Stolen bases is one of the easier categories to quickly ascend. In the past, all you had to do was acquire Juan Pierre, Dee Strange-Gordon, or Michael Bourn, among many similar hitters, and within weeks, likely gained a couple of stolen base points. In general, we have far fewer of these types of hitters nowadays, but there are certainly two that stand out this year, both of whom will be discussed below. Let’s now review nine names to either consider acquiring or watch for an opportunity.

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The callups keep rolling in and deep leaguers need to constantly pay attention. Since last week, five more have now been handing an everyday role or the potential for one. Let’s dive in.

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As expected, the trade deadline led to a flurry of minor league promotions. Since then, a number of highly anticipated debuts came to fruition. Let’s discuss 12 hitters who were recently recalled.

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Playing in a mono-league makes the MLB trade deadline even more exciting. Every year, a number of impact fantasy players switch leagues, giving fantasy teams with a stash of FAAB multiple opportunities to instantly improve their rosters. I always look forward to the deadline in AL Tout Wars, as a result. Unfortunately, I blew it this year.

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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.

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We’re through 16 periods of the inaugural Tout Wars Champions league. It uses a H2H format in which teams earn a win for the week if they win more categories than their opponent. Sadly, my season hasn’t exactly gone as hoped. I originally used an extreme and risky draft strategy that saw me dump three categories, and it’s been challenging to succeed with it given that my top two picks have been complete busts (Garrett Crochet and Cal Raleigh), which has resulted in my current 11th place standing. Yuck!

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We’re only a week away from the trade deadline, which means a ton of movement is going to occur in the days leading up to and after that day. But that doesn’t mean teams haven’t already been busy recalling minor leaguers over the last couple of weeks and handing them starting jobs. So let’s discuss eight such recalls.

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Yesterday, I discussed 11 hitters who have disappointed their fantasy owners this year. Today, let’s get happier by flipping to the breakouts. These are the players that win you leagues and you’re always hoping to end up with when spending your last auction dollar.

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One of the most frustrating aspects of fantasy baseball is drafting a bust, especially when no one saw it coming. Baseball players are human and sometimes simply have disappointing seasons. It happens. It stinks when you’ve rostered such a player and they help sink your chances at finishing in the money. So let’s discuss 11 veteran hitters who have performed wildly below expectations so far. Will any of them rebound and produce a second half we expected from them to begin with?

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Yesterday, I continued my annual tradition of polling you on groups of players falling into two performance vs expected buckets, by comparing hitters’ wOBA against their xwOBA. Today, let’s finish things off by comparing starting pitchers’ ERA to SIERA, pitting the SIERA overperformers against the underperformers during the pre-all-star break period. This is the poll I began with back in 2013.

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