We continue to barrel toward the end of the regular season, and head-to-head fantasy leagues are even closer to concluding, with likely only a matchup or two remaining. With that in mind, this column will continue to have one eye on 2026 and the other toward 2027. In particular, we'll be focusing on some over- and underperforming hitters in August while considering what they can accomplish in September and in 2027.
Risers
In a season full of disappointments for the Mets, Benge has been a clear bright spot. Through August, he contributed in the expected ways, hitting .266 with 11 home runs, 55 runs scored, 41 RBI and 17 stolen bases. It was a solid, if unspectacular season, particularly given the context of the disappointing Mets' offense. He's hit five additional home runs with 14 runs and 13 stolen bases in 25 games, and he's managed to do all of that while still hitting .333. Overall, he's lowered his strikeout rate in the month while also increasing his fly-ball rate.
Expecting Benge to carry over this level of production into 2027 would be a mistake, but it does show that there's still upside in his profile. His usage by the Mets is also telling. Benge spent the majority of the season occupying the leadoff spot, but he's hit in the heart of the order – either fourth or fifth – almost exclusively since the start of July. The Mets clearly believe he has the ability to drive in
We continue to barrel toward the end of the regular season, and head-to-head fantasy leagues are even closer to concluding, with likely only a matchup or two remaining. With that in mind, this column will continue to have one eye on 2026 and the other toward 2027. In particular, we'll be focusing on some over- and underperforming hitters in August while considering what they can accomplish in September and in 2027.
Risers
In a season full of disappointments for the Mets, Benge has been a clear bright spot. Through August, he contributed in the expected ways, hitting .266 with 11 home runs, 55 runs scored, 41 RBI and 17 stolen bases. It was a solid, if unspectacular season, particularly given the context of the disappointing Mets' offense. He's hit five additional home runs with 14 runs and 13 stolen bases in 25 games, and he's managed to do all of that while still hitting .333. Overall, he's lowered his strikeout rate in the month while also increasing his fly-ball rate.
Expecting Benge to carry over this level of production into 2027 would be a mistake, but it does show that there's still upside in his profile. His usage by the Mets is also telling. Benge spent the majority of the season occupying the leadoff spot, but he's hit in the heart of the order – either fourth or fifth – almost exclusively since the start of July. The Mets clearly believe he has the ability to drive in runs, and his results in that span suggest they are correct. With high on-base players ahead of him in the lineup, Benge has the chance to be a strong counting stat contributor down the stretch and into 2027. If he shifts back up the order, the same is true of his stolen base and run-scoring upside. All told, this was a strong season for Benge, and it's difficult to see him failing to provide fantasy value of some variety in 2027.
Kwan is hardly worth mentioning because his underlying metrics haven't changed from the first half of the season when he was a significant underachiever. He disappointed to such a degree that he appeared in this article just over a month ago, highlighting some of the biggest fantasy busts.
In 168 plate appearances and 36 games since the All-Star break, Kwan has hit .373 while scoring 28 runs and swiping three bases. Yet, he has only one barrel and has otherwise not seen his quality of contact metrics improve. Fantasy drafters should understand that Kwan's resurgence has largely been fueled by a .413 BABIP in the second half, not a return of his skills.
Perdomo has a similarly uninspiring quality of contact profile, and he was a divisive player this preseason due to both his delayed breakout and poor contact. His path to repeating his production from 2025 was thus narrow and required that he did everything to maximize the contact he does make. In the first half of the season, Perdomo suffered from both an inflated groundball and infield fly-ball rate. That turned a significant portion of his contact into easy outs.
While Perdomo has not improved his barrel rate or max exit velocity, he has improved some of those flaws. His groundball rate dropped roughly six percentage points and he has yet to hit an infield fly ball since the All-Star break. Perdomo has slashed .282/.379/.416 in 176 plate appearances while also improving his expected stats. Perdomo isn't ever likely to repeat his line from 2025, but he's also better than he showed to begin the 2026 campaign.
