Fantasy Baseball: 5 Hitters Who Have Been Crushing the Ball Recently

Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has consistently put up solid counting stats each year since debuting in 2014, but his advanced statistics have all been on a downward trend. After posting a 5.3 fWAR and 167 wRC+ as a rookie, both numbers decreased the following two seasons, with career lows of 1.6 and 118, respectively, in 2016.

The 108 wRC+ and .337 wOBA he posted in April weren't bad, but for a hitter who has seen his soft-hit rate and hard-hit rate decline since that stellar rookie campaign, watching him produce hard contact just 27.7% of the time wasn't an optimal situation. But if you look at the 42.2% hard-hit rate he's produced thus far in 2017, it seems like a distant memory.

That's because he's been clobbering the ball since May.

Abreu hit the ball hard 44.2% of the time in May, and one would think it's difficult to improve upon that number further. That's exactly what he's done this month, though, with it climbing all the way up to 52.9% through his last 86 plate appearances.

One may also think that the 48.5% ground-ball rate he's produced in June (and 45.3% for the year) seems a little high, but it's right in line with the 46.1% rate he posted from 2014 through 16, which has included three consecutive performances of 25-plus homers and 100-plus RBI.