The fantasy baseball season has a way of testing patience. Through the first six weeks, plenty of talented hitters have watched elite contact quality turn into warning-track outs, line drives directly at defenders, and stat lines that simply did not match the underlying process. This week, our Hitter Profiles are going to focus on some players that seem to be showing signs of life. These are players who entered the year with significant fantasy expectations, each spent portions of the season underperforming those expectations, and each now looks like a hitter trending in the right direction as the weather begins heating up. Time to buy low and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Matt McLain
McLain’s overall production this season has felt frustrating relative to the skill set fantasy managers know is in there. So far in 2026, after an impressive spring training, he has managed a .223 batting average, five homers, six steals, and a mediocre 28% hard hit rate. The combination of power, speed, and middle infield eligibility gives him league-winning upside when everything is clicking, but consistency has been difficult to find after last year’s injury issues. Still, there have been encouraging indicators beneath the surface. One of the biggest developments has been the improvement in his strikeout profile compared to last season, where he has improved from a 29% strikeout rate to a more respectable 22% figure. He has also displayed more patience with a 13% walk rate and battled some unfortunate luck with a .268 BABIP.
McLain does not need to hit .320 to be an impact fantasy player. His fantasy value comes from category juice across the board. When he is putting more balls in play consistently, the power-speed blend becomes dangerous quickly. His recent stretch has featured harder contact, more aggressive swings early in counts, and better overall rhythm at the plate. Since 5/6, that has meant a .367 average with a .338 xBA. During that space, he has delivered a 46% hard hit rate and only a 8% strikeout rate. There is reason to believe the ceiling is still significantly higher than the current stat line suggests. If the improved plate skills continue stabilizing, this could easily be the beginning of a prolonged summer breakout rather than a short hot streak. For fantasy managers looking for second-half upside, few middle infielders possess McLain’s combination of athleticism and power potential. The underlying signs finally look much healthier.
Vinnie Pasquantino
Pasquantino has quietly remained one of the more reliable underlying hitters in baseball despite a season line that has disappointed fantasy managers at times. Even through the colder stretches, his elite plate discipline and contact ability have been steady. The problem was that the production lagged behind the process. That is beginning to normalize. Since April 22nd, he has produced a 13% walk rate paired with a 16% strikeout rate. That has come with three homers, eleven runs and ten RBI while delivering a 132 wRC+. While those numbers may not leap off the page immediately, they reflect something important as hr is stacking competitive at-bats consistently.
Pasquantino’s fantasy profile has always been built differently than many traditional power-first corner infielders. He rarely chases outside the zone, makes plenty of contact, and sprays hard-hit balls across the field. Because of that, extended cold streaks often feel more like bad luck than deteriorating skill. With a .220 BABIP on the season, there certainly has been some poor luck at play. That is exactly why this recent stretch feels sustainable. The batting average has started stabilizing, RBI opportunities continue coming in the middle of Kansas City’s lineup, and the contact quality suggests the home run pace should improve as temperatures rise. Once hitters with Pasquantino’s plate skills start seeing a few balls fall in, confidence and production tend to snowball quickly.
Fantasy managers frustrated by the slower start may finally be getting the version of Pasquantino they drafted. Throughout his career, he has been a notoriously slow starter with a career wRC+ of 86 in March/April and 100+ in every other month of the season. While he may never be the top first basemen, there is plenty of production coming.
Tyler Soderstrom
Soderstrom’s season has been one of the more volatile fantasy rides among young hitters. The raw power has flashed throughout the year, but the consistency has not been there. Like many young sluggers, there have been stretches where the swing-and-miss issues overshadowed the upside. The encouraging part is that the power metrics never really disappeared. Even during the worst stretches, Soderstrom continued generating loud contact and impressive exit velocity readings. He is in the top 20% of the league in barrel rate and hard hit rate. He has also maintained a 72nd percentile swing rate, which is the recipe for power. The issue has been converting that contact into consistent results. Too many fly balls died at the track with a 9% HR/FB ratio, which was half of last year’s mark. In addition, his batting average suffered through prolonged BABIP misfortune with a .224 mark.
Now the approach looks more controlled. Instead of selling out for pull-side power every at-bat, Soderstrom has started taking what pitchers give him and allowing the raw strength to work naturally. That adjustment has helped him stay on pitches longer and produce more consistent hard contact to all fields. The upside here remains enormous for fantasy purposes because true left-handed power is increasingly rare. If Soderstrom continues settling in offensively, there is enough raw juice in the bat for a massive second-half power surge. Fantasy managers willing to stay patient through the growing pains may finally be seeing the beginning of the payoff.
Hoping that Kyle Stowers shows up in the Signs of Life column soon (narrated by David Attenborough).