Each week, we’ll look at a handful of different hitters who fantasy managers should consider picking up in deeper fantasy baseball leagues. Many of these players will have the most value in larger leagues where waiver wire options aren’t as plentiful. Still, they could also occasionally be useful additions in other, more standard-sized leagues, depending on your options at their position.
All roster percentages mentioned in this column are via FantasyPros as of Wednesday afternoon.
Kyle Higashioka – 1%
For a Texas Rangers team that has struggled to score runs at times this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kyle Higashioka continue to see more playing time behind the dish. Particularly if he keeps producing at the plate as he has been lately. Of course, that’s all entirely speculative on my part, mind you.
Texas entered play on Wednesday having outscored just eight other Major League teams.
The veteran is batting .450 with a .450 on-base percentage, two home runs and a stolen base in the last few weeks (since July 14 specifically). Look further back in July – July 5 to be exact – and Higashioka is batting .404 with a .408 on-base percentage, five home runs and three stolen bases in his last 49 plate appearances.
The stolen base production in particular is notable considering Higashioka’s career high for stolen bases in an entire season was two, something that he’s already surpassed this month.
In fact, those two stolen bases that were the 35-year-old’s past career high (both of which happened in 2024) were the only stolen bases of the veteran’s Major League career.
Especially with Jonah Heim sporting a 72 wRC+ on the season, Higashioka looks like a quality catching option in fantasy leagues with more than 14 teams. He’s worth a look as a streaming option in more shallow leagues as well.
Bo Naylor – 3%
Sticking with catchers, Bo Naylor has enjoyed a solid season at the plate from a power standpoint. The 25-year-old entered play on Wednesday batting .176 with a .279 on-base percentage, 11 home runs and a .197 ISO in 277 plate appearances for the Cleveland Guardians.
Naylor also ranks in the 71st percentile league-wide with an 11.8% barrel rate.
And while the batting average and on-base percentage could both be higher, Naylor has been better at the plate as of late. Dating back to the start of July, he’s batting .204 with a .302 on-base percentage, a pair of home runs, a .222 ISO, a 102 wRC+ and just a 19.0% strikeout rate in 63 plate appearances during that span.
What with the lower batting average and a 12.6% walk rate, Naylor is probably a better fantasy option in leagues where on-base percentage is part of the scoring instead of batting average.
Still, he’s a quality fantasy option at catcher for fantasy managers looking to add power production to their lineup. Among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances this season, just nine have a higher barrel rate than Nelson.
Those nine catchers include a number of batters who are probably already on fantasy rosters in most all leagues.
The list of nine catchers in full includes: Cal Raleigh, Logan O’Hoppe, Salvador Perez, Sean Murphy, Will Smith, Luis Torrens, Tyler Stephenson, Hunter Goodman and Agustín Ramírez.
Taylor Trammell – 1%
In last week’s column, we talked about Victor Caratini hitting in more fantasy-friendly spots further up the Houston Astros lineup. The same very much applies to Taylor Trammell here this week.
Trammell has made an instant impact for the Astros this season, batting .254 with a .351 on-base percentage, two home runs and a pair of stolen bases as of the start of play on Wednesday in 74 plate appearances for the American League West club.
The outfielder has been particularly impactful at the plate as of late, batting .313 with a .393 on-base percentage, a home run, two stolen bases and a wRC+ 44 points above league average in 56 plate appearances since July 8.
Perhaps just as importantly, where his fantasy ceiling is concerned, Trammell has started to hit leadoff for the Astros. Five of his last six starts have come as Houston’s leadoff hitter.
As long as that continues, the 27-year-old should continue to see plenty of run-scoring opportunities hitting ahead of the likes of Jose Altuve (118 wRC+ in 443 plate appearances this season), as well as Christian Walker (13 home runs in 429 plate appearances) and Cam Smith (103 wRC+ in 370 plate appearances).
Graphic by Carlos Leano.
