Colt Keith, Cam Smith, and hitters who could break out due to swing or approach changes

Whose exit velocities are way up? While I understand the fun in that and think it can still be an interesting endeavor, we have to realize that we're dealing with extremely small sample sizes, and a lot of that can be misleading. However, if you ignore it totally, you could miss a breakout season.

So what should we do? In my opinion, the best thing to do early in the season is to tie tangible changes in a hitter's approach or swing mechanics to their success. If we see a hitter off to a stronger-than-usual start, and we also know that they made a conscious decision to change their swing path or their approach, then we can have more confidence in backing the early gains.

So that's what I'm attempting to do in this article. I looked at a few hitters who are off to really strong starts, and then I cross-checked that with hitters who meaningfully changed their swing path, batting stance, or approach at contact. The goal is to find hitters who may truly be breaking out based on these changes, and players we can trade for or grab on the wire before everybody else is keyed into these results being at least somewhat real.

RELATED: Check out this week’s MLB Power Rankings! Breakout Hitters for Fantasy Baseball 2026 Colt Keith - 1B/2B/3B, Detroit Tigers When you look at the biggest bat speed risers so far in 2026, you'll see Colt Keith's name. The 24-year-old has had the biggest jump in bat speed, up 2.