% Shows current Fantrax ownership level
* Starred players could offer special upside
Bats
69% 2B, 3B, SS, OF Jose Caballero, New York Yankees- Caballero is playing most days right now and has a phenomenal 48 steals on the season. While his ratios leave a lot to be desired (especially his .234 batting average), if some stolen bases will help tip the scales against your opponents in the final moments of the season, then Caballero could be the perfect card for you to play. He has 6 steals in just his past 10 games.
52% OF Dylan Lile, Washington Nationals- Lile has hit 2 more home runs this past week (1 of which was in his most recent game) and is now up to 7 on the season, along with 8 stolen bases. He is one of the hottest bats available and remains in nearly 50% of Fantrax leagues.
34% 1B, 2B, SS Romy Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox- Gonzalez has experienced a mini breakout this year with excellent batted ball data to support his good hitting. He’s been a bit quiet lately, but hasn’t struck out much and could heat up again at any moment.
*33% C Bo Naylor, Cleveland Guardians- All of a sudden, the younger Naylor brother is on fire. He’s on an 8-game hitting streak and has hit 3 bombs in this hot stretch, 2 of which came in his most recent game. He has also produced an unbelievable 13 RBI over his past 5 games. He makes for an excellent pickup for the final stretch.
17% OF Zach Cole Jr., Houston Astros- Cole has been cold since his hot start, but he should be allowed to heat up again since Yordan Alvarez is likely out for the remainder of the regular season.
5% 1B, OF Troy Johnston, Miami Marlins- Johnston has been pretty good since his debut a couple of months back, and he has a hit in 5 of his last 6 games. He has also hit 3 of his 4 home runs on the season during this short span of time. He is getting consistent playing time and could be a good play over the final week in deeper leagues.
Pitchers
74% SP Hurston Waldrep, Atlanta Braves- Aside from getting shelled for 8 runs in a recent start against Houston, Waldrep has been consistently quite good. In fact, in his 8 other appearances this year, he’s allowed 1 run or less in 6 of them, and 3 or less in both of the other two, while pitching at least 5 innings in all of them. This makes him a solid play for his final start, which comes against Washington.
62% SP Parker Messick, Cleveland Guardians- Messick went 5 innings, let up 2 runs and struck out 9 in his last start, which was against Minnesota. He is a good young arm and has a chance for a win and more K’s against Detroit in his final outing.
58% SP Joey Cantillo, Cleveland Guardians- Cantillo has gone 5 straight games without letting up more than a run. He’s also won 3 of those 5. His next start should come against Texas next weekend as the regular season wraps up.
58% SP Trey Yesavage, Toronto Blue Jays- Yesavage had an impressive debut, going 5 innings against Tampa Bay while allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run and impressively striking out 9 batters. He will face Tampa Bay again in his next start.
56% SP Connelly Early, Boston Red Sox- Another excellent start for Early, who pitched 5.1 innings of 1 run ball, walked no one and struck out 7 hitters. He’s still available in nearly half of Fantrax leagues, and he’s absolutely worth using for his final start.
36% SP Bryce Elder, Atlanta Braves – Elder isn’t the best pitcher, but he does have a high groundball rate, and he has notably won 3 of his last 4 games. He faces the Nationals for his last start, which gives him and any owners who scoop him up a decent shot at a win.
16% SP Joey Wentz, Atlanta Braves – Wentz has been inconsistent lately and hasn’t had a win since the end of August, but he faces the lowly Pirates in his last start. It’s a bit of a dice roll, but Wentz should have a good shot at a win if he manages to go more than 5 innings, which theoretically should be more likely since the Pirates have been one of the worst-hitting teams in the majors.
10% SP Kai-Wei Teng, San Francisco Giants- Teng has a very impressive 11.83 K/9 right now, but unfortunately, it comes with a very depressing 5.16 BB/9. He’s also only gone at least 5 innings in 2 of his 8 appearances, but one of those was against Colorado, who he will face again in his final start. In deeper leagues, he’s not a bad dart throw for his strikeout upside and the potential for a win.