Struggling Fantasy Baseball Hitters in Past Week: Cody Bellinger and Isaac Paredes Among Most Notable Players

After looking at fantasy baseball hitters who were trending up over the past week, let's now take a look at hitters moving in a negative direction.

Stats are from May 27-June 2. We'll only focus on notable fantasy players.

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Least Amount of Hits

Among qualified hitters, several guys finished with just one hit. Among those players were New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger, Houston's Isaac Paredes and St. Louis' Victor Scott II.

Bellinger is the biggest fantasy name of the bunch. He had 19 plate appearances last week, singling for his only hit, then also walking three times. Bellinger had no RBIs, two runs scored, a stolen base, was hit by a pitch and struck out once.

It was a rough week for Bellinger, but it'd take another rough week for his own percentage to start dropping. If anything, some fantasy owners might just bench him until his bat heats back up. It could be a time to buy low on Belli given his recent struggles at the plate.

Paredes had a single for his lone hit across 24 plate appearances. He walked once, drove in a run, scored once and struck out six times.

Paredes was red hot before last week, so to see his production fall off so fast was kind of alarming. He's rostered in 96% of leagues still, but his start percentage is falling. Paredes might just have an up-and-down 2025 season, so the best time to target him would be during his cold stretches.

Scott had a single for his lone hit over his 17 plate appearances last week. He scored twice and drew two walks, but failed to drive in a run and also struck out seven times.

Scott is rostered in 40% of leagues now, and that number is trending down. Even with low power numbers, Scott is a decent fantasy asset because of his speed. He needs to produce more consistently in order to be utilized in more fantasy leagues though - for now, he probably should be benched in any deeper redraft leagues he's owned in.

Most Strikeouts

Detroit's Riley Greene was among the MLB's strikeout leaders last week, punching out 12 times. He offset some of those Ks with seven hits, including three doubles and a home run, while also posting four RBIs, a run scored and no walks.

Greene is owned in just about every fantasy league, and he's started pretty much daily too. There's some swing-and-miss to his game, but his upside is hard to bench/not roster. If you are looking for a hitter with less strikeouts, you could try trading Greene away - just make sure you are getting enough value in return.

LA Dodgers' Teoscar Hernandez struck out 11 times last week. Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom and Washington's James Wood joined Hernandez with 11 Ks each.

Hernandez had five hits, including a double, last week. He also had five runs scored and a walk, but no RBIs. 

Much like Greene, Hernandez's upside is too good to bench or not roster despite a bunch of strikeouts. His RBIs should return in time, but if there were ever a time to buy low on Hernandez, now might be that time.

Soderstrom had just three hits last week, but two were homers and the other was a double. He had five RBIs, two runs scored and three walks as well.

Soderstrom has fallen off since a red-hot start to his season. He's trending down as a fantasy asset, and is owned in 90% of leagues now. The time to sell high has already passed, but you still might be able to trade him away for something if you don't expect him to bounce back in a major way.

Wood was part of the hitters trending up story. He made that list because he logged seven hits, including three homers and two doubles, last week. Wood also had eight RBIs, five runs scored, two stolen bases and six walks to his name.

Wood has been able to offset some higher strikeout marks by filling the stat sheet in a bunch of other areas. I like him better than Greene right now, but they are in a similar boat - you could want to trade Wood to cut down on your strikeout totals, and Wood would net you a really good fantasy asset in return.

Boston's Trevor Story, Athletics' Lawrence Butler and Miami's Kyle Stowers all had 10 punchouts last week.

Story had four hits, including a double and a home run. He also walked once, drove in five runs and scored once.

Story was working his way into standard leagues at this point a month ago, but he's fallen off tremendously. He's down to 27% owned, and should be starting in a very small amount of leagues right now. He's got bounceback potential, so he's a player to keep an eye on, but for now, Story can be dropped or avoided in fantasy leagues.

Butler also made the hitters trending up story. He had 10 hits last week, including two home runs and two doubles. Butler had seven runs scored and walks, five RBIs and a stolen base to offset some of his Ks.

Hitters who can make up for big strikeout totals with other stats are the strikeout-prone players you want to roster in fantasy. Butler is one of those guys, and is trending up right now. If you don't like the strikeouts, then try to sell Butler high in a trade soon.

Stowers had only two hits last week, a single and a double. He had a run scored, RBI and two walks to go along with his 10 punchouts.

Stowers was around 80% rostered near the end of May, but has dropped way down to 62% owned now. He's looking like a better deep-league fantasy option for the season, but he still could be streamed in standard leagues when he's hot at the plate. I'd only roster Stowers in deeper leagues right now though.

Other Notable Struggling Hitters

Colorado's Ezequiel Tovar had a .083 average last week. He had a homer among his two hits, scored four runs, drove in one, drew a walk and struck out eight times.

He's down to 51% rostered now and is dealing with “side discomfort.” Tovar is just a deep-league fantasy asset until he proves he can hit consistently, while also staying healthy.

Milwaukee's Rhys Hoskins hit just .091 last week, with two hits (both homers) over 23 plate appearances. He drove in six runs on the two homers, while scoring both his runs. He walked once and struck out eight times.

Hoskins is rostered in 50% of leagues right now. He's got pretty solid season-long numbers, and probably deserved to be owned in more leagues before this past week. Keep a close eye on him and scoop him up if he breaks out of his cold stretch soon.

Texas' Wyatt Langford hit .111 last week, while teammate Corey Seager was at .125.

Langford had a homer among his two hits and walked three times across 22 plate appearances. He had three RBIs, two runs scored, a stolen base and seven punchouts as well.

Langford isn't having the best season with his average, but his homer and stolen base totals have him at 97% rostered. He'll need to deliver more frequently to see his own percentage stick that high.

Seager had two singles and no walks across 16 plate appearances last week - he only got into four games after coming off the injured list. He did not have a run scored or RBI, and he struck out six times.

Seager has struggled to get going since returning from his injury, but it's not time to panic yet. I'd be more worried about his injury-riddled past than anything. If you just don't believe in him, try selling Seager while he's still active.

Seattle's Randy Arozarena had a .125 average as well. He had a homer among his three knocks, along with one walk over 26 plate appearances. Arozarena had three RBIs, a run scored and nine strikeouts last week.

His own percentage is trending down, and he sits at 88% rostered now. Arozarena is probably still owned in too many leagues when you look at his season numbers, but his bigger name is boosting his mark for now. I've never been a huge fan of Arozarena in fantasy, and would look to trade him before dropping him outright.

Pittsburgh's Oneil Cruz had a .143 average last week across five games and 24 plate appearances. He had a double and homer among his three hits, while walking three times. Cruz had five runs scored, three RBIs, two stolen bases and nine strikeouts.

Cruz still scored some fantasy points despite not racking up many hits and striking out quite a bit. His stolen base and runs scored totals are boosting his fantasy value a lot, so I'd at least throw his name on the trade block to see if you could maybe land a more consistent hitter in return.