MLB Hitters Trending Upward: Bobby Witt Jr., Luis Arraez, Aaron Judge, Ezequiel Tovar, Jonathan India and More

Discussing several MLB hitters who are trending in the right direction over the past couple weeks of play.

The MLB regular season is a long one, and players can go on several hot or cold streaks over the year. 

Today, I wanted to take a look at some of the hottest hitters over the past 15 games. We’ll cover the coldest hitters in another story, so be on the lookout for that as well.

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Top Hitters

San Diego Padres’ Luis Arraez and Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. lead the MLB with 20 hits over the past 15 days.

Arraez had a double and a home run among those hits, while driving in eight runs and scoring eight times. Arraez has no walks, but just three strikeouts over that span.

Arraez is owned in just about every league out there, but because he’s not a huge power hitter, he’s more attainable in a trade than you’d think. He ranks 82nd on the FantasySP Trade Value Chart, but probably could net you a player quite a bit up the list.

Witt has four home runs and two doubles among his past 20 hits. He’s got 15 RBIs, nine runs scored, one stolen base, three walks and 12 strikeouts over the past two weeks.

Witt has been one of the top fantasy hitters in the game all season and is in the conversation for best fantasy hitter right now. There’s not too many players who I’d be comfortable trading for Witt in a one-for-one deal. Witt is nearly untouchable and should only be moved for a massive return.

As for some players among the hit leaders who aren’t known stars, Baltimore Orioles’ Ryan Mountcastle and Colorado Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar stick out.

Mountcastle has five doubles and four home runs across his 19 total hits in the past 15 days. He’s drove in 11, scored 10 times, walked three times and struck out on eight occasions over that span.

Mountcastle is still available in about 19% of fantasy leagues, and should be much, much closer to 100% owned. He’s got solid overall numbers for the season and is inside a pretty strong Orioles’ lineup. Add Mountcastle now if you can.

Tovar has six doubles and a home run among his 19 knocks over the past 15 days. He’s got three RBIs, eight runs scored, two walks and 19 strikeouts over that span.

You can see that while Tovar has been a hitting machine, it hasn’t translated to a great overall showing for him. He’s owned in 75% of leagues, which feels about right seeing what he’s done of late. Tovar is still hot enough at the plate to heavily consider as at least a short-term fantasy option.

New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge leads the league with eight homers over the past 15 days. He’s got 17 total hits in that span, including three doubles. Judge has 17 RBIs, 14 runs scored, two stolen bases, nine walks and 14 strikeouts as well.

After a bit of a slow start, Judge is mashing now and among the best fantasy hitters in the game. I’d suggest holding on to Judge if you rostered him, because I think he’s in for a monster season. It would take an overpay to get Judge off my team.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman, Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager and Yankees’ Juan Soto all have six homers over the past 15 days.

Gorman is one of the hottest hitters in the game right now and has seen his own percentage rise over 35% in the past two or so weeks. He’s at least worth adding to see how long he can stay hot.

Seager and Soto are different stories, of course.

Seager started the year slow, as his current .269 average shows. He’s looking like himself again now, and will likely be among the top fantasy hitters in the league if he can keep things rolling.

Soto is currently the top fantasy hitter in points leagues (with ESPN’s scoring settings). The only stat he’s really missing is stolen bases, but otherwise, Soto is also about as well-rounded a fantasy option as there is in the game right now.

Soto is a more valuable trade asset than Seager, but both guys are going to cost quite a bit to acquire. In both cases again, an overpay would likely be needed for me to even consider moving either guy.

Cincinnati Reds’ Jonathan India is a surprise name among the leaders in on-base percentage. He’s got 13 hits, including three doubles and a home run, and nine walks over the past 15 days. India has eight RBIs, seven runs and a stolen base over that span as well.

India is only owned in about 40% of fantasy leagues, and that number is only up around 10% from a week ago. India isn’t a huge name in the fantasy realm, but in fantasy leagues where OBP and walks are rewarded similarly to hits, India is a pretty good option for the time being. India’s numbers are actually a bit down from a season ago, and so he’s kind of a buy low option right now, except the buying can be done on the waiver wire. Make a move if your team needs an extra infielder, or if you are simply trying to win the lottery with a final roster spot.

San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado got off to a slow start this season, but is really starting to heat up now. Machado has 16 hits and eight walks over the past 15 games. He’s got four doubles, one home run, seven RBIs, five runs scored, three stolen bases and just six strikeouts over that span.

Machado is obviously a big name in the MLB, so it’s no surprise to see him nearly owned in every fantasy league. Even though he’s been trending upward, I’d think you could still acquire Machado for a pretty reasonable price. Fantasy owners might be looking to sell him too now that he’s hot at the plate, so see if you can make something happen.

Washington Nationals’ Jesse Winker has already had quite the interesting season. He was one of the game’s hottest hitters early on, before cooling off in a big way. Of late, Winker is hot at the dish again.

Winker has 12 hits and seven walks over the past 15 days. He’s only got one extra-base hit (a double) in that span, while driving in seven and scoring seven times. Winker also has 15 strikeouts in that span, but has offset those a bit with six stolen bases. The six SBs lead the league.

Winker is up to 35% owned again in fantasy leagues. He’s a better option in deeper leagues, but is also hot enough right now to heavily consider for a short time period in standard leagues.

The last guy I want to talk about in this article is Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez. He’s got 14 hits, seven walks, 14 RBIs and 15 runs scored over the past 15 days. Ramirez has five doubles, four homers, two stolen bases and just six strikeouts in that span.

Ramirez is right there with Soto and Witt as the best fantasy hitter in the game. The crazy thing with Ramirez is that his average is down about 13% from the past couple seasons, so a bump in average (which I expect) could pretty easily make him the best fantasy hitter. That thought might make Ramirez a great trade target right now, and worth it, even if you have to pay a hefty price.

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