Finding a Way to Boost Category Stats

If you are in strictly a points league, sometimes you can be so much better in most categories that you can punt one. I don’t recommend that, but it can be done.

For most of us, at the one-quarter point of the season, we have a pretty good feel for what our team needs to compete every week. Especially if you are head to head and using categories.

If you aren’t sure, and you are in a Fantrax league, it’s pretty simple. Just look at the standings page and you can sort by any category your league is using.

More great Fantasy Baseball Analysis: Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire | Weekly SP Rankings | Pitching Streamers | Two-Start Pitchers | Lineup Analysis | MLB Injury Report | Rookie Report | Advanced Stats | Under the Radar | Overvalued & Undervalued | Bullpen Report

There is some strategy to be brought into how you should navigate this. One league I am in uses quality starts instead of wins. When I sort out the standings, I rank second from the bottom in that category. However, I am only a few quality starts away from the fifth-place position. I am just fine in Ks, ERA, Saves, and Holds. One reason I won’t panic yet is that I have Hunter Brown and Tyler Glasnow. They should pick up numerous quality starts when they come off the IL.

If you are looking at a category like stolen bases, and you rank seventh or eighth in a 12-team league, that doesn’t sound too bad. However, if you look at the stats and you are in seventh place with 20 bases and the top three teams all have over forty, you may need to change things up before it gets so out of hand you can never catch up.

Here are some players who can help in certain categories.

Category Boosts

Home Runs

Nathaniel Lowe is a player who is showing up on everyone’s list of players to grab. He has more home runs than anyone else on the waiver wire. He is a nice player, and if you need a first baseman, that’s fine. Don’t get him, though, if you are looking strictly for his home run pop. In the last two weeks, he has hit only one home run each week. His preseason prediction on FantasyPros was only six for the entire year.

Spencer Torkelson – FantasyPros has him rostered in under 40% of all leagues. On ESPN, he is rostered in only 26% of leagues. He has the same number of home runs as Lowe, but over the rest of the season is projected to hit another 20, which will rank him 11th among all first basemen

Jake Burger – If your fantasy roster is bleeding for home runs, Jake Burger remains the ultimate high-risk, high-reward “band-aid” on the waiver wire. While his .204 batting average and recent .130 slump over the last 18 games don’t scream “take me”, the underlying Statcast metrics—including a 114 mph max exit velocity and elite barrel rates—confirm that his game-changing power is still intact.

Now healthy after an injury-plagued 2025, he is a primary “buy-low” candidate. He is hitting in a potent Texas Rangers lineup that offers massive RBI upside once he regains his timing. If you can stomach the high strikeout rate and the drain on your average, Burger is the rare power specialist capable of winning the home run category single-handedly during one of his inevitable hot streaks.

STOLEN BASES

Victor Scott II’s game is built entirely around elite, game-changing wheels. While his low batting average remains a work in progress, his 30.2 ft/sec sprint speed ranks in the 99th percentile of all Major League players. He has already shown a willingness to run at every opportunity with a high success rate. With the St. Louis Cardinals prioritizing an aggressive baserunning philosophy this season, Scott is a high-upside pickup who can single-handedly flip the stolen base category in a single week, provided he gets on base.

Nasim Nunez – If you are scouring the waiver wire for a true speed specialist, Nasim Nuñez is a high-octane gamble whose value is tied entirely to his elite 80-grade wheels. While his playing time with the Washington Nationals can be sporadic as a utility piece, he remains one of the most efficient base-stealers in the game. He possesses the rare ability to pinch-run and swipe a bag even without a starting nod. Because Núñez offers very little in the way of power or a high batting average, he is best suited for managers who are already strong in other categories but need a targeted injection of 20-30 steals to climb the standings. If he manages to carve out a more consistent role in the Nationals’ middle infield, his speed is impactful enough to lead the league in stolen bases over any given month.

Strikeouts

Reid Detmers is a high-upside strikeout specialist for managers who can tolerate some volatility in their ERA for the sake of elite swing-and-miss stuff. A revamped slider and a high-fastball approach have pushed his strikeout rate toward the 28–30% range. He is capable of double-digit punch-out performances on any given night. While he occasionally struggles with home runs or deep counts that shorten his outings, his underlying metrics—specifically his 12.5% swinging-strike rate—suggest that the high strikeout volume is sustainable. FantasyPros shows he is less than 30% rostered. He is a primary target to help you climb the K category, especially when scheduled for two-start weeks or matchups against high-strikeout offenses.

Shane Baz brings his league-winning upside to the Baltimore Orioles following a major offseason trade. While his ERA has fluctuated in the early months of 2026, the Orioles clearly view him as a long-term cornerstone, having signed him to a massive five-year contract extension in March, and while they may monitor his workload periodically, his ability to miss bats is so efficient that he can anchor your fantasy rotation’s strikeout category even in shorter outings. If he is available in your league, he is a must-add priority for the strikeout volume he provides.

Quality Starts

A lot of leagues are using quality starts now instead of wins. Both Reid Detmers and Shane Baz will help with this category, too. Here are two more that should be available.

Seth Lugo – How this player is available in more than 50% of the leagues out there, I have no idea. He had gone at least six innings in the five starts prior to his last one, picking up four quality starts during that span.

Max Meyer – This is one to put on your watch list. A quality start is six innings with fewer than three runs. Max Mayer has the three-run part down. In his eight games pitched this year, he has never given up more than three runs. He has never pitched less than five innings. His only issue is getting past the sixth inning, which he has only done once. If he is allowed to pitch over six innings in his next start, grab him. That would make two out of three games where a quality start is in play.