This preseason, they told me that Chandler Simpson was a butcher in the outfield…
He may not be PCA-esque, but he’s greatly improved his defensive rating — from -8.2 last season to -0.3 this season.
On the Agenda:
As we move on to the final stages of this fantasy season, one more splits chart could be beneficial for those looking for streaming options in a playoff run. This chart plots xwOBA vs left-handed pitching (LHP) and right-handed pitching (RHP) on each axis, with filter options for which teams to target depending on their split, with the biggest gap differentials also included. This is done using handedness split data since the break, which now has a big enough sample in its own right while capturing recent form that full-season data would dilute. This piece will identify which handedness offenses struggle with and also look at probable starters up until September 19th, for specific matchups for both pitchers and offenses. Bear in mind this is overall offensive production; there will be specific hitters within lineups that may do well against a certain handedness despite the overall offensive struggles, and vice versa.
At this point in the season, it’s about playing time and finding hitters that can produce in specific categories. Here’s a follow-up to a previous article on surprising starting pitchers who have been performing well since August. Today, it’s the hitter version, with seven players contributing in deeper leagues. We used a roster percentage cutoff of 50% or lower in Online Championships, with the exception of one catcher-eligible player.
We’ll examine seven hitters who have been contributing fantasy value over the past couple of weeks. Is it luck or skill? Or have they been earning more playing time down the stretch? Though these hitters won’t win weeks or leagues, they can be sneaky fantasy contributors for the final few weeks.
Five straight games with a dong for Elly De La Cruz!
On the Agenda:
There’s no such thing as a perfect fantasy draft. Even national contest winners in fields of 3,000 teams will have drafted several busts or players who haven’t earned their value. We can still win our leagues despite making tons of mistakes in our draft. In fact, there will be leagues won by teams that drafted two busts in the first two rounds — the 2026 top 24 has been historically bad. A drafter could have started with Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh, but could have a monster lead on second place if they drafted Dillon Dingler, Jordan Walker, Miguel Vargas, Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler, and FAAB’d Jacob Latz, Parker Messick, Liam Hicks, and Kody Clemens.
Last week, I discussed Raleigh and the biggest busts on every AL team. You’ll note that some of my selections were players with a 200+ ADP. I didn’t want to force early-round busts just for the sake of it, especially for teams whose highest-draft-capital players were within a reasonable range of returning their fantasy value. That will be the case again for the NL group. An example for this week is Trea Turner. Though he ranks 91st on the 12-team Fantasy Player Rater and is not returning full value on his ADP of 27, Turner has been healthy all season, earning nearly $12 to date. He has scored 90 runs with 17 HR and 18 SB, and I would not consider him to be a bust.
Sitting here in early September, with papery leaves beginning to find themselves underfoot and with the A’s and Angels getting ready for next season, things really do feel pretty normal.
There have certainly been some surprises, like the oddly Tucker-shaped hole in the Dodgers’ lineup, but for the most part, it’s been a season that has largely matched our expectations.
But there was a time, not all that long ago, when many of us were panicking. When our early round picks were faltering and our “sure thing” sleepers were seemingly still sleeping. Let’s call this time by a cute and breezy name, something deceivingly blissful and carefree like “May.”
In this article, I’ll look back at some of the hitters whose starts were so rough that fantasy managers may have overlooked them as they have rebounded this summer and may still undervalue them heading into next year’s drafts.
I want you to be sure to look at these players favorably when doing your draft prep. If you really trust me, maybe even bookmark this page to come back to during draft time, so that you don’t take one look at Rafael Devers and get a sour unripe picked-in-April-but-ripe-in-August orange taste in your mouth (I know this isn’t the citrus timeline, please forgive me).
I love roster expansion day because the flurry of minor league callups really give deep leaguers multiple opportunities to fill holes. And hey, some of the callups might actually be intriguing enough to give shallow leaguers some players to consider as well. Let’s discuss eight hitters who have been recently recalled to assess their potential impact.
Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Angels
• Oswald Peraza (.621 OPS, 7 HR, 12 SB in 344 PA) started the last three games at third base instead of Denzer Guzman.
Astros
• No changes.
Athletics
• Alika Williams (.735 OPS) started seven of the last nine games at shortstop.
• Since coming off the IL, Denzel Clarke (.421 OPS) has started two of three games, both in center field. In the small sample since returning, he has an 80% Contact% (65% before going on the IL).
After the home run on Wednesday and this, perhaps Vladdy is getting his mojo back…
On the Agenda:
This series aims to help readers conduct routine due diligence in their dynasty leagues. It makes use of up-to-date OOPSY Peak projections and my own arbitrary whims to discuss a handful of players, both prospects and major leaguers, who may have seen their perceived value shift recently. Any reference to how a player projects using the FanGraphs auction calculator uses these settings (15-team 5×5 SV 2 C) with OOPSY DC (ROS).