2025 Fantasy Baseball: Breakout Bats – Hitters Heating Up

It’s crunch time, folks. Points to be earned, categories to be won. You’re looking to move up the standings – or win a fantasy championship. Breakout bats at this time of year can help you achieve your goals, so we always have to be on the lookout for who’s swinging a hot bat.

This week, we feature players coming out of slumbers, hitters taking a jump in their regular production, and newcomers hitting the ground running. We like players in all categories. After all, we just want the hot bats that will help us down the stretch …

Picking it up: Recent Breakout Bats

Tier I

Wyatt Langford, OF, Texas Rangers

We called Langford a second-half breakout bat, and he’s now living up to those expectations. Though he was slow out of the break, with his batting average dipping to .229 on July 26, he’s since raised that mark by 19 points over the last month, hitting a combined .312 with a .966 OPS over 26 contests.

And he’s been especially hot over the last week-plus. In his last eight games, the 23-year-old batted .393 with a 1.349 OPS. He hit three long balls during that stretch, bringing his total to 19, and also stole a couple of bases. Notably, he’s shown better plate discipline over the last month, walking 18 times compared with 26 strikeouts. With Langford’s skillset, we should believe in this hot stretch.

Brenton Doyle, OF, Colorado Rockies

We’re calling Doyle a Tier I player here because he was drafted as such back in March. Sure, there wasn’t much of a track record. He’d had one legitimate, solid season under his belt, with 23 homers, 72 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases with the Rockies last year, in his age-26 season. But the potential … the Coors Field factor …

Alas, he was bad for most of this year – until he wasn’t. That change happened pretty much coming out of the All-Star break. Since then, he’s raised his batting average by 46 points and his OPS by 121. That’s significant. He did it by batting an eye-popping .398 since July 18 (27 games), swatting seven homers and driving in 20 runs along the way.

And he’s not slowing down. Over the last 10 days, Doyle has six multi-hit games, has batted .405 with a 1.284 OPS, and has belted four homers while driving in 11 runs.

Honourable mention:

Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B, Royals … It’s been a pretty solid season all around for the Kansas City slugger, but he’s reached a new level in the power department recently. A steady batting average bat, the first baseman has seen his OPS jump 54 points (to climb over .800) in just the last 12 games. The reason? A whopping eight home runs during that span, including long balls in five straight from Aug. 18-22. That’s got him up to a career-high 28 on the season (with 92 RBIs, to boot).

Tier II

Jurickson Profar, OF, Atlanta Braves

We featured a pair of Braves last week, and we’ve got another to add to the list now. Upon returning from suspension, Jurickson Profar fared decently in July. But he’s turned it on in September, reminding us of his career year just a season ago (all-star, Silver Slugger award winner).

In August, Profar is just under the .300 mark (.298) with an impressive .433 on-base percentage. He’s got seven home runs and 23 RBIs during the month, and he’s walked (18) more times than he’s struck out (14). And he’s turned up the heat even more in the last two weeks, batting .348 with a 1.086 OPS, four homers, 18 RBIs, and three steals in his last 11 games.

Giancarlo Stanton, DH/OF, New York Yankees

This is a tricky one – but only due to playing time concerns. Otherwise, Stanton is simply hitting the cover off the ball lately. He’ll always have elite exit velocities and legitimate power, and he’s shown that off in recent weeks. Where it gets complicated is the fact Aaron Judge (recovering from elbow injury) is still playing DH at the moment, meaning Stanton isn’t seeing everyday starts.

But when he’s been in there, he’s done damage. For the month of August (18 games), Stanton is hitting .388 with a 1.392 OPS. He has eight home runs and 18 RBIs. Dial it in more recently and the numbers are off the charts … .448/.500/.1.138 with six homers and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games – with an absurd 1.638 OPS.

Tier III

Mark Vientos, 3B, New York Mets

Better late than never. A popular fantasy pick (albeit an equally popular ‘bust’ candidate) in the early rounds in 2025, Vientos has endured a dismal campaign after enjoying a breakout season last year. We knew strikeouts would be a factor, but he’s seen a decline across the board offensively. However, although it took a long time, the 25-year-old has woken up recently.

Over the last week, Vientos has hit five homers (he’s got 12 on the year) and driven in 11 runs in seven games. The batting average during that span is .357 (with a 1.351 OPS). Despite the fact that it’s been a trying season for the infielder, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Vientos has finally gotten it together and will finish the year off strong.

Nathaniel Lowe, 1B, Boston Red Sox

Give a guy a fresh start and watch him flourish? That’s been the case for Nate Lowe in the early going in his Boston Red Sox career. Released by the Nats (after batting .216 in 119 contests), Lowe has new life in Beantown, and he’s making the most of it so far.

It’s just six games, but the first baseman has seven hits in 16 at-bats (.438) with seven RBIs. A steady – if not superb – source of pop, Lowe averaged 19 homers a year over the last five seasons, and he’s already at 16 this year. With new surroundings, could he continue this hot streak and help your fantasy squad? It’s worth finding out.