Fantasy Baseball Sell-Highs: Overachievers to Trade Away? (Week 18)

July 24, 2026

Joey's fantasy baseball sell-highs, overvalued players to consider trading away. These hitters and pitchers have overperformed early and may bust going forward.

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another edition of overachievers to trade away. Each week of the fantasy baseball season, we look at which star players are sell-high candidates. Last week, we dove into players like Eduardo Rodriguez, Ozzie Albies, and Jose Altuve.

This week's edition will look at four players fantasy managers need to trade in Week 18 of the fantasy baseball season. Each player is rostered in the majority of leagues, but some negative regression should be headed their way within the next few weeks. Some sell-high candidates on this list include a red-hot hitter who just came off the injured list and an All-Star pitcher.

Let's dive into the best sell-high candidates and overachievers in Week 18 of the fantasy baseball season.

Josh Naylor, 1B, Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor got off to a poor start this season. He slashed just .202/.282/.308 with three home runs, 11 RBI, and four stolen bases in his first 27 games. Many fantasy managers were worried about his slow start, and there were some concerns that Naylor wouldn't be the same fantasy player he was in prior seasons.

But the former All-Star has been a much more consistent fantasy option since that slow start. Naylor is slashing .283/.339/.379 with five home runs, 26 RBI, 32 runs scored, and 17 stolen bases over his last 69 games since April 28. This nice stretch has the lefty slugger hitting .261 with eight home runs, 37 RBI, 39 runs scored, and 21 stolen bases on the season.

Naylor is slowly building up that batting average again. His current .261 average is tied for his highest mark of the year, and he's batting a strong .321 over his last 14 games. The Mariners first baseman is also on pace to steal a career-high 33 bases, which comes as a major surprise since his sprint speed (24.6 ft/sec) ranks in the fourth percentile.

Despite how well Naylor has hit the ball lately, though, he is a massive sell in Week 18 of the fantasy baseball season. Don't let his increased batting average and stolen bases distract you from the fact that he is on pace to finish with the worst-power numbers of his career. He's on pace for just 13 home runs and 58 RBI this year.

Josh Naylor pulling outside pitches into groundouts: a compilation pic.twitter.com/DsiE5mp3Ya

— Konjac Jelly (@_Konjac_Jelly) July 19, 2026

Naylor hasn't been a big supplier of home runs or RBI this season, and that won't change down the stretch. The 29-year-old has an 87.5 mph average exit velocity (23rd percentile), 4.6% barrel rate (19th percentile), 36.1% hard-hit rate (26th percentile), and a 70.3 mph bat speed (24th percentile). He has also had a hard time hitting offspeed pitches this year, as he's batting a mere .190 against those pitch types.

If you drafted Naylor for his power and need some power in the final two months, look to sell him immediately. His power has surprisingly disappeared this year.

Wyatt Langford, OF, Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford has all the talent in the world to become a fantasy superstar one day. He had a 16-home run, 19-stolen base campaign in his rookie season in 2024 and had a 22-home run, 22-stolen base campaign in 2025. With Langford getting better each year, the expectation was that he would take his game another step forward in 2026.

However, injuries continue to hold him back. Langford has played in just 50 games for the Rangers this year after missing time with two significant injuries. He missed over a month from April 22 to June 4 with a right forearm strain and missed another 10 games due to a left hamstring strain that he suffered on June 26.

Since coming off the injured list on July 9, Langford has wasted no time showing his fantasy potential again. He is slashing .300/.349/.550 with three home runs, one double, and seven RBI in his last 10 games. The 24-year-old has three multi-hit games over his last five contests, which included a 3-for-5 hitting day with one double, one home run, and two RBI against the Braves last weekend.

Langford Launch 🫡 pic.twitter.com/npHugixK1n

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 22, 2026

Although things appear to be going great for Langford right now, fantasy managers should use this opportunity to sell him high. The injuries are always a massive concern with the Rangers outfielder, as he has had five different injured list stints since the beginning of the 2025 season. There are some question marks about whether he can stay healthy down the stretch.

Additionally, Langford's underlying metrics aren't too encouraging at this point in the year. His average exit velocity (88.9 mph), hard-hit rate (37.2%), launch angle sweet-spot rate (32.7%), and walk rate (6%) all rank in the bottom half of the league. Even his barrel rate (9%) is 5% lower than what it was last year (14%).

All that makes Langford a sell-high candidate.

Justin Wrobleski, RP/SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski has been one of the most surprising starters in baseball this season. He is in the midst of a breakout season and has been extremely consistent for fantasy managers throughout the 2026 campaign. Wrobleski currently owns a 2.62 ERA, 1.013 WHIP, and 80 strikeouts across 106 2/3 innings.

What has been most impressive about the southpaw's season to date has been his increased strikeout rate over the last few weeks. He struck out 11 across seven innings against the Athletics on June 30, punched out nine across seven innings against the Rockies on July 7, and recently struck out seven across 6 1/3 innings against the Phillies earlier this week.

Justin Wrobleski strikes out the side in the seventh on his birthday! pic.twitter.com/xmHt3HlmuN

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 15, 2026

While the recent strikeout numbers are a good sign moving forward, it's only a matter of time until some negative regression hits Wrobleski. His expected ERA (2.62) is 146 points higher than his actual ERA (4.08), and he ranks in the bottom half of the league in expected batting average against (.263), average exit velocity (89.7 mph), whiff rate (19.7%), hard-hit rate (42.5%), and barrel rate (7.5%).

It's actually quite surprising that Wrobleski has been such a dominant pitcher this season. He's allowing a lot of hard contact, isn't missing bats at a high clip, and even his expected FIP sits at 4.15 on the year. Fantasy managers should look to trade him before his numbers start to drop. It will happen over the next two months.

Riley O'Brien, RP, St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Riley O'Brien took hold of the closer job early in the season. He earned his first save of the year on March 31 and never looked back. O'Brien has posted fantastic numbers in his first year in that closer role. The 31-year-old has a solid 3.67 ERA, 1.224 WHIP, 26 saves, and 44 strikeouts across 41 2/3 innings pitched.

However, it's time to trade away O'Brien because he is clearly overperforming on the mound. His expected ERA (4.65) is 98 points higher than his actual ERA (3.67), and his .241 expected batting average against, 88.6 mph average exit velocity, 9.4% walk rate, 7.3% barrel rate, and 40% hard-hit rate don't rank particularly well for a full-time closer.

The Cardinals right-hander has also had a lot more struggles in this closer role as of late. He blew a save against the Angels on Monday and then got into some trouble by issuing two walks in the ninth of Wednesday's game before getting out of it. With a 5.03 ERA over his last 20 appearances, O'Brien isn't the lockdown closer he was earlier in the year.

Sell him now while his fantasy value is still relatively high.

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