X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 26: Buy or Sell?

Contact rate risers and fallers based on RotoBaller's premium tool. Elliott Baas identifies offensive players whose changes in contact rate could make them worth adding or dropping in fantasy baseball leagues.

Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, we'll be looking at some players that have seen an increase in contact rate and some that have seen it decline.

Contact rate can foretell a player's batting average and general hitting statistics, and any drastic change could signal a shift in performance. Contact rate shifts often act as a precursor to hot streaks and slumps.

Here is a breakdown of some of the biggest fantasy relevant risers and fallers in contact rate over the last seven days.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Contact Rate Risers and Fallers - Premium Tool

Identifying top batting average surgers for each week can help you spot the best pickups before your competition. RotoBaller's Premium Contact Rate Risers and Fallers tool has you covered every day. As thoughtful fantasy baseball players, we won't lead you astray.

This type of data is available as part of our Premium MLB Subscription. Don't settle for basic stats and surface-level advice from other sites. RotoBaller brings you advanced statistics and professional analysis that you need to win your fantasy leagues and DFS games because we're ballers just like you. We are your secret weapon!

 

Contact Rate Risers

Steve Pearce (1B/OF, BOS): 100% contact rate last seven days (+19%)

Pearce did not swing-and-miss last week, but it didn’t translate to much production. He hit just .133 with a .516 OPS and no strikeouts in 19 plate appearances over the past week. Pearce has a reputation as a lefty-masher, and he’s lived up to it this season. Against lefties Pearce has a .974 OPS and .242 ISO, but he’s held his own against righties too with an .820 OPS and .207 ISO. Boston faced all right-handed starters over the past week, however Pearce and Mitch Moreland are in a 50/50 split for playing time right now. Overall Pearce is having his best season since his 2014 breakout with Baltimore, and still crushes the ball at age 35 with an 89.2 MPH average exit velocity. The production he has put up this season looks legitimate and Pearce could probably be a full-time starter next season either for Boston over Moreland or for another team, though he’s sort of typecast in a platoon role. Pearce is best used in daily lineup leagues or DFS formats when we know he is starting.

Mitch Haniger (OF, SEA): 91% contact rate last seven days (+16%)

Haniger has been crushing it in the second half, and last week was no exception as he hit .364 with a 1.098 OPS and two strikeouts in 26 PA. Since the beginning of August Haniger is hitting .332 with a .241 ISO and cut his strikeout rate 3% to 19.1%. Haniger showed signs of a breakout last season, but 2018 has been his year to finally bust out at age 27. Peripherals back up Haniger’s performance since he has a 90.3 MPH average exit velocity and .387 xwOBA. There are not many major red flags in Haniger’s batted ball profile, and for next season owners can draft him confidently. Often times players that come seemingly out of nowhere draw skepticism from fantasy owners come draft day next season, and if there is any discount on Haniger, say he drops out of the top-50, owners should happily take him.

Carlos Santana (1B/3B/OF, PHI): 100% contact rate last seven days (+16%)

Carlos Santana has failed to live up to both his name and peripheral statistics all season, and last week was no exception as Santana hit .208 with a .595 OPS and no strikeouts in 31 PA. He did not swing-and-miss and also did not have an extra base hit. Of course, Santana salvaged the week with a .387 OBP, making him still valuable in points leagues and OBP leagues. Santana currently has the lowest batting average of his career at .229 and a three-year low in ISO at .185. His expected stats suggest that Santana should be performing better. The gap between his BA (.229) and xBA (.262) is the ninth largest among hitters with at least 500 PA, and his .368 xwOBA is exactly the same as his xwOBA in 2017. Santana has never been a high BABIP hitter, but a .231 BABIP is still 34 points lower than his career BABIP. For 2019 Santana looks like a decent bounce back candidate since his draft cost should take a hit after this disappointing season.

Contact Rate Fallers

Justin Upton (OF, LAA): 44% contact rate last seven days (-22%)

Upton is known for going on wild hot and cold streaks, and he has picked a bad time to slump. Last week Upton hit .222 with a .641 OPS and 10 strikeouts in 22 PA. He has been a strikeout machine all month with a 38.8% strikeout rate in 67 plate appearances. Power has been the only thing to salvage Upton’s performance as he has four home runs and a .259 ISO in September. Upton is the type of player that could have a 50% contact rate with no extra-base hits one week and a 90% contact rate with four homers the next. The final four games are against generally weak pitchers. He faces Yohander Mendez of Texas, then a three game series against Oakland who are starting Mike Fiers, Trevor Cahill, and Brett Anderson. Fiers is probably the best pitcher of the bunch, but even his success has been contingent on some incredible luck. Upton owners should simply trust him over the final four games; it’s unlikely a better player is available on waivers at this point.

