8 Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers - Troy Melton, Chase DeLauter, Reid Detmers, More

July 16, 2026

Jeremy analyzes 8 fantasy baseball risers, fallers, breakouts for hitters and pitchers in Week 16 of 2026. He discusses buy/sell candidates for fantasy baseball.

Welcome to another midweek edition of Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers for Week 16 of the 2026 season! In this piece, I’ll take a look at Troy Melton, Chase DeLauter, Reid Detmers, and more. 

It's hard to believe that we're already at the All-Star break, and plenty of players have entered the midpoint on a hot or cold streak. Whether they are looking to keep things up or turn things around in the second half, it's important to stay up to date on recent performances. Each week, we'll take a look at four risers and four fallers who are moving up and down the rankings. This article should give you the insights you need, whether you're looking to make an add, drop, or trade.

Keeping up on the recent hot streaks and cold spells will give you an edge over your league mates, allowing you to buy or sell the right players at the right time to propel your team to a fantasy championship. Without further ado, let's get into it.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Risers

Chase DeLauter, OF, Cleveland Guardians

Chase DeLauter got off to a hot start early this season before taking a step back and ultimately ending up on the injured list from June 16th to June 28th. However, he has reminded everyone of his immense upside since returning, collecting at least one hit in 12 of 14 games with seven multi-hit performances. In that span, he's launched four home runs, bringing his total to 11 in 80 games.

Chase DeLauter has been red hot since returning from the IL on 6/28...

14 Games
63 PA
.339 AVG
.381 OBP
.610 SLG
4 Doubles
4 Home Runs
12 RBI
9 Runs
4/9 BB/K#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/t6XDYSJ6D8

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) July 13, 2026

On the season, his slash line now sits at .278/.345/.448, which is very solid for a rookie. The 24-year-old has displayed exceptional plate discipline, posting a 20.4% chase rate (95th percentile), a 15.8% whiff rate (91st percentile), and a 13.5% strikeout rate (89th percentile). His walk rate sits at a more mediocre mark of 9.6%, but you can't blame him for prioritizing putting the ball in play when he has an elite 33.8% squared-up rate.

The youngster has always had injury issues throughout his career, but luckily, his most recent injury was just a minor rib fracture. That may have actually been good for his longevity for the remainder of the year, as it gave him time to rest his legs and other muscles that would create a much bigger issue if he strained them.

He'll hope to keep up his hot streak in the second half, and depending on how shallow your league is, he may have even been dropped when he was missing time. He still has the upside to be a standout fantasy contributor, and it wouldn't shock anyone if he turned into a must-start option for the remainder of the year.

Jake Bauers, 1B/OF, Milwaukee Brewers

Jake Bauers is back on another hot streak, hitting three homers in the final seven games of the first half of the season. This year, he's slashing .268/.373/.508 with 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 56 runs, and six stolen bases in 87 games. It's been an out-of-nowhere breakout for the slugger, who entered 2026 with a career-high of 12 home runs and a career batting average under .220.

Jake Bauers ties the game with a 2-run shot 💥 pic.twitter.com/o9zvTVNZxg

— MLB (@MLB) July 11, 2026

The underlying metrics back it up, too, as he's posted an elite 53.1% hard-hit rate and 14.1% barrel rate, which has led to an 85th-percentile xSLG of .481. Not only that, but his 13.6% walk rate makes him an exceptional fantasy asset in points leagues.

The biggest downside with the 30-year-old is platoon risk, but the Brewers have faced a shockingly low number of left-handed starting pitchers over the past two weeks for us to know definitively where they stand with Bauers' playing time. His slash line against southpaws is worse than against righties, but at .253/.341/.468, it's not so bad that he would be a must-sit.

His double-eligibility also helps his fantasy value, as first base is the deepest position by far. While it would be hard to justify starting him there over the other options you likely have, Bauers has firmly planted himself inside the top-36 outfielders, making him a starting-caliber option in most leagues.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Risers

Troy Melton, Detroit Tigers

Troy Melton has been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball since making his season debut on May 24th, posting a 1.82 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in eight starts. He's only allowed more than one run in a start twice, and one of them was an eight-inning gem where he gave up two runs.

With how good Melton has been for nearly two months, you may be wondering what has changed recently to make him a "riser". Well, the one downside of his profile has been his strikeouts, as he only punched out 19 batters in 31 ⅔ innings through his first five starts. That all changed recently, as he's struck out 6, 7, and 9 batters in three starts since June 25th, totalling 22 in 17 ⅔ innings.

This wasn't just random variance either, as he had a noticeable velocity bump in both his fastball and cutter in those three outings. The 25-year-old featured a 95-96 mph fastball and 90-91 mph cutter through his first five starts, but has consistently thrown his fastball at 97 mph and his cutter at 93 mph over his past three dominant showings.

If he can maintain this velocity and strikeout rate, Melton really would be the complete package, combining elite ratios with above-average swing-and-miss stuff that could allow him to ascend into being a must-start, top-30 arm for fantasy. This velocity didn't come out of nowhere either, as his fastball velocity was 97 mph last season, too.

The suppressed velocity early this year could have been him shaking off the rust from his elbow injury, so I have faith that he can keep this up moving forward. For those reasons, Melton is at the top of my list for second-half breakouts as we move past the All-Star break.

Jake Bennett, Boston Red Sox

Jake Bennett just continues to improve, most recently tossing seven shutout innings against the White Sox on July 8th. Like Melton, he has also been extremely steady in his eight starts this season, allowing more than two runs in a start only twice. That has led to a sparkling 2.64 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 35 strikeouts and eight walks in 47 ⅔ innings this season.

Jake Bennett continues to dazzle.

