured I’d take a look at some hitters who may be available for the last couple of weeks in your league. I’ll start with a group of speedsters and then look at some guys hitting for power and/or batting average of late.

Jose Reyes (46% at Yahoo!)

Reyes has a .299/.366/.505 line since July 1st with 7 HR and 11 SB and he’s been surging of late with 4 HR and 5 SB in September. He only has three hitless games in his last 20 dating back to August 13th (only 20 games because of a mid-August DL stint). He’s going to play every day and can move around your lineup with SS/3B eligibility and 2B at many outlets.

Tim Anderson (36%)

Anderson has started running wild of late. He had just six stolen bases through August (490 PA), but already has five in 55 PA this month. In fact, four of them have come in just hit last 25 PA (.440/.440/.480 in that time, too). He has eight multi-hit games in his last 10, only one of which has seen him go hitless.

Jose Peraza (35%)

Pereza is a straight speed play. He has no power to speak of and hit .258 AVG doesn’t really add much, either, but he has 22 SB this year. He’s 6-for-7 on the bases in his last 44 PA. Even with multiple eligibility on a bottom-feeding team, Peraza  doesn’t start daily, but he usually gets subbed into the games where he doesn’t start.

Delino DeShields (25%)

The Dentist (not his real nickname, but it certainly should be) hasn’t swiped a base in his last 11 games (0-for-3), but he’s got 28 on the season and even with the recent 0-for-3, he’s still stealing bases at a 78% clip this year. An underrated aspect of his game is that he walks a good bit which keeps his SB opportunities flowing even if he’s not hitting a ton. That said, he’s hitting a perfectly solid .280/.373/.480 in September.

Yolmer Sanchez (16%)

Sanchez is only 8-for-16 on the bases this year, but he’s raking in September (.364/.417/.727) with 3 HR and 3 SB (on 3 attempts). He also has 3 2B and 2 3B, giving him a 50% extra-base hit rate over the 48 PA this month. He plays both 2B and 3B and the White Sox are playing him daily so he could be a solid MI or CI fill-in.

Shifting to the more well-rounded hitters with more of a power focus…

Eddie Rosario (55%)

OK, well this first one also has some SB potential. Rosario is 4-for-6 on the bases this month, but his bat has been on fire for the entire second half with a  .303/.339/.572 line that include 13 HR, 43 RBI, and 33 R. One potential downside with Rosario is the 10-game road trip that starts on Monday for the Twins. Rosario has just a .659 OPS on the road this year (1.001 at home), though he’s been a little better in the 2H with a .752 OPS and .196 ISO on the road in 29 games.

Nick Castellanos (47%)

Castellanos has been rolling since June, posting a .298/.338/.547 line with 18 HR in 376 PA across 90 games, and he’s blazing hot of late with an 11-game hitting streak with seven multi-hit games (including three in a row). Castellanos was in the midst of a breakout last year that was cut down by injury (110 games), but he has essentially repeated that production over 141 games this year.

Mitch Haniger (38%)

Haniger is finishing with a flurry reminiscent of the big April that got us all excited about his season outlook. He posted a 1.054 OPS with 4 HR in April before an injury cut him down. He was unable to repeat that production throughout the summer (.643 OPS, 5 HR in 47 games in Jun-Aug), but he’s rolling in September with just two hitless games out of 13, en route to a .411/.421/.679 line with 3 HR in 57 PA.

Michael A. Taylor (34%)

Taylor hasn’t quite picked up right where he left off before his injury, but he’s on fire once again this month. He had an .831 OPS through July and though he’s down to .765 upon his return, it’s been buoyed by a 1.044 in 12 September games. In just his last seven games, he has 3 HR and 2 SB (albeit in 4 attempts) with hits in six of the games.

Joe Panik (10%)

I’m surprised Panik is on so few rosters given that he’s been raking for a while now. Over his last 35 games, he has a .339/.410/.500 and while the bulk of his value is tied to AVG, he’s so good in that category that I’m surprised more haven’t been able to slot him into their roster. Even accounting for dead leagues that hold roster rates down in the second half, he should still be in at least the 35-40% range. There is a faulty assumption that you can’t move rate categories late, but a lot of leagues see those categories tightly packed and thus movement is more likely than assumed.