The steady flow of exciting hitters from the Colorado Rockies has provided a haven for fantasy baseball owners in search of hitting help.
The Rockies' recent promotions of Kaelen Culpepper and Zac Veen have joined the likes of Max Clark and George Lombard Jr., who made their debuts in the vicinity of the MLB Trade Deadline. This influx of new hitters has caught the attention of fantasy baseball managers, who are wise to invest in them while streaming starters with favorable matchups.
Mickey Moniak, OF, Rockies, 38%: Not only is Moniak having a terrific season (.862 OPS), but the Rockies' remaining schedule virtually guarantees stretch-run success for their hitters. Starting on Monday, the team will play 22 of their final 38 games at Coors Field, where the team thrives and Moniak has a spectacular lifetime .997 OPS.
Zac Veen, OF, Rockies, 12%: The fantasy community added another member to a deep pool of appealing Colorado outfielders when Veen was recalled from Triple-A on Tuesday. The 24-year-old had a cup of coffee in the majors last year (34 AB) but had spent the entirety of 2026 in the Pacific Coast League, where at the moment of his promotion he ranked 1st in OPS (1.037), 2nd in homers (24), 2nd in RBI (87) and 4th in runs (82).
Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Rockies, 8%: Perhaps it’s the fact that George Lombard Jr. (49%) plays in a major market, or perhaps it’s that Lombard was promoted a few days earlier, but we now see a 41% gap in the roster rate of two rookie shortstops who have similar skill sets and minor league numbers. In a nearly identical number of minor league contests this season, Culpepper tallied 31 HR+SB while Lombard accumulated 26.
Zack Gelof, 2B/3B/OF, Athletics, 40%: Gelof returned from the IL on Monday and will hopefully reclaim the skill improvements that he had previously shown this year. Strikeouts have always held back the infielder from showcasing his power and speed skills, but by cutting his whiff rate to 25.5% this year, he has hit .280 with 13 homers and eight steals in 239 at-bats.
Cam Smith, OF, Astros, 19%: Those in deep formats can give a fresh opportunity to Smith, who has shown significant improvement (.791 OPS) in the second half. The youngster has dealt with poor luck this season (.264 BABIP) and his expected stats are all notably better than his actual marks.
Pitchers to add
J.T. Ginn, SP/RP, Athletics, 34%: Ginn has been the most consistent starter who cannot seem to raise his roster rate past the 50% threshold this season. The right-hander has logged solid ratios (3.41 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) and in two starts since returning from a brief IL stint, he has allowed four earned runs over 12 innings.
Sean Manaea, SP/RP, Mets, 29%: Through the rubble that is the Mets 2026 season, Manaea has reemerged as a valuable starter. The lefty was surprising sent to the bullpen at the end of spring training before recovering his rotation spot on June 13 as a deep group of starters was slowly depleted by injuries.
Hitters with favorable weekend matchups
Jake Burger, 1B, Rangers, 21%: A powerful right-handed hitter, Burger typically fares best against lefties (.815 OPS) and away from his pitcher-friendly home park (.731 OPS). He should thrive at homer-happy Sutter Health Park this weekend, when the Athletics will roll out two southpaw starters.
Henry Bolte, OF, Athletics, 4%: On the other side of the same series, Bolte is in perfect position to continue his August surge (.856 OPS).
Source: Yahoo Sports