Welcome back to another edition of Look Who’s Streaking! In this season-long series, we’ll be taking a look at players who are streaking – both hot and cold. The idea is fairly simple. We’ll highlight players who are streaking in either direction and take a closer look at their performance. The ultimate goal is to aid lineup and waiver wire decisions.
For this week’s write-up, we’re going to switch things up a bit by only taking a look at players who are on hot streaks. The thinking is that with the dog days of summer staring us in the face, it’s more beneficial to focus on players who can give our fantasy teams a boost as we head into the second half of the season. So without further ado, let’s take a look at some players who are streaking!
Look Who’s Streaking!
Running Hot
Ramon Laureano (OF – OAK)
Ramon Laureano is stuffing the stat sheet. In the past 10 games, Laureano has 10 hits, including four home runs, eight runs scored, and six RBI. He also chipped in two stolen bases (on four attempts), while posting a .333 ISO, .395 OBP, and 189 wRC+.
Laureano returned from an 80-game suspension for PEDs on May 9 and has improved with each month of play (101 wRC+ in May; 120 wRC+ in June; 175 wRC+ in July). Laureano’s plate approach and plate discipline metrics are average. But he offers a balanced power/speed profile without sacrificing batting average (career .261) – a profile that can be hard to come across at this point in the season. Laureano bats near the top of the order, can contribute to all categories, and should be able to put up a 15/15 season.
Jonathan Schoop (1B/2B – DET)
Jonathan Schoop is one of the league’s streakiest hitters and right now he’s on a hot streak. Since the beginning of the month, Schoop is slashing .387/.424/.419 with a .386 wOBA and 141 wRC+. He’s hit safely in the past six games, with seven runs scored, one RBI and four stolen bases to go along with a 54.5% hard-hit rate. The four steals stand out since he’s never stolen more than two bags in a season.
Schoop has had an underwhelming season to date, with a 6/28/22/5/.210 stat line across 315 plate appearances. He’s been a little unlucky (.246 BABIP) but many of his underlying metrics are in line with his career norms. Schoop’s 42.9% hard-hit rate this season is the best of his career, and combined with his 7.6% HR/FB rate (career 15.5%), positive regression should be coming in the power department. Don’t bank on the speed lasting, but Schoop can provide some pop and is likely sitting on the waiver wire in many leagues. This is a cheap hot streak to ride while it lasts.
Yandy Diaz (1B/3B – TBR)
Yandy Diaz is a hitting machine. He’s currently on a 12-game hitting streak – including eight multi-hit games – and is slashing .457/.545/.630 with a .505 wOBA and 245 wRC+ across 55 plate appearances. During this period, Diaz has eight doubles with eight runs scored and three RBI. Diaz has an elite plate approach, walking more than he strikes out, and has a .293/.408/.387 slash line on the season. He also has excellent plate discipline metrics, with a 22.5% chase rate and 94.5% zone contact rate.
Diaz moved his way to the top of the lineup, batting leadoff in all but two games since June 20. He should be a solid source of runs moving forward, in addition to providing a strong batting average. He likely won’t offer more than 10 home runs or a couple of steals for the season, making him a better play in deeper leagues. But Diaz can be serviceable in shallower leagues while he continues to hit, depending on team needs.
Justin Turner (3B – LAD)
In shallower leagues, you can’t go wrong with Justin Turner right now. He’s been on a tear over the last couple of weeks, slashing .471/.500/.824 with a .353 ISO over his last 10 games. He’s also hit four home runs with six runs scored and eight RBI over this span.
Turner had an icy first half of the season, but his hot streak raised his batting average 30 points to .246, and his underlying metrics have started to normalize as well. Turner has some thump in his bat and hits in the middle of a productive lineup. He’s heavily rostered in most leagues but is worth checking on in Yahoo leagues where his rostership is 82%. Ride Turner’s hot hand where he’s available.