MLB Streaks & Trends: Leody Taveras Playing At An Elite Level

It’s Saturday, so it’s time to grab your coffee, tea, or whatever your morning/early afternoon beverage of choice is and dive into some notable streaks and trends across Major League Baseball. As we inch towards the much-needed All-Star break, we see some familiar names in the top five of various popular statistics. Freddie Freeman continues to use his All-Star snubbing as motivation, as he’s scorching hot at the dish. Texas’ Leody Taveras looks like a priority fantasy baseball waiver wire pick up, and Austin Riley has the longest active hit streak in Major League Baseball. Be sure to check out our fantasy baseball waiver wire article and stock watch videos for even more content to help boost your fantasy baseball teams. Let’s take a look at some of the notable hit streaks and current trends across Major League Baseball.

Who’s Hot

Freddie Freeman, LAD - There’s no other way to say it, but Freeman is absolutely scorching hot at the moment. Over the last week, he’s hitting an insane .625 (15-for-24) with two home runs, four doubles, and eight RBI. During this stretch, he has a 1.685 OPS, and he’s rocking a seven-game hit streak at the moment. He has multi-hit efforts in four of his last five games, and there’s not really much to say other than the fact that he’s scorching hot. Perhaps the All-Star snub fueled this fire? I’d say there’s some validity to that.

Leody Taveras, TEX - I wrote about Taveras a bit in a couple of Round Ups, and he’s playing some excellent ball of late. Over his last 23 at-bats, he has one home run, nine RBI, five doubles, seven runs scored, and four stolen bases! He’s a priority waiver wire pick up at the moment, and he’s slowly but surely moving up the lineup. He’s hit sixth in three of the team’s last four games, and he’s had two hits in each of those appearances as the team’s sixth hitter. I have concerns about his power long-term, but the speed is solid, and it’s hard to ignore his production of late.

Wilmer Flores, SFG - Flores is on a power binge right now, hitting four home runs over his last seven games. He has eight extra-base hits in the month of July, and he’s hitting .317 with a .707 slugging percentage this month. Flores is up to 13 home runs and 50 RBI on the season, and he is poised to have a career best season in terms of power output. His previous career highs in these two categories were 18 home runs in 2017 and 2021, and 59 RBI back in 2015.

Who’s Not

Adolis García, TEX - Of qualified players over the last calendar week, no player has a lower batting average than Garcia at a .038 mark. He has just one hit in his last 26 at-bats, with a whopping 13 strikeouts. Over his last six games, he has a 44.8 percent strikeout rate, with a .077 BABIP. Now, it’s not all bad luck. During this stretch, his average exit velocity is down to 84.7 miles per hour, and his mark for the season as a whole is 92 mph. He’s getting under the ball too much, as seen by a 23.8 degree launch angle that is nearly nine degrees above his career mark, and there’s been a dearth of hard contact, which is unusual for a player with Garcia’s batted ball profile. With 15 home runs and 13 stolen bases on the year, I’d consider buying low during this rough stretch, because guys that make as loud contact as Garcia typically aren’t held down for long.

Nolan Gorman, STL - Like Garcia, Gorman is stuck in a funk, registering just two hits over the last week, good for a .087 batting average and .192 OBP. He’s hitting just .231 against righties this year with a 31.3 percent strikeout rate, and while his numbers have been better against southpaws, the sample size is far smaller.

When looking at his rolling breakdown for his average exit velocity, it is still above league average, but his xBA has cratered of late, as you can see above. If you’re looking for some upside with Gorman moving forward, despite hitting .087 against fastballs, .286 against breaking pitches, and .333 against off-speed in July, his expected batting averages of .182, .310, and .448 respectively indicate some progression to the mean.

Shohei Ohtani, LAA - It’s hard to knock this guy too much, but it’s worth noting that he’s just 3-for-20 over the last week with eight strikeouts. Those of you in OBP leagues may not be as concerned of late, because his six walks have helped push his OBP up to .346 during this cold streak. Again, can’t knock Ohtani too much, given his prowess on the mound of late, but he hasn’t homered since July 8th, and his last stolen base was July 6.

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Related MLB Links:

• Previous Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Targets
• 2022 MLB Fantasy Baseball Prospect Report
• 2022 MLB Injury Report
• Fantasy Baseball Daily Round Ups
• Fantasy Baseball Closer Reports