Sleeper hitters for Week 18 (July 20-26)
Though he still sits a little too often for my liking, Curtis Mead has caught fire again, batting .400 (14 for 35) with three homers in his past nine games, and seems like a legitimate breakthrough hitter for the Nationals this season. Between his eligibility at first, second and third base and his upcoming series in Colorado, now seems like the perfect time to give him a try.
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Another who went from breakout to fakeout in June, J.J. Bleday likewise has come roaring back here in July, batting .333 (7 for 21) with three home runs in his past six games. The big jumps in average bat speed and fast-swing percentage are why you should remain hopeful in him this season, and the lack of lefties on the schedule is why you should remain hopeful in him this week.
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Heriberto Hernandez has been getting more regular playing time with Owen Caissie on the IL, and he deserves it, having hit .286 (34 for 119) with 12 homers and a 1.015 OPS in his past 37 games. There isn't much fault to be found in the underlying data set either, with the expected stats suggesting that Hernandez has actually underperformed overall, and I'm noticing this all in a week when the Marlins happen to have the fifth-best hitter matchups.
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It'll take some time for Royce Lewis to pull his numbers out of the deep chasm they were in when the Twins sent him to the minors in mid-May, but he seems to be back on track as a hitter, batting .266 (33 for 124) with seven homers and an .828 OPS in 32 games since returning. The Twins are one of just 10 teams with seven games on the schedule this week.
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It may seem like Gabriel Moreno has receded into irrelevance since returning from a stained oblique in early May, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Over his past 47 games, which is going back quite a ways, he's batting .341 with five homers and a .913 OPS, making him an excellent choice to capitalize on the Diamondbacks' second-best hitter matchups this week.
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The unlikeliest of All-Stars may actually have some use in Fantasy Baseball, despite his underwhelming power and speed numbers. Tristan Peters has hit right-handers to the tune of a .324 batting average and .899 OPS, and that's all the White Sox are scheduled to face this week.
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The ability to slot Mauricio Dubon at four different positions makes him an easy recommendation whenever the Braves have favorable matchups, as they do this week. He doesn't excel at any one thing as a hitter, but the whole has been greater than the sum of the parts this year.
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Though it seemed like Dylan Crews was coming into his own finally, his performance has receded since the calendar flipped to July. A series at Coors Field might wake him back up, though, and his multi-faceted skill set is enough for even those in three-outfielder leagues to take notice.
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Called up in late June and now filling in for Max Muncy at third base, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer has the sort of high-contact, line-drive approach that should yield a high batting average, and it certainly has so far. He has the same limitations as Luis Arraez, while not being nearly as proven, but he should be able to rack up some multi-hit games with the Athletics having the fourth-best hitter matchups this week.
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Ryan Waldschmidt just made it back from the minors, but it wasn't his performance vs. lefties that got him sent down. Small though the sample is, he's gone 10 for 29 (.345) against them and is now looking at four in a week when the Diamondbacks are facing two of the five worst pitching staffs in baseball. He's a big gamble since we don't know how this second stint will go (or how much he'll even play), but in five-outfielder leagues, gambles are par for the course.
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