Welcome back to another edition of Hitter Profiles. As we round the corner into the final month of the season, the true diehards know it’s never too early to start scouting the big storylines for next year. Today’s profile takes a closer look at a four-pack of hitters who have shown flashes of breakout potential heading into 2026. While many of your league mates may have already shifted their attention to other sports, you still have a month to track how these players finish the season and how they might fit into your grand plan for next year’s draft. This week we’re stretching across the spectrum: young to old, breakout to call-up, even continent to continent, all in search of the next big thing. Join the fun in the comments below and let us know who your pick is to break out and make a bigger name for themselves in 2026.
Ben Rice
If you’re not paying attention to Ben Rice yet, you are missing out on the initial breakout in 2025. The Yankees’ rookie slugger is hitting .247 with 22 home runs, 60 runs scored, and 51 RBI on the season. For fantasy purposes, what makes Rice even more valuable is his positional flexibility as he’s logged enough time behind the plate to maintain catcher eligibility while also qualifying at first base heading into 2026. That dual eligibility alone makes him a roster cheat code. The surface-level stats only scratch the surface of what Rice has done lately. Over the past 30 days, Rice has been locked into the top third of the Yankees’ lineup and has absolutely torched opposing pitchers for a .307 average with seven home runs, 12 runs scored, and 19 RBI in that span. There’s still growth potential, particularly against left-handed pitching where he’s been merely average. But given his age, approach, and batted-ball profile, that looks more like the next step in his development rather than a career-long weakness.
The 4th @Yankees homer of the inning is a Ben Rice rocket ? pic.twitter.com/90Dj2quDfy
— MLB (@MLB) August 27, 2025
For a lefty in Yankee Stadium who already knows how to weaponize the short porch, this surge looks more like a foundation than a hot streak. His 26.6% pull AIR (fly balls + line drives) shows he’s intentionally lifting and yanking the ball, which plays perfectly in the Bronx. It’s not just the ballpark effect, either, as Rice’s batted-ball metrics are elite. He currently ranks 8th in hard-hit rate, ahead of names like Oneil Cruz and Pete Alonso, and Statcast loves him even more. He’s sitting in the top 5% of MLB in xBA, xSLG, exit velocity, and barrel rate, putting him in statistical company with Corey Seager and Juan Soto. Simply put, his Baseball Savant page is as red as it gets.
Luke Keaschall
For all the rookies making a big impact on the fantasy game this year, Luke Keaschall has flown under the radar in part due to a broken forearm he suffered shortly after his April call-up. That setback has limited him to just 28 games in 2025, but the results have still been impressive as he’s produced 65% above league average while manning second base for the Minnesota Twins. In that short sample, he’s tallied four homers, seven steals, 31 combined runs and RBI, and a .324 batting average. Just as importantly, Keaschall has nearly walked as much as he’s struck out, carrying over a hallmark trait from his minor league track record. Flash back to 2024, when he hit .303 with 15 homers and 23 steals across multiple minor league levels. That profile established him as a potential 20/30 threat, and the early returns in Minnesota suggest he’s carrying that same skill set into the majors where he’s already batting third or fourth on most nights for the Twins.
Luke Keaschall rips his 3rd big league homer ?
The @Twins' third-ranked prospect is slashing .341/.434/.527 through his first 26 games in The Show: pic.twitter.com/Y4yjOfu9DG
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 27, 2025
Digging deeper, the speed is real, backed by an 82nd-percentile sprint speed. His plate discipline should draw comparisons to Alex Bregman, and he’s shown little trouble handling a variety of pitches at the major-league level. There are a few areas to monitor, such as struggles against left-handed pitching in a limited sample and a below-average bat speed. Still, for a player who’s likely to be drafted in the late rounds next year, there’s a lot to like. With a full season of playing time, Keaschall has a very real path to making a significant fantasy impact.
Munetaka Murakami
You may not have heard of Munetaka Murakami, but in case you have not, let me introduce you to the 25-year-old corner infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Standing at 6-foot-2, Murakami has been playing professional baseball since he was 18 and has already hit 235 homers in eight seasons to go along with a .270 average and 56 steals. While the speed is not likely to carry over to the MLB game, the rest of his profile is very intriguing. His best season came in 2022 when he hit .318 with 56 homers and 134 RBI before following it up with two years of 30-plus home runs. After missing the start of the 2025 season with an oblique injury, he has come back in a big way with 14 homers in just 30 games and a .286/.344/.714 slash line. This is a serious bat that should be able to play at either first or third base in the majors. Murakami looks poised to hit the ground running and could be one of the best hitters to make the jump from the NPB in many years. The Swallows have confirmed that he will be posted this offseason, and he is making quite a statement in the meantime. Enjoy watching the swing that just produced a massive three-homer game.
Munetaka Murakami will be posted after this season & will sign with a MLB team for 2026. The 25 year old has 254 HR with a .940 OPS over his career in Japan.pic.twitter.com/TKWBKRcBVN
— Baseball Scouting (@BSBSCOUT) August 30, 2025
Mike Yastrzemski
As we wind down our breakout watch for 2026, we are going to change things up by spotlighting a player nearly ten years older than anyone else on this list. Mike Yastrzemski just celebrated his 35th birthday this past week, and he is doing so in a new home. At the trade deadline, the Kansas City Royals acquired Yastrzemski from the Giants in exchange for their 20th-ranked prospect, Yunior Marte. While it could have been viewed as a salary dump by San Francisco, the move has been much more impactful for Kansas City. Comparing his production before and after the trade tells the story. In the first part of the season, he hit .231 with eight homers across 97 games for a 96 wRC+. Since joining the Royals, he has slashed .282 with seven homers and a 170 wRC+. Over the last 30 days, Yastrzemski has delivered the 12th-highest Fangraphs WAR in the league, ranking ahead of big names like Bo Bichette and Jazz Chisholm. He has looked like a different player and is making plenty of noise that might have gone unnoticed.
Mike Yastrzemski mashes the first pitch he sees for a leadoff tank ? pic.twitter.com/DDkDmLsGkQ
— MLB (@MLB) August 30, 2025
It is fair to bring up small sample sizes, his age, and his track record of being just short of fantasy relevance. However, there are real changes happening beneath the surface. This surge is not fueled by luck, as he has carried a .246 BABIP with Kansas City, the lowest mark of his career. He has also cut his strikeout rate dramatically, from 23 percent with the Giants down to just 13 percent with the Royals. The driving force behind this transformation has been improved patience. He is swinging at pitches outside the zone at the best rate of his career while making contact on pitches inside the zone at an incredible 94 percent clip, dropping his swinging-strike rate to just 5 percent. While he will be a free agent this offseason, these adjustments, paired with his recent production, give reason to believe that a late-career rise to fantasy relevance might finally be coming together.