7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
8 whiffs
31% CSW

Swing-and-miss stuff wasn't there, but his command and called strikes were. Additionally, he's getting batters to chase at a 40.4 percent clip 😮

Must-roster player. pic.twitter.com/x2Smoj92pK

— Nicho Roessler (@NichoRoessler) July 9, 2026

While the strikeouts aren't great and haven't shown signs of improvement, he has started to show very encouraging signs in terms of volume. He failed to last six full frames in each of his first four starts at the major league level, but has pitched at least six in each of the four starts since, with the most recent two being at least seven frames.

That has provided a huge boost to his fantasy value, especially in leagues where quality starts matter. Despite his suboptimal 19.2% strikeout rate, his 24.1% whiff rate does grade out at least somewhat closer to league average, suggesting some potential future improvement in that regard. Whether the strikeouts come later or not, Bennett has excelled by displaying immaculate control, with a 4.4% walk rate that ranks in the 98th percentile.

When you combine that with an elite 52.2% ground ball rate and a 35.5% hard-hit rate, it gets very hard for the opponent to be able to string together rallies and runs, even if they can get the ball in play. Time will tell how sustainable this is, but the 25-year-old has proved himself to be a must-start option for the time being, at least until he shows signs of cooling off.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Fallers

Teoscar Hernandez, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

Teoscar Hernandez was finally starting to put together a hot streak in late May when a strained hamstring sent him to the injured list for a month. His fantasy managers were hoping he could turn his season around once being activated on June 29th, but so far, he's gone in the opposite direction.

In 12 games since the veteran's activation, he's gone just 4-for-41, bringing his season slash line down to .243/.319/.387 with eight home runs in 63 games. While his .423 xSLG suggests at least some bad luck is in play, that still only ranks in the 59th percentile, which is far from what we're used to seeing from the slugger.

The 33-year-old has actually managed to increase his walk rate from 4.8% last season to 9.6% this year, but it also came with a three percent increase in his strikeout rate, up to 27.9%. The first sign of regression really came last season, when he still managed to hit 25 home runs in 134 games, but hit only .247 with declining quality of contact metrics across the board.

With no signs of improvement in 2026, it's hard to see him re-establishing himself as a standout fantasy option with a 10.4% barrel rate that is nearly five percent less than it was in his best years. The counting stats should still be there thanks to being a part of one of the best offenses in baseball, but his time as a top-30 outfielder for fantasy may be over.

Jung Hoo Lee, OF, San Francisco Giants

Jung Hoo Lee has taken a step back recently, as he's batting just .211 in the last 30 days and entered the break on an 8-for-40 stretch with just five runs, two RBI, and no home runs. He's still slashing .302/.333/.429 on the season thanks to his earlier hot streak, but this recent cold spell shows just how quickly Lee's fantasy relevance fades when he's not hitting for an extremely high batting average.

With only five home runs and six steals on the year, he doesn't do enough of either to contribute for fantasy in any meaningful way. That makes him a one-trick pony that can be nice in your lineup when he's putting up multi-hit performances every day, but he quickly becomes a near-zero across the board the moment he cools off.

He is a lot like his teammate, Luis Arraez, in many ways, as he maintains an excellent strikeout rate, walk rate, chase rate, and squared-up rate, while nearly every other quality of contact metric ranks in the bottom 10 percent of the league. That type of profile can have some fantasy value in Arraez's case, when he was consistently batting .330 at the weakest position in fantasy throughout the prime of his career.

However, in Lee's case, a .300 hitter at one of the stronger positions just doesn't provide the same type of value. There are so many exciting outfielders with upside to take chances on throughout the year, making the 27-year-old an afterthought in leagues of most sizes. There is value for consistency in 15-team, five-outfielder leagues, but in anything shallower, you're probably better off streaming and taking chances on upside.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Fallers

Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels

Reid Detmers went from being one of the hottest pitchers in baseball to one of the coldest in the blink of an eye, as he's now allowed five runs in three of his past four starts. In that span, he has allowed 17 runs on 24 hits and 11 walks in 20 ⅔ innings pitched.

Pretty much nothing is going right for the lefty, who is having major control issues while also allowing way too much hard contact, as he's given up five home runs over those past four starts. His upside is so high that it's hard not to buy in when he flashes it for any extended period of time, but it's looking like we got our hopes up once again.

The 27-year-old now has a 4.29 ERA and 1.14 WHIP on the year with 123 strikeouts and 35 walks in 108 ⅔ innings, and those ratios aren't something you'd be happy plugging into your lineup without hesitation week after week. If you're desperate for strikeouts in a Roto league, he's at least proven himself to be a one-category specialist in that regard, but the damage to your ratios won't be worth the headache in most situations.

J.T. Ginn, Athletics

J.T. Ginn had a rough final start before the All-Star break, allowing eight runs on six hits and three walks over 4 ⅓ innings against the White Sox. While it's best not to overanalyze one bad start, the ones leading up to it weren't great, either. This was his second straight start lasting fewer than five innings, and three starts ago, he still managed to hold the opposition to one run, but concerningly walked five batters.

The 27-year-old has allowed four or more runs in three of his past seven outings, and he's suddenly not looking as steady and consistent as before. This shows how small the margin for error is when you have a below-average strikeout rate and walk rate, as his percentages currently sit at 21.4% and 10.6%, respectively.

While he limits hard contact with a 34.6% hard-hit rate and keeps the ball on the ground with a 46.7% groundball rate, the added baserunners from free passes and the volume of balls put in play will always bring more variance into the mix. That can make it frustrating to roster Ginn in fantasy, as the risk of a blowup outing is always looming, and his 1.25 WHIP will never do you any favors.

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