Six New Hitter Regulars to Consider

While most lineups have remained fairly stable as we head into the final weeks of the season, there are others that haven’t, as teams have replaced injured players or recalled minor leaguers for a cup of coffee. Let’s discuss six hitters who have now been given an opportunity for regular playing time and determine whether they are worth a pickup for your prize finish push.

Eric Wagaman | LAA

I’m usually pretty up on the random names that are recalled by American League teams, as I need to know the depth charts for my AL Tout Wars league. However, I totally missed that Wagaman was recalled a week ago and eventually did a “whooooo?!!?” when I saw his name in the starting lineup the other day. He has now started at third base for four straight games. While it’s possible that when Brandon Dury and Michael Stefanic are both healthy enough to return to the lineup, Wagaman’s starting role disappears, let’s assume that’s not the case.

The 27-year-old isn’t a prospect, but had his first taste of Triple-A action this year after his promotion from Double-A. He’s shown acceptable power, with ISO marks hovering just below .200 and HR/FB rate marks in the high single digits to low double digits since last year. A maxEV over 110 MPH suggests he does own some power and he hits enough fly balls to take advantage.

There’s also a bit of speed here as he swiped 10 bases this year and 13 last year. It seems clear he’s unlikely to be the lightning in a bottle you might need, but worth considering for the playing time alone, as long as it keeps coming.

Thomas Saggese | STL

I got to know Saggese pretty quickly when he homered off Génesis Cabrera to deny Kevin Gausman a win, who I own in two of three leagues. While our RosterResource page suggests Saggese is not a starter, he has started in all six games since being recalled last Tuesday, rotating between second base and shortstop.

The team’s seventh ranked prospect didn’t get slapped with any scouting grades that scream fantasy star, or even fantasy contributor. However, his time at Triple-A this year reminds me of the type that contributes a bit of everything, without standing out in anything particular. The type that’s always undervalued and you always feel like you need to upgrade, but the overall value ends up being there.

He has typically posted an ISO just under .200 with a low/mid teen HR/FB rate, while his HardHit% and maxEV this season were just about average. That suggests averageish power, translating to a HR/FB rate hovering around 10%. Since he has posted FB% marks in the high 30% to low 40% range, he could still manage to record a home run total in the teens.

He swiped nine bases this year and has generally flirted with a double digit total, sometimes finishing just over and other times just under. Sounds like a full season could yield 15 homers and 10 steals or so, which is pretty decent in a deep league.

Jerar Encarnacion | SFG

Encarnacion has seemingly overtaken Michael Conforto for a starting job, as the team is out of the playoff hunt and clearly wants to see what the 26-year-old can do. He’s no prospect any more and was last ranked just 27th among Marlins prospects back in 2022 with a 35+ FV. But he owns power, and ya never know if and when that might lead to serious production.

This year at Triple-A over only about a quarter of a season, he had cut down on both his SwStk% and strikeout rate significantly. That needed to happen for any chance of succeeding in the majors, but since it was over a small sample, you had to wonder if it would last. So far, he’s been perfectly fine over 94 PAs with the Giants.

Since 2023, his home run power has been elite. He posted HR/FB rates right around 36% each year, with HardHit% marks over 50% and a maxEV between both years of just under 114 MPH. His ISO marks were a bit less impressive, but still pretty good coming in at over .200. One of the issues here is a lowish FB%, particularly for a power hitter, which has hampered his ISO.

His batted ball distribution is a thing of beauty for his BABIP potential, as he has hit a ton of line drives and few pop-ups, resulting in some inflated BABIP marks since last year. If he could keep the strikeout rate below 30%, his power potential makes him worthy of your attention.

Heston Kjerstad | BAL

Kjerstad is back from a concussion and started at DH, hitting cleanup, in his first game. While he’ll almost certainly be platooned, he should garner most, if not all, starts against right-handed pitchers.

The 13th overall prospect in the game sports 55/70 Game and 70/70 Raw Power scouting grades, which really makes you sit up. He posted a 26.2% HR/FB rate at Triple-A this year, backed by a 47.7% HardHit%. Oddly, his maxEV was only 109.9 MPH, which is lower than I’d expect given the rest of his metrics. He has also taken full advantage of that power by hitting flies at a 41% clip.

The plate discipline is already there, as he has dramatically upped his walk rate into double digits, while not striking out at an alarming rate. And despite a fly ball tendency, his other batted ball distribution rates support a strong BABIP, which he has posted throughout his career. It means he might be neutralish in batting average, while also contributing in home runs. He’s a must add in most league formats and especially in daily leagues where you can bench him against southpaws.

Ezequiel Duran | TEX

Corey Seager’s latest injury has knocked him out for the rest of the season, which has opened up a spot for Duran. He has now started 10 of the team’s last 12 games, rotating between second base, third base, left field, and DH. When you could be slotted into that many positions, there’s a good chance he’ll find his way into the lineup somehow!

Duran was pretty good in mostly regular at-bats last year, posting a .330 wOBA and contributing a bit of fantasy goodness everywhere. He hasn’t been able to replicate that success this year, though, as his wOBA has fallen to just .274, with an even worse xwOBA.

One of the primary reasons for the decline in performance is a complete power outage. He posted a 12.7% HR/FB rate and .167 ISO last year, both those have dropped to just 4.3% and .080 this year. Oddly, his HardHit% is still average and not that much lower than last year, while his maxEV remains above 110 MPH, but well below last year’s max. It’s been his Barrel%, which has dropped from last year’s 8.7% to just 3.3% that is to blame. But why? I don’t have an answer. The bottom line is that he still has power, but just hasn’t been able to barrel the ball enough to take advantage of it.

He has also swiped just one base, after stealing eight last year. So no power or speed has made him worthless for fantasy owners. At least he has improved his strikeout rate, but it hasn’t mattered when his balls in play are mostly going for singles or finding gloves. I’d probably leave him for another deep league owner as it’s hard to imagine him suddenly rediscovering his power stroke during the final week and a half of play.

Jasson Domínguez | NYY

Wowzers, the New York hype machine has been in full effect here! The league’s 27th best prospect according to our rankings, Domínguez has been graded with 55/60 Game and 60/60 Raw Power marks, along with 60 Speed. That makes him pretty exciting for fantasy owners as we love those power/speed mixes.

After missing a chunk of time with injury and patiently waiting for a Yankees veteran to either underperform or get hurt to open up a starting job, Domínguez was finally recalled just over a week ago. Unfortunately, he hasn’t exactly been a full-timer, only starting in six of eight games, which makes it difficult for fantasy owners deciding on whether to start him.

So far, his minor league performance hasn’t justified the hype. At Triple-A this year, he did post an excellent .376 wOBA, but just a .171 ISO, 15.9% HR/FB rate, and kind of meh 38.6% HardHit%. He hasn’t been meaningfully better in previous years, so the assumption here is that most of the hype is based on his potential and translating his tools into actual results.

He did steal 15 bases at Triple-A this year in essentially a third of a season and a combined 41 bases last year across multiple levels. So from a fantasy perspective, he’s quite exciting. But it seems like his speed potential is greater than his power potential, at least right now.

His walk rate, which had consistently been in the teens previously, fell to just 8.3% this year, but he did cut down on his strikeout rate, which is pretty exciting for a power hitter. Overall, I do really like the fantasy upside here, but temper your short-term expectations about his overall real baseball production. That said, it’s difficult to trust him in a weekly transaction league without knowing he’ll get all the starts.