4 More Hitters Now Playing Regularly

Gosh, it’s already difficult enough keeping up with playing time changes earlier in the season. It’s even more challenging now with expanded rosters and teams with no shot at the playoffs giving younger hitters a chance, or perhaps more evenly dividing the playing time among multiple players. Unlike any of my teams, many of you are likely fighting for a prize finish, so keeping abreast of all the changes is vital to finishing strong. So let’s discuss four more hitters who are now seeing regular playing time.

Emmanuel Rivera | BAL 3B

Man oh man that Orioles starting lineup has been crushed by injuries! Currently, Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, and Tyler O’Neill are on the IL, with the former opening up an opportunity for Rivera. He has now started six straight games there. Of course, Westburg is due back at some point, which will likely cost Rivera his starting role, but until that happens, he should continue garnering starts.

Rivera has been all over the place since debuting in 2021, playing for four teams since then. He has recorded nearly two seasons worth of plate appearances, contributing marginally in home runs and stealing a couple of bases. Oddly, his career ISO stands at just .116, despite respectable HardHit% and maxEV numbers, so I would think there should be some more power output coming from that bat.

He has also posted a pretty decent batted ball profile light on pop-ups and slightly geared toward grounders, but owns a career BABIP barely above league average. Along with the power, it would seem he deserves a better BABIP as well! Overall, he has actually underperformed his xwOBA every single season, so my hunch looks to be correct — his skills point to better performance.

Since he doesn’t steal bases, he’ll need to start performing like his xwOBA to actually take advantage of the currently increased playing time. Over a tiny sample though, anything could happen, so at this point, you’re just hoping the extra at-bats results in something, anything. Hitting in the middle of the order should be helping, though he’s scored just four runs for a pace of like 24 over a full season. That’s sad!

Michael Helman | TEX OF

Wait, did I say above that the Orioles have been crushed by injuries? Welp, the Rangers are actually jealous of the Orioles for only playing with three starters on the IL, as the Rangers actually have four right now! It’s given Helman an opportunity to play nearly every day, as he has started in eight of the team’s last nine games in center field.

Helman isn’t exactly a top prospect, or a prospect at all for that matter, as he’s already 29 and was last ranked 48th in the Twins organization all the way back in 2019. He’s got tons of minor league and Triple-A experience, but his 49 PAs so far with the Rangers this year is the most he’s earned in the Majors. He debuted last year with the Twins, but only accumulated 10 PAs then.

This is the type of player that is routinely undervalued in deep leagues. He could seemingly contribute a bit across the board without standing out in any particular category. Okay, so maybe not exactly across the board as he figures to be a drag in batting average. But he’s got a bit of power, recording a .174 ISO at Triple-A this season and a .217 mark last year, and speed, as he stole 12 bases this year in about half a season and swiped as many as 40 back in 2022.

So perhaps a full season could net him 10+ home runs and 15+ steals, which is easily playable in deeper leagues, though the potential weak batting average limits his value to AL-Only formats. Boosting his power is an odd fly ball tendency. I call it odd because his HardHit% makes it pretty clear that he actually doesn’t possess a whole lot of raw power, but the output is mostly coming from the high FB%. If that FB% were to decline, the power would disappear, though his batting average should climb.

He’s an easy add in AL-Only formats for as long as the Rangers lineup remains hobbled.

Richie Palacios | TB 2B/OF

It took a while, a long while, but Richie Palacios has finally returned to the Rays lineup. His season had already started late thanks to a fractured finger, but then after starting just one game in mid-April, he ended up right back on the IL with a knee injury. Brutal!

Palacios enjoyed a surprisingly productive fantasy performance last year in certain leagues, specifically AL-Only formats that use OBP. His 14.2% walk rate resulted in a strong .346 OBP, which really boosted his value, while he chipped in five home runs and 19 steals, for a 10 homer and 38 steal pace over a full season. That’s quite good when he was actually on the field.

Though the walk rate was significantly above what he had produced over tiny samples in the Majors previously, it was in line with his minor league history. Sometimes a man just needs more than 100 PAs to show us what he could do! He also stole more bases than expected, but hey, the Rays love to run, so he clearly got caught up in the excitement. Speaking of getting caught, he rarely got caught stealing last year, and has now gone 24 for 25 stealing bases. That’ll ensure the green light remains on.

The one red flag here is the strong side platoon role. Though he did sit against a right-hander since returning from the IL, he does figure to serve on the strong side of a platoon, sitting only against left-handed starters, and starting against righties. Getting benched against around a third of starters obviously cuts into his value, so he’s just a deep league choice. He’s also a career .233 hitter, though with a higher xBA mark last year, so he’s a much better bet in OBP leagues.

Curtis Mead | CHW 1B/2B/3B

From one current Rays hitter to a former Rays hitter, Mead was previously the Rays fourth best prospect and ranked 32nd overall. With 50/55 Game Power, but 55/60 Raw Power grades, he was clearly someone fantasy owners were looking forward to. After getting traded to the White Sox in a trade deadline deal, his playing time was inconsistent initially. But injuries have assured him a starting job, and he has now started 11 straight games between 1B, 3B, and DH.

What’s interesting about Mead’s minor league history is that he has typically posted ISO marks over .200, but middling HR/FB rates. That’s because his ISO marks have been driven more by doubles, so his raw power hasn’t translated to home runs just yet. In the past, the thinking was that a young hitter’s doubles would turn into home runs as they matured and hit their power peaks, but I’m not sure if the research actually bears that out.

For now, Mead hasn’t actually hit for any power whatsoever in the Majors, doubles or home runs. In fact, during his three small sample seasons, he has never produced an ISO over .096! Oddly, his maxEV sits at 112.4 MPH, which is quite good, so he seemingly has the ability to hit for enough exit velocity, but his Barrel% is nearly half the league average, so therein lies the problem. Anecdotally, I have found that these types are decent breakout candidates as it’s seemingly harder to increase maxEV than it is to optimize your swings to better pair that EV with better launch angles.

So at age 24, it’s clearly far too early to think he’s never going to hit for any power, and with mid-30% HardHit% marks, you have to assume even just league average power should be in his future. That alone won’t make him very exciting for fantasy owners, but it’s a start.

So like Rivera above, he’s a deep league option now solely due to his playing time, as racking up the plate appearances is really king in deep leagues. And who knows, perhaps he converts that maxEV into more barrels sooner than later and he hits a couple of home runs over the rest of the season.