Nick Fortes: A Catcher Showing Signs of Life After Months in the Wilderness
Nick Fortes has been a serial "deprioritize" in the WaiverScout system — flagged ten consecutive times dating back to April as a player to avoid. That changes today. A .485 wOBA over his last 17 plate appearances has upgraded him to Watch, and while the sample is razor-thin, the trajectory is worth your attention.
The Rolling Window Tells the Story
Fortes' numbers are escalating at every interval. Over 30 days, he's slashing .304 with 3 home runs and a .364 wOBA across 48 PA — solid but not breathtaking. Zoom into the 14-day window and you see a .346 average with a .413 wOBA over 28 PA. Now pull the lens tighter: over the last 7 days, Fortes is hitting .375 with 2 homers and a .485 wOBA in just 17 PA. That's a steep upward curve.
His last two games tell you everything. On July 20, he went 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI. The next day, he exploded for a 3-for-5 line with another home run and 4 RBI. That's 5-for-9 with 2 dingers and 5 RBI across consecutive games. For a catcher rostered in 1% of leagues, that's a flashing signal.
The Skills Check: Promising but Incomplete
Here's where we pump the brakes slightly. Fortes' 14-day hard-hit rate sits at 33.3% with an average exit velocity of 88 mph — respectable numbers that suggest he's making solid contact, not just getting lucky. But pull back to the 30-day window and that hard-hit rate craters to 9.7% with an 81.4 mph EV. That's a massive gap, and it tells us the quality-of-contact improvements are extremely recent.
His strikeout rate is genuinely encouraging across all windows — 17.6% over 7 days, 17.9% over 14 days, 16.7% over 30 days. That's consistent contact ability. The walk rate is essentially nonexistent (0% over 7 days, 3.6% over 14 days, 2.1% over 30 days), which caps his floor. He's a swing-first hitter who needs to find barrels to produce.
Ownership and Opportunity
At 1% rostered with stable ownership velocity, Fortes isn't on anyone's radar yet. FanGraphs lists him as a 29-year-old right-handed hitting catcher with Tampa Bay, and NFBC recently noted his multi-hit performance including a homer and double. The broader fantasy community hasn't picked up on the trend yet — which means there's still a window if this develops further.
If you're looking for catcher alternatives, Shea Langeliers, Carter Jensen, and Ryan Jeffers are the names in the same positional conversation. Fortes isn't displacing a top-tier option, but at a position starved for production, even a short burst of power can be league-winning in the right format.
Verdict: Watch
Do not add Nick Fortes yet. We're looking at 28 PA over 5 games — confidence is early signal at best. WaiverScout deprioritized him ten straight times for good reason, and two big games don't erase months of underwhelming output. But early signs suggest something could be emerging. The hard-hit rate jumping from 9.7% to 33.3% between the 30-day and 14-day windows is the kind of mechanical shift worth monitoring. If exit velocities hold near 88 mph and the power keeps showing up over the next week, this Watch becomes something more actionable. For now, keep him on your radar — not your roster.