A high supply of hitting has led to pitching dominating MLB’s hot stove prior. This lack of intel makes it tougher to speculate on batters poised for more opportunities during 2019’s final two months.

Deals will nevertheless go down before Wednesday’s trade deadline. Most will be of the smaller-scale variety, starting with Eric Sogard going from Toronto to Tampa Bay on Sunday. These types of moves will particularly matter — the Blue Jays called up top prospect Bo Bichette to fill the open roster spot — so keep track of all the week’s developments.

Two of the highlighted players are locked into playing time. The other two could see their recently expanded roles turn permanent after the deadline. All of them are rostered in under 10% of Yahoo and ESPN leagues, per FantasyPros’ consensus rates taken on Sunday.

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Nick Ahmed (SS – ARI): 8%
Nothing about Ahmed’s season will blow anyone away. Heck, I just recently noticed that I had him tucked at the bottom of my shortstop rankings among inactive players. However, he’s having a sustainably solid season as a fixture in Arizona’s lineup.

With 10 homers in 143 games, the 29-year-old is on track to challenge last year’s personal high of 16. His six steals have already set a new best, and he’s managed to pile up 55 runs and 51 RBIs at the bottom of the order. That puts him 23rd on the Player Rater at a stacked position behind Jean Segura and Amed Rosario. Although hardly league-winning production, he’ll play as a middle infielder in deeper settings.

Despite a modest rise in exit velocity and barrel rate, Statcast still has a .250 expected average (xBA) for the career .237 hitter. Before anticipating his .268 clip to harshly depreciate, consider that his strikeout rate has dropped every month this season. He’s paired July’s 13 punchouts with 12 walks in 81 plate appearances. Ahmed’s 80% contact rate, as of Sunday, also represents the highest mark of his career since 2014’s 25-game debut. He’s chasing fewer pitches off the plate than ever before and has magnified both of those improvements in July.

Maybe Ahmed isn’t due to regress after all. The biggest caveat is that he remains far better against lefties (131 wRC+) than righties (81 wRC+), so view him more as a depth piece than breakout candidate.

Josh VanMeter (2B/3B/OF – CIN): 3%
VanMeter’s arrival attracted some deep-league attention in May, but that vanished due to sporadic playing time. He failed to record a single home run before getting sent back to Triple-A, where he prompted another promotion by upping his slash line to .348/.429/.629.

Since rejoining the parent club, the 24-year-old utility man has gone 13-for-28 with two doubles and four home runs. Three of those long balls came in a trio of consecutive multi-hit outbursts last week. Just like that, he’s suddenly brandishing a 153 wRC+ in the bigs. The Reds are finding ways to keep his scorching bat in the lineup, playing the lefty at second base, third base, and left field.

Cincinnati’s lineup is crowded at the moment, but that could change by Wednesday. The Reds have plummetted out of the playoff picture, making pending free agents Yasiel Puig and Scooter Gennett possible movers. Even if he stays put, Gennett can’t stay in the lineup forever with a 19 wRC+. VanMeter is currently filling the role of Derek Dietrich, who has fallen hard after an other-worldly May. If the newcomer stays hot, he could earn an extended audition over the final two months. Take a flier in 15-team mixed and NL-only leagues.

J.D. Davis (3B/OF – NYM): 2%
The Mets placed Dominic Smith on the injured list Saturday with a stress reaction in his left foot. Rather than bolstering their defense by using an actual outfielder, they have turned to another alluring bat with defensive limitations.

Davis graced this column earlier in the year when he looked poised to displace an injured and then slumping Todd Frazier at third base. Once Frazier turned the corner and Smith caught fire, the 26-year-old was instead limited to reps against lefties. Over the weekend, however, Davis started both games against Pittsburgh righties Trevor Williams and Chris Archer. He went yard Saturday and is now hitting a .301/.365/.483 with 10 homers in 263 plate appearances.

While Smith’s metrics hinted heavily at the regression that befell him this month, Davis’ production looks legit. In fact, the Statcast numbers are even more flattering than the actual results, as he boasts a .305 xBA and .506 xSLG. He’s above MLB’s 90th percentile in exit velocity (91.6 mph), hard-hit rate (48%), and xwOBA (.378).

Perhaps Davis could even see reps at a more comfortable spot. All the trade chatter has focused on the Mets’ pitchers, but Frazier is a serviceable starter in a contract year. If the Mets aren’t deluded by a four-game winning streak, which might be the case after acquiring Marcus Stroman, they could flip Frazier for a prospect and let Davis play out the season at the hot corner.

Tyler Naquin (OF – CLE): 2%
It’s not a trade deadline until discussing Cleveland’s need for an outfield upgrade. While Puig or Nicholas Castellanos would help the Tribe keep climbing the standings, it’s no longer as dire a concern. Rookie Oscar Mercardo has been a revelation in center, and Tyler Naquin has joined most of his teammate in swinging a sizzling bat this month.

After showing some uncharacteristic pop with five homers in June, Naquin is hitting .436 (24-for-55) with three walks, eight doubles, and three homers in July. He’s carved down his strikeout rate to 15% during that stretch, a pleasant sign given his career 26.3% clip. And although he’s almost certain to slow down, at least this surge isn’t necessarily a complete fluke. He wields a magnificent .464 xwOBA this month.

Naquin hasn’t hit this well since staging a 133 wRC+ in 2016’s rookie campaign, but the 28-year-old has already matched that season’s tally of 18 barrels in 146 fewer plate appearances. He has upped his exit velocity and launch angle substantially while hitting .348 against breaking balls. These trends are interesting enough to bite in 15-team mixed and AL-only leagues while closely monitoring his progress in all formats.

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