Fantasy Baseball: 'Buy low on Tatís if possible' — skill vs. luck verdicts for key hitters
Fantasy Baseball: 'Buy low on Tatís if possible' — skill vs. luck verdicts for key hitters
Corbin YoungThu, May 14, 2026 at 2:57 PM UTC
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We’re covering four hitters today in our weekly skill versus luck factor piece — four veterans. One of those veterans has been producing well, while three others have had slower starts. To identify the players to discuss, we’ll use the Yahoo player rater for the past two weeks to provide a small sample to choose from. Besides those hot hitters on the player rater, we’ll discuss other hitters generating plenty of buzz throughout the fantasy baseball community. Unfortunately, a few of these highly-drafted players haven’t met expectations so far.
We’re analyzing the advanced stats for five hitters to determine whether we should buy, sell or hold them moving forward.
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Reach out if you have a player you would like me to examine on X/Twitter, @corbin_young21.
Mike Trout, Angels (96% Rostered)
Trout is on an early pace for 30+ home runs in 2026 for the first time since 2022. He has been pulling the ball more while hitting plenty more flyballs in 2026. That’s evident in Trout, who boasts a 45.1% pull rate and 52% flyball rate, both being 7-9 points higher than his career averages. If Trout maintains the pull-heavy, flyball approach, we might see his home run per flyball rate increase.
Trout rocks a 11.8% barrel rate per plate appearance in 2026, nearly over two points higher than his career average (9.7%). Not that we questioned Trout’s power, but it’s still excellent. Trout has been an elite option in points and on-base formats, with a .407 OBP throughout his career. However, Trout’s walk rate jumped to 20% in 2026, up from a career average of 15%, leading to a .410 OBP in 2026.
Source: “AOL Sports”
