We’re up to Week 18 in the 2026 fantasy baseball season. At this point, it’s the stretch run before the playoffs start. But this will also be a week of change, as many players will likely be on the move before the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline. So, we’ll take a look at five players who probably won’t be going anywhere this week.

Best Week 18 hitters to target

• OF Max Clark (Tigers)
• C Yainer Diaz (Astros)
• OF Steven Kwan (Guardians)
• OF Spencer Jones (Yankees)
• OF Luis Lara (Brewers)

We’ll start with the non-rookies. Steven Kwan just keeps hitting. Since June 12, Kwan has had nine multi-hit games, looking more like the 2022 and 2023 version of the Guardians outfielder. And he tallied another hit on August 2, which gave him 11 over his last eight contests.

The book is clear on Kwan: don’t expect a lot of pop. But he can hit, and that has value in any format.

Yainer Diaz batted .409 with two home runs before August 2. Get the pop when it’s available.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about rookies. Max Clark likely won’t be able to keep up this pace. But he had a mighty-fine weekend in Sacramento, his first as a big-leaguer. Six hits in three games against the Athletics, including his first career MLB home run.

As we noted in our preview of Max Clark earlier this week, the hit tool is legit. So is his ability to work walks, valuable in points leagues. If he can keep a reasonably good pace up, Clark won’t be going back to the Minors.

Rookie Luis Lara is starting to creep into the fantasy conversation. Before the 2nd of August, Lara had six hits, five of which were extra-base hits, plus five runs scored and eight RBI over his previous six contests. Unfortunately for Lara, he went 0-4 to finish out the series against the Angels.

Lara is a mostly-everyday player, as he played in four of the club’s six games out on the West Coast. He has more value in points leagues, just because he walks a lot and can use his speed to get extra-base hits, more valuable in those formats.

And another rookie outfielder, Spencer Jones, also had a fine week. Jones had three home runs during the Yankees’ one-week road trip through Chicago. Two came against the Cubs, while his first week was against the White Sox.

With all hands on deck right now among outfielders, Jones should see regular playing time. The swing-and-miss won’t be going anywhere. But that doesn’t mean the upside goes away per se. Jones’ power is prodigious.

Overview of Week 17

Another big week for Ty France, who had a multi-hit game in each of the last three games that the Padres played against the Giants this past weekend. Heading into play on the 2nd, France slashed .440/.483/.440 in his previous seven games before today.

Isaac Paredes hit his 15th home run this past week, putting him within striking distance of another 20-home run campaign. Paredes currently has 15 on the season.

Unfortunately, both Tommy Edman and Brayan Rocchio had down weeks during Week 17. But that doesn’t mean that either should be dropped.

Check out more of our fantasy baseball coverage.