Kole Calhoun (OF, LAA): 52% contact rate last seven days (-20%)

Calhoun’s season can be divided into distinct thirds. Calhoun looked done to begin the season. Like a man that should no longer be playing professional baseball in any capacity. He hit .145 with a .374 OPS through the first two months of the season. After a stint on the disabled list Calhoun returned better than ever, hitting .298 with a 1.018 OPS and .363 ISO between his return on June 18 and the trade deadline. September has humbled him, however, as Calhoun is hitting .095 with a .420 OPS and 31.1% strikeout rate. Last week was especially brutal. Calhoun hit .043 (1-for-26) with a .197 OPS and 11 strikeouts in 26 PA. He had a wRC+ of -36. Obviously this is a small sample size, but over the last week Calhoun was somehow 136% worse than a league average hitter. He has delved into depths somehow beyond utter uselessness.

The funny part is that Calhoun has favorable peripheral numbers. He has the highest average exit velocity of his career at 90.4 MPH and has a 42.3% hard hit rate. He has massive gaps between his actual stats and expected stats. He has a .262 xBA and .205 actual BA, a .365 SLG compared to a .485 xSLG, and a .280 wOBA compared to a .351 wOBA. He has the best peripheral numbers of his career, and that makes him interesting as an end-game piece next year, but if you’ve somehow survived him sandbagging your team in September it’s time to drop Calhoun. There is something here, but he isn't going to figure it out in four games, and Calhoun doesn't have the reputation of someone like Upotn to justify blind trust.

Edwin Encarnacion (1B, CLE): 55% contact rate last seven days (-19%)

Encarnacion saw a dip in contact rate last week but it didn’t affect his production. He hit .300 with a .931 OPS and nine strikeouts in 27 PA. A .545 kept Encarncion’s production from cratering, although Encarnacion helped himself with a 54.5% line drive rate over the past week. Cleveland is one of the teams with a Thursday game this week, so Encarnacion gets an extra game against a bad Kansas City pitching staff during the final week. He is a must start anyway, but that is a little gravy for his owners in weekly leagues. From an overall player profile perspective 2018 will mark the third straight year of decline for Encarnacion. His .241 BA is the lowest since 2010, hos .231 ISO is the lowest since 2011, and his 22.5% strikeout rate is his highest since his rookie season. His strikeouts had been creeping up over the past few years, but he experienced a 2.6% jump in 2018 compared to 2017. His contact rate has also fallen to 75.8%, a career low. Encarnacion was once an above average contact hitter, and not just for a power hitter but relative to the entire league. Now he is beginning to experience the effects of aging, and while Encarnacion isn’t hanging off the edge of a cliff there are warning signs with him. His overall stats are good enough that he’ll still go rather high next season, and this is someone to avoid at a top-50 cost. He is low-batting average power and will be 36 on opening day next season.

More 2018 MLB Advice and Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Pete Crow-Armstrong

Leaves Early on Saturday After Fouling Ball Off his Knee
Dylan Harper

Hoping to be Ready for the Opener Versus Dallas
Christian McCaffrey

RapSheet: Signs Pointing Towards Christian McCaffrey Playing in Week 1
Quinshon Judkins

Signs Fully Guaranteed Deal with Cleveland
EDM

Derek Ryan Retires From Hockey
Connor Zary

Agrees to Three-Year Deal With Flames
Carey Price

Canadiens Trade Carey Price to Sharks
Quentin Johnston

Scores Twice in Brazil
Justin Herbert

Spectacular in Win Over Chiefs
Marquise Brown

Sees Absurd Target Share Friday
Bobby Witt Jr.

Dealing With Back Spasms
Bobby Witt Jr.

