Buy Low Targets for Hitters and Pitchers

  • By Larry Vannozzi

    Last Updated on July 3, 2026 11:39 am by André Lemos | Published: July 3, 2026

    We’ve covered buy-low and sell-high fantasy assets exclusively on the Fantasy MLB Today podcast until now; today we kick off our weekly buy low/sell high article series, where Larry Vannozzi and Nathan Baker bring you the latest targets and information to own the fantasy baseball trade market. Two pitchers and two hitters will be broken down every week, starting with four buy-low targets today, with four sell-high targets to follow, with bonus content to feature around the fantasy and MLB trade deadlines. Happy trading!

     

    Nico Hoerner

    When we drafted Nico Hoerner, we didn’t expect Hall of Fame performance but we sure expected better than… this. As the calendar switches to July, we find Hoerner struggling to a triple slash line of .240/.317/.337. All of those rates are his lowest since becoming a full-time starter back in 2022.

    It’s hard to recall that this year actually started well for Hoerner. In fact, he was hitting .300 as recently as May 5. However, he slumped badly in May and June, becoming borderline droppable in typical 12-team leagues. His current .240 batting average is nearly 40 points below his career average and has been detrimental to his runs scored and stolen base totals. He scored an average of 90 runs over the past three years but won’t even reach 70 if his second half is as bad as his first. Likewise, he is on a 20-steals pace after averaging 33 during the past three years.

    Obviously, the 29-year-old Hoerner is valuable in fantasy only if he starts hitting for a better average. If/when that occurs, he’ll score and steal more frequently and become the version of himself that we expected back on Draft Day. But will he?

    The bet here is “yes” because there are several reasons why Hoerner should be better in the second half.

    Hoerner has improved his walk rate from last year and he has the same very low strikeout rate that he had in 2025. Many other advanced stats are nearly identical to last year, including his contact rate, swinging strike rate and soft/medium/hard hit rates. His expected wOBA is identical to last year’s .322 yet this year’s .295 wOBA is much lower than last year’s actual .324 mark.

    Overall, Hoerner has been a bust despite many of his hitting metrics being very close to his 2025 marks, a year in which he hit .297 and finished as a Top 75 overall player. Trade for him now while he is still floundering and then sit back and wait for his surface stats to rebound closer to last year’s stats.

     

    Manny Machado


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    July 3, 2026, 11:39 am