Salvador Perez and Cedric Mullins Among Struggling Fantasy Baseball Hitters Over Past Couple Weeks

After looking at some fantasy hitters trending up, let's now look at hitters trending down.

We'll be using stats from April 26-May 10. We'll break things down by different stats and won't be covering every hitter, just the most notable fantasy players.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant.

Least Amount of Hits

LA Dodgers' Michael Conforto has just two hits over the past two weeks, which spans 13 games and 47 plate appearances. He has two singles, along with four runs scored, one RBI, six walks, a stolen base and 14 strikeouts in that span.

He's only owned in 9% of fantasy leagues right now, and probably shouldn't be starting in those leagues. Conforto is a big bounceback candidate, so he's one to keep tabs on for when he heats up.

LA Angels' Taylor Ward had four hits over the timeframe we are using. He doubled and homered twice among his knocks, while also posting six RBIs, four walks, three runs scored and 17 strikeouts.

All those additional numbers helped offset the low number of hits, but the big strikeout total definitely isn't helping him any. He's way below his career marks to this point in the season, and is another bounceback candidate. Ward is still owned in 52% of leagues, but that's down from over 80% less than a month ago.

Baltimore's Cedric Mullins has just five hits over the past couple weeks. One of his hits was a homer, and he also has two runs scored, one RBI, three walks and 15 punchouts in that timeframe.

Mullins got off to a hot start this season, but regressed below his career numbers now. He has regressed in 2023-24, and now some are wondering if he's going to keep regressing moving forward. Mullins is still owned in 88% of leagues, but that's down from nearly 100% at the start of the month - expect that own percentage to rapidly fall if he doesn't turn it around soon.

Least Amount of Runs Scored

Kansas City's Salvador Perez and Atlanta's Michael Harris II have each only scored one run over the past two weeks.

Perez has five doubles among his eight knocks in that span, along with six RBIs, a walk and 10 strikeouts. Harris has five doubles and a triple among his 11 total knocks, along with 13 RBIs, three walks and stolen bases and nine strikeouts.

Perez has been a big fantasy disappointment so far this season. He still has plenty of fantasy value because he plays everyday and can slot in at two positions, but his 95% own mark is too low for a top-100 draft pick. Perez should get things going at some point, and I'd call him a big buy-low trade candidate right now.

Harris has regressed heavily from his career marks so far, so he's another buy-low candidate who should get things going soon. Despite all his struggles, he's still owned in 92% of fantasy leagues.

The higher own percentage marks for Perez and Harris show how much faith fantasy owners have in them turning things around, because they definitely do not deserve to be rostered in that many leagues right now.

Least Amount of RBIs

Washington's Keibert Ruiz, Chicago Cubs' Nico Hoerner and Miami's Xavier Edwards are among a group of hitters with just one RBI over the past couple weeks of play.

Ruiz has a double among his 11 knocks in that span. He also has three runs scored and six strikeouts.

Ruiz might not be driving in runs, but he's racking up hits and getting on base at a career-best pace so far. Things should even out over time for Ruiz, who is rostered in 66% of leagues right now. If you are lacking in the fantasy catcher spot, Ruiz is a good waiver wire add in my eyes.

Hoerner is owned in 95% of fantasy leagues right now. He was around 100% earlier in the season.

Hoerner has four doubles among his nine hits over the past couple weeks, along with seven runs scored, two walks, a stolen base and seven strikeouts. He's never been a big power or run production guy and he's producing pretty similarly to his career marks. I could see him improving his value a bit as a fantasy asset as the season goes along, so he's actually a bit of a buy-low trade candidate to me.

Edwards has a triple among his nine total knocks over the past two weeks. He has five runs scored, six walks, four stolen bases and nine strikeouts as well. 

Edwards is another on-base guy, not a big power guy or run producer. His numbers have dropped from last season, but I also see him bumping his numbers up notably from their current marks. Edwards is owned in just 66% of leagues, so he'd be a hot waiver wire name if he ever catches fire at the plate.

Most Strikeouts

Detroit's Zach McKinstry and Oneil Cruz led the MLB with 21 strikeouts over the timeframe we are using.

McKinstry had 11 total hits in that span, including four doubles. He also had seven runs scored, four RBIs, six walks and two stolen bases.

McKinstry has been a surprisingly good fantasy asset to start the season. He was bound to regress, and that's started over the past several games. McKinstry still has good season-long numbers, but his own percentage dropping from around 70% to its current 55% mark shows he's trending down in value.

Cruz has nine hits and 12 walks over the past two weeks. He has two doubles and a homer among his knocks, along with four RBIs and stolen bases and seven runs scored.

Cruz started the year hot. Despite him cooling off and striking out a ton, Cruz is still putting up really good fantasy numbers. He's bound to improve his numbers a bit as the season rolls along, which should offset the higher strikeout numbers. He should be owned in all leagues, and starting in just about every league everyday too.

Athletics' Lawrence Butler has 20 punchouts over the past couple weeks, as does Cincinnati's Matt McLain and Washington's Dylan Crews.

Butler has a double and two homers among his 10 total knocks over the past couple weeks. He also has seven RBIs, three runs scored and a stolen base and walk.

Butler's average and OBP are a bit down from the marks he posted across 125 games last season, but he's filling the box score enough otherwise to remain a good fantasy asset. If you can't afford all his strikeouts, he should be traded, even though he's been dropped in 8% of leagues (92% rostered overall).

McLain was part of the hitters trending up story, but his strikeouts are definitely an issue. He's underperformed so far, but is trending up a bit of late. McLain is available in 16% of leagues right now.

Crews hasn't been the fantasy asset most people expected this season. Over the past couple weeks, he has a double and two homers among his seven total hits, along with four RBIs and walks, five runs scored and three stolen bases.

There's still time for Crews to get things moving in a positive direction, but after a putrid start to the season and not a ton of positive play since, his fantasy outlook is definitely going down. He's rostered in 58% of leagues now, after sitting above 70% at the end of April.