Exits Early on Friday
Xavier Worthy

Injures Shoulder Early in Brazil, Questionable to Return
Adolis García

Adolis Garcia Placed on Injured List With Quad Strain
Tyler Glasnow

Scratched on Friday With Back Tightness
Jayden Reed

Questionable to Play in Season Opener
Christian McCaffrey

Listed as Questionable for Season Opener With Calf Issue
Tyreek Hill

Cleared for Week 1
Rasmus Hojgaard

Finishes Tied For Second at Omega European Masters
Tyrrell Hatton

Finishes Tied for 32nd at LIV Indianapolis
Matt Fitzpatrick

Finishes Fifth at Omega European Masters
Patrick Cantlay

Finishes Tied For Second in 2025 FedEx Cup Standings
Xander Schauffele

Finishes 42nd in 2025 FedEx Cup Standings
Tyler Glasnow

Scratched From Friday's Start for Undisclosed Reasons
Christian Kirk

Ruled Out for Week 1
Shohei Ohtani

Returning to the Mound on Friday
Kyle Finnegan

Lands on Injured List With Adductor Strain
Aaron Judge

Returns to Right Field on Friday
De'Von Achane

Without Injury Designation Heading Into Week 1
Christian McCaffrey

Seen Working on Side Field During Friday's Practice
Malik Nabers

Cleared to Play on Sunday
Willson Contreras

' Suspension Reduced, to Start Serving it on Friday
Kodai Senga

Mets Send Kodai Senga to Triple-A to Get Right
Chris Godwin

Officially Ruled Out for Week 1
Malik Nabers

' Reps Limited Friday Due to "Tight" Back
Caio Borralho

Set For A Title Eliminator Bout
Nassourdine Imavov

Looks To Earn A Title Shot
Mauricio Ruffy

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Benoît Saint Denis

Benoit Saint Denis Set For UFC Paris Co-Main Event
Modestas Bukauskas

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Paul Craig

In Dire Need Of Victory
Mason Jones

Set for Main-Card Bout
Bolaji Oki

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Rhys McKee

Set To Open Up UFC Paris Main Card
Axel Sola

Alex Sola Set To Make His UFC Debut
Saquon Barkley

Scores Touchdown in Low-Yardage Outing
Jalen Hurts

Rushes for Two Touchdowns on Thursday
Javonte Williams

Salvages Inefficient Outing With Two Touchdowns
CeeDee Lamb

110-Yard Game Marred by Four Drops
Will Shipley

Questionable to Return on Thursday Night
Pablo López

Pablo Lopez Expected to Return on Friday
Micah Parsons

Expected to Play in Week 1
Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Exits With Knee Contusions
Will Smith

Unlikely to Play This Weekend
Shohei Ohtani

to Pitch on Monday
Jon Rahm

Looks to Prove His Importance on European Ryder Cup Team
Tommy Fleetwood

Among Leaders of European Ryder Cup Team
Brandon Sproat

to Start for Mets on Sunday
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Close to Triple-Double Versus Serbia
Nikola Jokić

Nikola Jokic Fills Box Score Against Turkey
Nikola Jović

Nikola Jovic Shakes Off Minor Injury
E.J. Liddell

Inks Two-Way Deal With Nets
NBA

Ben Simmons Reportedly Considering Retirement
P.J. Washington

Agrees to Four-Year, $90 Million Extension
Mike Trout

Plans to Return on Thursday
Will Smith

X-Rays Negative on Will Smith's Hand
Will Smith

Exits With Hand Contusion
Jackson Chourio

in Lineup Wednesday Despite Hamstring Cramps
Sepp Straka

Gets Captain's Pick to Join Team Europe
Christian Yelich

Dealing With Soreness in Lower Back
PGA

Victor Hovland to Make Third Ryder Cup Appearance for Team Europe
J.J. Spaun

Set to Represent Team USA for First Time at Bethpage
Russell Henley

Makes First Ryder Cup Appearance at Bethpage
Harris English

Named to Ryder Cup Team for Second Time
Justin Thomas

Making Fourth Ryder Cup Team Appearance at Bethpage
Ben Griffin

Making First Career Ryder Cup Appearance at Bethpage
Bryson DeChambeau

Set to be Part of Team USA at Bethpage
Santi Aldama

Bags Double-Double in Losing Effort
Guerschon Yabusele

Erupts for 36 Points Against Poland
Luka Dončić

Luka Doncic Leads Slovenia Into Next Round at EuroBasket
San Antonio Spurs

Stanley Umude Signs Training Camp Deal With Spurs
Reece Beekman

Joins Magic for Training Camp
Justin Minaya

Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Magic
Alexandre Sarr

to Miss Rest of EuroBasket
Jared McCain

"On Pace" for Training Camp
Luke Hughes

Devils Optimistic About Signing Luke Hughes
Martin Fehérváry

Martin Fehervary on Track to Be Ready for Training Camp
Dylan Holloway

Good to Go for Start of Season
Josh Morrissey

Fully Healthy for Start of Season
Dennis Hildeby

Signs Three-Year Extension With Maple Leafs
Franz Wagner

Collects Double-Double in Blowout Win
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Achieves Rare Numbers at EuroBasket
Nikola Vučević

Nikola Vucevic Dominates Against Sweden
Kristaps Porzingis

Finding Form at EuroBasket
Nikola Jović

Nikola Jovic Suffers Minor Injury at EuroBasket
Victor Wembanyama

Looking "Quite Stellar"
Denny Hamlin

Ends Eventful Day at Darlington in Seventh Place
NASCAR

Bubba Wallace Almost Earns a Top-Five Finish at Darlington
John Hunter Nemechek

has His Best 2025 Performance at Darlington
Ryan Blaney

Has An Underwhelming Performance At Darlington
Josh Berry

Crashes Early and Suffers A Playoff Setback at Darlington
Chase Elliott

Under Playoff Pressure After 17th-Place Darlington Finish
Kyle Larson

Despite Hendrick Mediocrity, Kyle Larson Remains Pretty Safe in Playoffs
Alex Bowman

Opening-Lap Crash and Botched Pit Stop May Have Sunk Alex Bowman's Playoff Hopes
Erik Jones

Darlington Master Erik Jones Comes Up Short but Still Finishes Third
AJ Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger Impresses at Southern 500

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP