8 Hitters With Increased Playing Time

I’m writing this before trade deadline day, which means that there’s likely to be a slew of additional hitters who are going to earn increased playing time or be recalled from the minors and immediately serve in a starting role. For now, let’s talk about eight hitters who have seen increased playing time recently or have been recently recalled.

Weston Wilson | 3B SEA

Injury has opened the door for Wilson to move into a starting role for the Mariners, which is pretty surprising for a 31-year-old who, including this season, has amassed just 343 MLB PA. He’s recorded just under 100 PA this year between the Orioles and Mariners, but has continued his slide offensively over small samples since his 2023 debut.

That said, he does own both power and speed, and has hit 12 homers, while swiping 12 bases in essentially half a season’s worth of PA. His Statcast power metrics have been all over the place since he hasn’t recorded mor than 125 PA in a season, but he’s shown above average skills historically, even if his metrics this year are mostly down. The biggest issue here is his strikeout rate, which has jumped above 30% thanks to a spike in SwStr%. That’s hampered his ability to take full advantage of a double digit HR/FB rate and above average FB%.

For as long as he’s starting, he’s worth playing in AL-Only leagues and gets a minor boost in OBP leagues given his above average walk rate compared to his expected low batting average. But obviously he’s no long-term solution and could lose a starting job any day unless he goes on a hot streak.

Luis Rengifo | 3B MIL

Wait, Rengifo is a regular?! I honestly had no idea. In his first seven games since being recalled from Triple-A back on Jul 8, he didn’t start a single one. Now he’s started eight straight, rotating between left field, DH, second base, and third base. Talk about a super utility guy!

What’s pretty comical is that he posted a .275 wOBA last year and a .245 wOBA with the Brewers before latching on with the Padres — yet he’s already made four starts at DH, which is supposed to be a slot reserve for your best hitter that’s not starting on the field! Sure, he’s been “hot” with a .445 wOBA, but there’s no way anyone could have foreseen that, so it’s baffling he would have gotten those DH starts to begin with.

Anyway, those starts happened, and he’s suddenly finding his way onto fantasy rosters again. The full season skills actually look interesting, as his walk rate has spiked, and his strikeout rate is at a career best. The problems, though, are two-fold. One, his power has completely disappeared. And two, any hopes of him running as often as he did in 2024 are quickly disappearing.

So he doesn’t really do much for fantasy owners, as his strong Padres play is entirely driven by a .424 BABIP. He’ll be back in free agents pools within a couple of weeks.

Bryan De La Cruz | OF PHI

De La Cruz hasn’t exactly been a regular since his recall on Jul 21, having started only six of 11 games. However, he doesn’t have a whole lot of competition in right field, with only Gabriel Rincones Jr. stealing starts. A 32.6% strikeout rate and .215 wOBA over 89 PA suggest that the Phillies might be ready to give De La Cruz an extended look.

If you had forgotten, he’s been a starter before, as back in 2023 and 2024, he recorded over 600 PA. He’s got some power and is in a good park for right-handed home runs.

He doesn’t walk a whole lot, though, which is problematic given that his BABIP isn’t that far above league average and he strikes out at a worse than league average clip. It’s why his career OBP sits just below .300. You can’t do that when you’re posting just a .152 ISO.

There’s really not much to get excited about here, but perhaps you get a home run here and there in a deep league. Batting at the bottom of the lineup is going to limit his counting stats, so he’s a deep league injury replacement at best.

Jhostynxon Garcia | OF PIT

While I usually copy and paste names, Garcia’s name must have one of the higher percentages of copy/paste use in the Majors. Recalled last Wednesday, Garcia has started in three of five games in center field. At Triple-A, he showed some interesting skills.

His strikeout rate was significantly reduced after a spike at the level in 2025. That’s good news. However, his SwStr% barely budged and was much higher than you would normally see paired with a low-20% strikeout rate. He is willing to take a walk, so this doesn’t appear to be a case of swinging at everything, which leads to low walk and strikeout rates, despite a high SwStr%. So perhaps his improved strikeout rate was just a fluke. Certainly the projections think so.

For a supposed power hitter, he sure dislikes hitting fly balls. He posted a sub-30% rate this year and that mark has tumbled each year. Back in 2024, he posted a mark over 40%, then it dropped to around 34%, before another decline this season. Hitting more and more grounders isn’t a great way to accelerate your path to the Majors.

He did post a 15.9% HR/FB rate at Triple-A, but that came with just a .152 ISO. Also oddly, his HardHit% was just 36.9%, which is probably around league average, or marginally lower, but his 113.5 MPH maxEV is strong and his 9.4% was perfectly decent. You don’t normally see those latter numbers paired with a middling HardHit%.

He posted just a .320 xwOBA, so it’s not like he earned his recall. Though the Pirates should see what they have here if their playoff odds quickly fade, I’m not particularly optimistic, especially considering PNC Park has played as the second worst park for right-handed home runs in baseball this year.

Dane Myers | OF CIN

What I love about doing this is that even I learn about platers who have been suddenly vaulted into the starting lineup. I had no idea that Myers has been playing regularly and nearly every day since returning from the IL on July 17. Only TJ Friedl remains in his way currently, stealing a start here and there.

