Another six late-season heroes to save your fantasy baseball playoff hopes

Tick, tick, tick...

The seconds are counting down to the trade deadline in ESPN fantasy baseball leagues, which arrives on Friday at noon ET.

If you haven't done a comprehensive evaluation of your roster to fine-tune it for the stretch run, it's imperative you do so now. Remember, all trades need to be accepted by both teams in advance of that deadline, and you'll need adequate time in advance of then for your trade counterpart to review any potential deal and give an OK.

In this space last week, we examined players with strong stretch-run histories who you should be prioritizing in trade offers. But history doesn't tell us everything about what's to transpire over the next six-plus weeks. Sometimes, your gut can serve as good of a guide as the historical numbers.

What follows is my list of players who fit the description, "gut call" trade targets I'm making in advance of Friday. Good luck with your own wheeling and dealing!

Jackson Chourio, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

Here's a well-known player who is highly rostered -- only 13 OF-eligibles have higher rates in ESPN leagues -- as well as a premium building block in dynasty-league play. Yet, strangely, he doesn't yet seem to be regarded as one of the game's premier hitters. There remains a bit of a feeling that Chourio has merely spun his wheels across what has been three MLB seasons to date. He's one of those "very good, but not yet great" fantasy hitters.

Maybe part of that perception stems from the fractured left hand that cost him the season's first 33 games, tempering his 2026 stat line. Perhaps, it's his plate discipline that, to this stage of his career, has been only so-so? I look at Chourio's mechanical adjustments and his recent returns, and I see a lot of things to like -- nay, love!

Chourio has improved his weight distribution throughout his stance and taken a more aggressive approach earlier in counts, which has had the dual effect of massively boosting both his contact quality and his performance against fastballs. Statcast places his barrel and hard-hit rates in the 90th and 85th percentiles, after he was roughly league average in both last year. Plus, he has added more than 150 points of slugging percentage against fastballs compared to 2025.

He's breaking out in a big way this year, and we're not even recognizing it. I don't think it's a stretch to say he's still got a shot at 30 homers this season.

Max Fried, SP, New York Yankees

He's only four starts removed from a more than two month stint on the IL for a bone bruise in his left elbow. However, in those starts, he hasn't exhibited any sort of loss of velocity or effectiveness with his four-seam fastball, cutter or curveball -- his three most critical pitches. Fried also reached 90 pitches in his most recent outing, only a hair off the 97.2 he averaged per start in 2025, so the workload question no longer seems valid.

Two things stand out with Fried: First, the Yankees have a feather-soft remaining pitching schedule, which includes 11 games against bottom-five teams (Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays) in runs per game and another nine against teams the Forecaster grades bottom-five (Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies).

Second, there's Fried's own tendency to go on extended hot streaks, which happens more often than he has had extended injury absences. Last season, six of his final seven outings were quality starts. In 2024, it was six of his final eight. And in 2023, a season in which he missed nearly three months due to a forearm injury, he finished with five quality starts over his final seven tries. Bank on a similar run to wrap up 2026.

Luis Garcia Jr., 2B/1B, Yankees

What? Another Yankee?! Commence the "homer" chants -- and it would be fitting to do so, since homers are the goal with Garcia.

To defend the "all-in with Yankees" trade strategy, consider that they have more total remaining games than all but two teams (Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, each with one more than New York), more remaining home games than anyone, and a top-10 overall remaining strength of schedule (although, admittedly, their pitchers have it slightly easier than their hitters).

More home games means more chances to aim for that short right field porch in Yankee Stadium. Garcia is posting personal bests in terms of pulling the ball (42.5% of the time he puts it into play) and hitting it in the air (56.2% of the time). And, by the way, he is second in the majors in slugging (.551), trailing only the near-lock-for-MVP Yordan Alvarez.

Best yet, there doesn't seem to be as much demand for Garcia as you might think. He wasn't the top FAB-getting league changer in any of the three AL-only leagues I compete in and/or most closely follow -- LABR (League of Alternative Baseball Reality), Tout Wars and my longstanding home league. Not only that, but he's still available as a free agent in nearly 20% of ESPN leagues. Go get him!

Payton Tolle, SP, Boston Red Sox

He might well be the most currently underrated pitcher in fantasy baseball. Tolle's 227 fantasy points since the beginning of May rank 16th among starting pitchers, and his 76 points over the past 30 days rank 17th. Somehow, he's still available as a free agent in more than one-third of ESPN leagues.

Tolle's pitch repertoire is outstanding: A 96.1 mph four-seam fastball, a cutter that both minimizes hard contact and generates a decent share of whiffs (31%), and a curveball that has accounted for a whopping 27 of his 124 K's despite having only 8.5% usage. He has also, to this point in his MLB career at least, been better against right-handed than lefty hitters. Additionally, he faces one of the more favorable remaining pitchers' schedules.

Alec Burleson, OF/1B, St. Louis Cardinals

Speaking of underrated, Burleson ranks fourth among outfielders and 10th among all hitters in fantasy points for the season, yet he couldn't even exceed a 90% start rate in ESPN leagues until after the All-Star break. He has been overshadowed on his own team by breakthrough performer and All-Star Jordan Walker as well as Rookie of the Year favorite JJ Wetherholt.

But consider that Burleson is the only batting title-eligible hitter -- Juan Soto is just shy of eligibility -- with at least 75th percentile numbers in terms of Statcast's Barrel and hard-hit rates as well as strikeout rate, a dream trio for points-league play. He's also on a .330/.408/.528 hot streak over the 24 games since the break.

Josh Naylor, 1B, Mariners

Last week, I alluded to my confidence that the Mariners would make a passionate push toward a playoff spot down the stretch, and Naylor's inclusion here fits the theme. Six members of their current lineup have expected wOBAs at least 10 points beneath their actual rates -- matching the San Diego Padres for the game's most -- and Seattle currently ranks last in runs per game after placing ninth in the category with a largely similar lineup last season.

Naylor's struggles have played a big part in the Mariners' hitting woes, but he's showing glimpses of a turnaround and should benefit from regular at-bats in a beefed-up batting order. This 2025 unexpected "speedster breakout" has swiped eight bases in his last 29 games alone, which coincides with a 25-game on-base streak.

He's showing much-improved plate discipline and his Mariners face one of the most favorable hitters' schedules the rest of the way -- especially in the month of September. Over that final month, Seattle will play 17 games against bottom-five teams in ERA, with six of those coming in the game's two most hitter-friendly ballparks (Colorado, Sacramento).

Reporting from ESPN contributed to this story.