Breakout Bats: Hitters Heating Up

It’s wild how quickly the post All-Star break period turns into the stretch run in fantasy baseball. But here we are. And we’re looking to roster breakout bats in late August and into September to give us the best chance to finish as high in the standings as possible – perhaps even winning a championship.

There are plenty of routes to becoming a breakout bat. Sometimes, great players go cool, slumping for lengthy stretches of the season only to find their game again later in the year. Other times, good players become great, going on hot streaks to help us win down the stretch. Sometimes, too, newcomers burst onto the scene and become difference-makers on our fantasy teams late in the year.

Any way you slice it, we want breakout bats on our roster – especially during crunch time. Here are some hitters who fit the various examples above, who have been performing much better recently and can be considered breakout bats …

Picking it up: Recent Breakout Bats

Tier I

Michael Harris II, OF, Atlanta Braves

Okay, perhaps this one should be obvious, as Harris has been hot for nearly a month now. Entering action Sunday, he was hitting a blistering .414 with a 1.193 OPS over his previous 24 games dating back to July 22. He belted seven homers during that span and drove in 18.

Already hot, Harris went from blistering to scorching (we think that’s hotter) over the last week. In eight games from Aug. 9 to 16, the Atlanta outfielder batted an even .500 with all eight (8!) games being multi-hit affairs. He’s the first to accomplish that feat this year. He’s still not walking much, but his first-half struggles (he was hitting .210 at the break) seem to be a thing of the past.

Marcell Ozuna, DH, Atlanta Braves

Staying in Hotlanta, Marcell Ozuna, an All-Star last year, has been shrugging off an otherwise down year lately in his age-35 season. Though he’s batting just .239 on the campaign, he’s picked things up in August. In his previous nine games heading into action Sunday, the designated hitter was batting .303 with a .385 on-base percentage, five homers, and 12 RBIs.

As a result, he’s become a regular in the Atlanta lineup again–– at least for now — after he spent a fair bit of time on the bench. The Braves have quite regularly played both their catchers, Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin (one at DH). It remains to be seen how long of a leash Ozuna has, but if he keeps hitting, he’ll be penciled into the middle of that Braves lineup. He certainly has the track record to be a breakout bat.

Honourable mention:

Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics … Always a bat with pop, the Athletics’ catcher has shown improvement across the board this year. He’s upped his batting average into the .270s and his OPS over .850. Hitting .226 at the all-star break, Langeliers has been a breakout bat since, batting .369 (1.197 OPS) with 13 homers and 24 RBIs in 27 games.

Tier II

Xavier Edwards, SS/2B, Miami Marlins

He won’t deliver home runs, but boy, can Xavier Edwards hit. He’s proving he can be a regular .300 hitter in the big leagues, something that’s rare in the game today. And, who knows, maybe he can develop a little pop as he continues to develop.

In his first 15 games in August, Miami’s leadoff man caught fire by hitting .388 to raise his average over the .300 mark to .309. During that stretch, he also stole six bases and managed a .922 OPS (five extra-base hits). Look for that season-long OPS to continue to rise as the year closes out – and expect plenty of steals along the way.

Brice Turang, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

Speaking of players with minimal home run power, Brice Turang of the Brewers has also shown a breakout bat recently – but with pop, too. The second baseman has hit .311 with a 1.145 OPS over the last two weeks. The big surprise? Six home runs during that stretch (to give him 12 on the year).

Turang started out hot, batting over .300 as late as the second week of May. He regressed after that, but he’s improved virtually across the board in his third full season in the big leagues. He’s offered an uptick in batting average, OPS, and runs, which has certainly helped fantasy players. And he’s been particularly good lately. In August, the 25-year-old is batting .340 with an .800 slugging percentage.

Tier III

Jakob Marsee, OF, Miami Marlins

We’re always skeptical of bats like Marsee’s. Consider him a Chandler Simpson-lite. Can minor league bats that hit for average but little power succeed in the majors? And will their speed translate to the big-league game, too? The answer, so far, is yes for Marsee, who couldn’t have asked for a better start to his major league career.

In 17 games, the Miami outfielder has batted an eye-popping .377 (20-for-53) with four homers, 14 RBIs, and six stolen bases in seven attempts. Marsee, who led all of Triple-A in stolen bases when he was called up, has more pop than Simpson, and he’s got good plate discipline, too (nine walks, 11 strikeouts so far). Fantasy managers should ride this breakout bat for as long as it lasts.

Daulton Varsho, OF, Toronto Blue Jays

Could Varsho be a breakout bat for fantasy managers down the stretch? He’s certainly shown his capabilities since being activated from the injured list earlier this month. After a pair of hitless games while he was getting his feet wet, the Blue Jays’ outfielder went 13-for-31 (.419) over his next 10 games, swatting five home runs and driving in 14 during an impressive stretch.

Generally, a low batting average player, Varsho has the ability to hit for pop. He averaged 21.7 homers the last three seasons and already has 13 in just 144 plate appearances in 2025. That has led to an impressive .926 OPS in his limited action. And he can steal a base. If Varsho goes on a heater, he could help plenty of fantasy teams.