With about a full season’s worth of PA under his belt over his career, it’s not even necessary to extrapolate the kind of fantasy player he could be. He’s hit 13 home runs with 30 steals and 150 R+RBI. That’s pretty valuable, especially since it’s come with a non-killer batting average.

This season, his walk rate has surged and his SwStr% has improved dramatically, dropped to just 7%, which is an elite rate. His .372 BABIP looks unsustainable, but he’s posted high BABIP marks in the minors and his xwOBA is barely lower than his actual mark, suggesting it’s been pretty much deserved so far (though that doesn’t mean he’ll keep it up).

His power has been questionable, though it seems mostly a barrel problem, rather than an inability to hit the ball hard. He’s posted good HR/FB rates in the minors, while his HardHit% and maxEV are fine. He also plays in one of the better right-handed home run parks in baseball, though it hasn’t played as well this year.

With speed, a touch of power, and improved plate skills, I like him the best so far.

Noelvi Marte | 3B/OF CIN

So is Marte finally a regular again?! I figured when he was recalled back to the Majors in early June after spending a month and a half in the minors, surely he would have a starting job. But that wasn’t the case as the team seemingly continued to feel like they had too many outfielders for too few spots. But now he’s started in six straight and there’s really no excuse for a team with a 2.2% chance of making the playoffs to not keep starting him the rest of the season.

A former top prospect, he missed a chunk of the 2024 season after a PED suspension, but enjoyed a fantasy breakout in half a season last year. It was enough to make him a popular sleeper this year. Unfortunately, a slow start got him axed and he was demoted to the minors in mid-April.

Since returning, he hasn’t exactly been good at the plate. He has posted just a .277 wOBA and .274 xwOBA, but at least it’s come with a 16.7% HR/FB rate. Also, a lot of his weak performance has been driven by just a .229. Of course, since Statcast’s xwOBA is so close to his actual mark, perhaps it’s been deserved so far, but even so, it’s hard to believe it remains that low (he’ll need to raise his LD%). He’s also stolen four bases since returning, reminding us of his power/speed mix that was so intriguing.

It seems clear that his swing is just messed up, as he owns just a 10.7% LD% on the year, and that’s crushing his BABIP. There’s still power potential here, though his season HardHit% and Barrel% are weak and his BatSpd has slid since 2023.

At age 24, he’s obviously far too young to give up on and he’s got that power and speed potential us fantasy owners salivate over. I would still be speculating here as the light bulb could turn back on at any moment.

John Rave | OF KC

Injuries and a trade have given Rave yet another opportunity to start regularly for the Royals. Most exciting is that he even started against a lefty on Sunday, so he might not be suck in a strict strong side platoon role.

The 28-year-old isn’t a prospect, but has shown some intriguing skills in the minors. His walk rate jumped to a career best 15.2%, while his strikeout rate improved also to a career best, dropping below 20% for the first time. He has posted mid-to-high teen HR/FB rates recently, though a mid-30% HardHit% and mid-single digit Barrel% suggests that he won’t be able to replicate that rate in the Majors.

Instead, you’ll probably be getting more steals than home runs from him. He’s been an excellent basestealer most years and the Royals are definitely a running team.

My one major concern is that although he posted a .392 wOBA at Triple-A this year and a .390 mark last year, his xwOBA marks have been significantly below. That’s likely due to a combination of factors, perhaps due to his home park’s offense-boosting environment, and/or perhaps some good fortune.

Still, he looks to have a regular job and has potential to steal a bunch of bases. I wouldn’t bet on as much power as his HR/FB rates suggest he might be capable of. His value gets a boost in OBP leagues due to the potentially strong walk rate.

Max Clark | OF DET

Did I save the best for last? Ehhh, the Tigers were just the last team in alphabetical order as I sorted through the new names in lineups. Clark is the only current top prospect on this list and his arrival has been highly anticipated. With 50/55 Raw Power and 70/70 Speed grades, the hope here is we get another exciting power/speed combo platter.

Clark spent all season at Triple-A, where he showed excellent plate discipline. He walked at a double digit clip, struck out at just a mid-teen clip, fully supported by an elite mid-single digit SwStr%.

He swiped 21 bases, while getting caught just twice. He’s actually been an elite basestealer throughout his minor league career, succeeding on about 89% of his attempts. That bodes really well for his steals potential in the Majors.

Power is less developed here as he has posted a HR/FB rate just into double digits nearly everywhere he’s played. His professional best ISO in any reasonable amount of playing time is just .187, and then .157 after that. While he upped his maxEV to an above average 111.3 MPH this year, he posted just a 4.7% Barrel%, which more closely resembles a hitter with limited power. His new home park has also been brutal for left-handed home runs this year, ranking 25th in the league, though it hasn’t been as bad the previous two seasons.

I like the skill set here as that plate discipline is rare in a 21-year-old. I would buy for the speed and any power is just a bonus. His value also likely gets a boost in OBP leagues given his consistent double digit walk rates.