With the end of the season in sight, this will be my final column of the year. Thanks for reading and keeping the comment section friendly, and I hope I did more good than harm to your teams.

One more time, here are some names for the stretch run to give you a final boost.

BuyCoby Mayo, 3B, BAL

We have all grown jaded by Orioles prospects with big tools, but Mayo has top-end power, and that’s a good place to start. How far that takes him is an open question. His 13.9% swinging-strike rate is workable, but his pitch selection leaves something to be desired. He is 700 plate appearances into his MLB career, so it’s not crazy to dream on him improving to an average in the .240s with 30+ homers. In August, the pitch selection didn’t improve, but his BABIP was .333, and that lifted his average to .269 for the month with five homers and five additional extra-base hits. Given his power, that BABIP doesn’t seem crazy, though it is out of line with his career .270 figure. Either way, he’ll give you a power boost.

Kaelen Culpepper, SS, MIN

Speaking of tools, the Twins’ new shortstop has plenty to offer across the board. He doesn’t have Mayo’s thump, but he could go 20-HR/20-SB with a .270 average over a full season. What he does for the balance of this year is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to argue with the results so far. Expect more of a .260-.270 average going forward with the occasional homer and steal.

Bryce Eldridge, 1B, SFG

I wrote up Eldridge three months ago, and I still don’t understand why he doesn’t get more attention. He has power, a good eye and a nifty 10.7% swinging-strike rate. The result is a well-earned slash line of .261/.353/.451. The park and lineup drag down the overall line, but he’s still a solid value.

Tyler Mahle, SP, ATL

He has been throwing more splitters since moving to Atlanta at the trade deadline, and in his five starts with the Braves, he’s had a superb 27.4 K% and 4.3 BB%. The 96.9% strand rate is just a tad lucky, but even if he can’t hold the post-deadline 1.48 ERA, his FIP and xFIP are both under 3.00.

SellTrea Turner, SS, PHI

He’s still blazing fast and hits at the top of a solid lineup. If you want runs and steals, you might as well hang on to him. In the past month, however, he hasn’t been hitting the ball as hard, and more of his contact has been in the air. That has resulted in a lot of popups and little power to compensate. He could straighten things out and look more Trea Turner-like, or this might be what we get. In shallow leagues, it’s OK to drop him for someone who is putting up good numbers right now.

Gleyber Torres, 2B, DET

Since returning from injury after the All-Star break, Torres has slashed .239/.327/.370, and none of that looks unlucky. Maybe the .282 BABIP rises a bit, so if you could use a .250 average with some runs, he can do that for you, but that’s about it.

Ranger Suarez, SP, BOS

Since returning from the IL in July, Suarez’s Stuff+ has slipped to 91 — he was at 95 before that — and it’s taken both his peripherals and results down with it. His K-BB% dropped from 18.9% to merely 6.4%, and his ERA since returning is 5.01, compared to a prior mark of 3.15 (with his ERA estimators in close range to both figures). You’re better off using his roster spot for streaming.

HoldChristian Yelich, DH, MIL

Since the All-Star break, Yelich is rocking a 15.5% barrel rate, but not seeing the results you’d expect. He’s hitting .234 with a .395 SLG, while Statcast gives him a .266 xBA and .466 xSLG. He could have a productive finish.

Wyatt Langford, OF, TEX

It’s been a rough month and an uneven year for Langford, but he still has a solid base to work from. He makes good swing decisions, doesn’t whiff too much and has decent power and good speed. He’s easier to work with in OBP leagues, but even in standard 5×5, I think he can have a decent finish and still be a stud down the road.

Shane Baz, SP, BAL

He’s been solid recently, outside of one clunker in Minnesota. He won’t win your league for you, but he can help patch together a rotation if you’re limping to the finish line. Since July, he has a 3.70 ERA and a 2.60 FIP.

Where can you gain the most in the final month? Here are some players with low roster rates who can give you a category-specific boost.

HittersBatting average
Jeff McNeil, 1B/2B, ATH
Walker Jenkins, OF, MIN: He only just arrived, so I offer zero guarantees here, but he had excellent plate skills in the minors.
Pedro Ramírez, 2B/3B, CHC: He has limited power, but good contact and speed.
Kaelen Culpepper, SS, MIN: See “Buys” above.
Home runs
Coby Mayo, 3B, BAL; Bryce Eldridge, 1B, SFG: See “Buys” above.
Heriberto Hernández, OF, MIA
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B, BAL: The whiffs will catch up to him at some point, but he does damage on contact.
Tyler Stephenson, C, CIN: Stephenson’s a solid hitter in a good park getting regular time in the DH spot.
Steals
Jonah Cox, OF, SFG: He put up some truly silly numbers in the minors this year, hitting .415 with 34 steals in 55 games. Now he’s somehow throwing up a .276/.311/.517 slash line while striking out nearly half the time. That looks like a fever dream, but he will steal at every opportunity. It’s unclear how much he will play against righties, so he could be tricky to roster.
Jung Hoo Lee, OF, SFG: Lee has fewer steals, but a more stable profile than his fellow Giant outfielder.
Andres Giménez, 2B/SS, TOR
A.J. Ewing, OF, NYM: Ewing gets runs, steals and not much more for now.
Runs/RBI
Tommy Edman, 2B/3B/OF, LAD: The Dodgers’ offense has been “meh” in the second half, but it’s still a nice lineup for a contact hitter to bank some stats.
Jared Young, 1B/OF, NYM: He won’t keep this up forever, but he does damage against righties.
Mauricio Dubón, SS/OF, ATL: He makes lots of contact on a good offense, and recently he’s been hitting in the middle third of the lineup.
Tim Tawa, 1B/3B/OF, ARI: Tawa’s an average hitter who has been hot lately.
PitchersStrikeouts
Grayson Rodriguez, SP, LAA
Matthew Liberatore, SP, STL: He has upped his slider usage in his past four starts, and he’s turned into a completely different pitcher, with a 34.8% K-rate in that stretch. He’s also getting knocked around, with over two homers per nine innings. I don’t know what to expect next, but he’s at least an interesting dart throw.
Kumar Rocker, SP, TEX: It’s a bumpy ride, but he does get K’s.
Wins

These pitchers offer up decent starts on decent teams.

Jake Bennett, SP, BOS
Anthony Kay, SP, CHW
Hayden Wesneski, SP, HOU
Walker Buehler, SP, SDP
ERA

These are my favorite of the arms I’ve listed in this waiver-wire section.

Andrew Painter, SP, PHI: The stuff has ticked up recently, which makes me believe the hit suppression isn’t just good luck.
David Peterson, SP, CHC
WHIP
Randy Vasquez, SP, SDP
Janson Junk, SP, MIA: Strikeouts are few and far between, but so are the walks.

Final note: Thanks again, everyone, and good luck in the final days. If you have young people in your life who enjoy the other type of fantasy writing, keep an eye out for my debut novel, “Charlie and the Not-a-Cat” — publishing date to be announced soon!