This week was pretty brutal in the baseball world for injuries. I mean, really, this entire season has been. Most of us have already missed multiple games without our early picks-Juan Soto , Cody Bellinger , Eloy Jiminez, Christian Yelich , Luke Voit , Starling Marte , Aldaberto Mondesi - I can go on and on. 

And now, add Dustin May, Jesús Luzardo , Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Luis Robert to the list. 

Most of the above-listed players will be returning in a few weeks, but in the meantime.... 

It's time to ride the Hot Hand! 

Here are some hitters that could be available in your league. These players hot now and may or may not be worth keeping for the long haul, but they have impressed as of late. 

  1. Tyler O'Neill . O'Neill has 12 hits and is batting .375 over the last week for the St Louis Cardinals. Two of those hits were long balls, and to sweeten the deal, O'Neill also swiped two extra bags. O'Neill still strikes out far too much and is not patient at the plate, so long-term your batting average could suffer, but his exit velocity is in the top eight percent of the league, and that means huge power potential. O'Neill is rostered in only 43% of Yahoo Leagues. 
  2. Alex Kirilloff hit four home runs over the course of three games this weekend. Again, this is a power play only as Kirilloff also strikes out too much and seems to be home run or bust. Kirilloff is available in half of Yahoo leagues. 
  3. Willie Calhoun ! I don't know about you, but I am thrilled to see this. Calhoun had a colossal power breakout in 2019, swatting in 21 home runs in only 83 games. That's a forty homer pace, but Calhoun had a down 2020 in limited starts after taking a 95 mph hour fastball to the face in Spring training. In 2020, Calhoun batted only .190 with one home run in 29 games. However, since joining the Rangers in 2021 on April 17th, Calhoun is batting .319 with two home runs and only nine strikeouts. On Saturday vs. Boston, he was one triple short of the cycle. His max exit velocity is in the 77th percentile of the league, and if he continues to hit, I expect he will be moved up in the batting order. In a year where the league batting average is at an all-time low of .233, it's hard to believe Calhoun is only 9% rostered in Yahoo leagues. 
  4. Raimel Tapia . Need speed? The leadoff hitter for Colorado is still available in 57% of Yahoo leagues. Over the past week, Tapia has batted .360 with nine singles and two stolen bases. Over the course of the season, he's batting .320 with three home runs.  
  5. Josh Rojas is surging in Arizona. Not only did he homer in three straight games over the weekend, but he also has batted .333 over the past week. His hard-hit rate is in the 73rd percentile of the league, as his walk rate. I don't expect this power surge to last, but Rojas qualifies at both OF and INF on most platforms, and he's worth plugging in until the hot streak cools. 

Here's hoping one of the above hitters is available to keep you competitive if you've lost a hitter. And who knows? Maybe one or two of them will be worth keeping for the long haul.