Devers has had a very strong August relative to the rest of the league, but his .260 ISO and .385 wOBA are within the norms of his performance for most of the season. It would be easy and excusable to have tuned out Devers and the Giants, given his abysmal start to the season and the team's disastrous overall campaign. Before jumping into his August performance specifically, Devers has dispelled the notion that he isn't able to hit or produce at Oracle Park. He has a higher ISO, wRC+, wOBA, OPS and far better counting stats at home than on the road. That's a significant boost to his long-term outlook.
Devers' primary gain in the second half has been his increased contact rate. He's cut his strikeout rate from 27.3 percent in the first half to 21.7 in the second. Conversely, his walk rate has risen. This isn't necessarily predictive of anything moving forward, it's just another sign that Devers looks to remain a worthwhile investment in 2027 despite the potential narrative this offseason.
Bohm has had a tricky season both on and off the field, but he's delivered far more in line with preseason expectations in the second half. Across 37 games and 155 plate appearances since the All-Star break, Bohm has hit .324 with three home runs, 21 runs scored and 29 RBI. Power has never been and likely never will be his calling card, but he's returned to being a high contact rate player capable of driving in runs in the middle of a strong lineup.
That seemingly settles his value for 2027, but that evaluation is trickier because Bohm is set to hit free agency this offseason. The hitting environment and team context will play a huge role in his outlook, so Bohm's long-term outlook remains unclear.
Fallers
It would be unfair to say that Turner hasn't bounced back at all in the last month, but his August stat line shouldn't do anything to ease the concern of fantasy managers of a rather sharp decline. Across 169 plate appearances and 37 games, Turner has hit .260 with seven home runs, 24 runs scored and 18 RBI. His power production in particular is encouraging, but his counting stats remain poor despite him hitting second in the order.
Particularly concerning is Turner's lack of stolen bases. He has only two steals since the All-Star break and has attempted a stolen base just four times in that span. Turner could potentially turn his profile into something similar to Jose Altuve as he's aged, but his days as a locked-in top-50 pick should officially be over.
It's been a disastrous first season in Los Angeles for Tucker, and there has been no sign of things turning around. He's hit just .192 with four homers, 10 RBI and 18 runs scored across 36 games and 143 plate appearances. If there is a positive to take away, it's that Tucker has struck out at only a 12.6 percent clip in that span. His abysmal batting average is at least in part explained by bad luck. On the other hand, he has an abysmal 4.6 percent barrel rate with only an 87.7 mph average exit velocity, which clearly explains why he's struggled to cobble together much of any production.
Tucker often hasn't posted gaudy exit velocity readings or barrel rates, but his average exit velocity is the lowest of his career by roughly 1.5 mph and barrel rate (5.5 percent) is roughly half of his previous career-worst mark. It's fair to expect some type of rebound in 2027, but Tucker will be entering his age-30 season and has also shown a significantly declined desire to steal bases this year. Despite the poor season, Tucker was still selected 72nd overall in the Too Early Meatball Draft, setting him up to be one of the more intriguing ADPs of the offseason.
Ewing has had an impressive rookie season overall and has earned the trust of the Mets to the degree that he's the team's primary leadoff hitter. He hit something of a rookie wall in August, hitting only .153 with a .041 ISO. The positive news is that Ewing has maintained roughly his same level of quality of contact and hasn't seen a spike in his strikeout rate. Put another way, he may be on a downturn, but that looks to have more to do with variance than with him being overwhelmed in August more than he previously had.
Looking ahead to 2027, Ewing has some risk. His overall strikeout rate is around eight percentage points higher than it was across three levels in 2025 and across his limited sample prior to his promotion in 2026. That's balanced out by a decent walk rate, but Ewing still only has an overall on-base percentage of .309. That could hurt his positioning in the team's lineup. Nevertheless, this was a fairly impressive debut for Ewing, just not a perfect one.
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