Platoon Hitters to Target In the Final Stretch

Rostering hitters who only hit against one type of pitcher can be challenging. You must pay extra attention in a world where paying extra attention is the only way to win. So there you have it. In this article, we’ll pay extra attention to playing time patterns to see if we can find a few sneaky additions who may add a handful of dingers to our fantasy pile before the season is over.

What you will see below are not leaderboards of excellent hitters, sorry, those are already taken. For example, pull up a list of the best hitters against left-handed pitching and you’ll find familiar names:

• Aaron Judge: 1.277 OPS
• Paul Goldschmidt: .712 SLG
• Cal Raleigh: .420 wOBA

You’ll also find some interesting ones:

• Iván Herrera: 1.111 OPS
• Shea Langeliers: .372/.383/.667
• Austin Hays: .431 wOBA

All of these hitters are productive against lefties. But, they’re simply good hitters who also hit righties. You won’t find any of them with a platoon tag on their team’s RosterResource page. Hitters who are being used in platoon situations are much less exciting. They require extra effort from fantasy managers to ensure they’re on the bench when the platoon doesn’t lineup or that they are in the lineup in good situations. That’s where we’re at now that September is on the horizon. We’re just trying to squeeze a few more home runs out of the season to keep our leads or to fight for them. Consider the tables starting points, like the Netflix home screen on a Monday night after you binged all the shows you actually wanted to see all weekend long. There must be something to watch out there, right?

vs. L

Qualifiers: Over 50 total plate appearances, with over 60% of them against left-handed pitching.

These are true platoon hitters, the ones who come running out of the dugout when the lefty reliver takes the mound. The question is, are any of them particularly good at hitting Southpaws and therefore, fantasy relevant? First, take a look at those hitters whose plate appearance totals are heavily weighed against left-handers and how they’ve performed against them:

Best bet:

If Rob Refsnyder hadn’t just hit the IL with an oblique injury, he’d be the man to pick up. He’s hit .279 against lefties in his career, but this is a costly injury that may have him out the rest of the regular season. Davis Schneider brings defensive versatility and good numbers for those playing in OBP leagues. He’s in a weak side platoon with the Blue Jays, but he does hit righties. Five of his 10 home runs have come against lefties and the other five against righties, so he can get to both for power. If you have a strong side platoon bat in your lineup, adding Schneider to your bench could be beneficial.

Other notable targets:

Jahmai Jones has 31 plate appearances in August and is slashing .269/.387/.423 in that time. Add to that a few stolen bases here and there, and the 28-year-old 2B/DH/OF has some value. He’s on a Tigers team that loves playing matchups, and he can fill in for either Kerry Carpenter or Colt Keith when there’s a lefty on the mound. Randal Grichuck’s career OPS vs. lefties sits at .827 and .735 vs. righties. He’s hit six of his eight total homers against lefties in 2025. Now, he’s one of three short-side platoon hitters in Kansas City along Nick Loftin and Tyler Tolbert.

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vs. R

Qualifiers: Over 100 total plate appearances, with over 90% of them against right-handed pitching.

Hitters who fall into this category are mostly just sitting against left-handed pitching. There aren’t many right-handed specialists because hitters are expected to hit right-handed pitchers. Most of these players are not-rosterable; however, some are worth paying attention to:

Best bet:

In 2025, Pavin Smith (SLG: .464) against righties is Rafael Devers (SLG: .463) against all hitters. That statement doesn’t hold up when you point out that Smith has accumulated roughly half of Devers’ plate appearance totals, but his ability to slug against righties does. In his career, Smith has a .773 OPS against righties and a .599 OPS against lefties. He’s been on the IL since early July but has just rejoined the Diamondbacks. This season, he accumulated the most plate appearances against lefties in the group of players above, slashing .176/.391/.176, and his overall numbers have taken a hit because of it. But his defensive versatility (1B/OF/DH) and ability to hit for power against righties make him worth a look. He’s only rostered at 56% in NFBC leagues.

Other notable targets:

Jake Fraley is a decent target in OBP leagues as he adds value with his 12.0% BB%. He was just released by the Reds and then claimed by the Braves, so he still has a job. That job may be located in AAA for now, so adding Fraley immediately is not advised. But keep an eye on what happens to the Braves roster. Rowdy Tellez’s 13 home runs this season have all come against righties. He’s filling in for the ailing Jake Burger and is rostered at only 11%. Ezequiel Duran can slot into the 1B spot when the Rangers are facing a lefty, but Tellez’s strong side platoon is locked down until Burger returns to health.

Will Joc Pederson come to life at the right time? The Rangers certainly hope so. He’s just not been the same player with a decreased barrel rate and an awfully low 8.1% HR/FB%. He’s putting the ball in the air at elevated rates and still hitting it hard, so maybe things will start to turn.