We have made it another week through the MLB season, making it to the All-Star break. As usual, there were some great and rough performances to dig into. This weekly column will help highlight some hot and cold players, risers, and fallers for fantasy purposes. Some players are already rostered in many places so that trades may be in order, and other players may be widely available, making a potential waiver wire claim in the cards. So this week, Each week I will try and highlight some known and lesser-known players. So let’s see some of the risers and fallers for fantasy baseball Week 15 (7/11-7/17).
Risers
Are we finally getting the Leody Taveras fantasy production we have wanted for a couple of years? So far, it seems we are. Sure it’s a small sample, but Taveras is producing. This past week, Taveras hit safely in all seven games with seven doubles, a home run, and four stolen bases. He even contributed with nine runs batted in and six runs scored. In addition, Taveras only struck out 14.3% of the time with an impressive 1.346 OPS and 281 wRC+.
Since being called up on June 13, Taveras is hitting .341 with three home runs and five stolen bases. He has a .212 ISO, .920 OPS, and 161 wRC+. Most importantly, Taveras is striking out 24.4% of the time, which is down to his usual strikeout rate of over 30% in previous seasons in the bigs. Taveras lowered his minor league strikeout rate this year to 21% while hitting .294 with seven home runs and seven steals. It seems Taveras has made some significant improvements in plate discipline, and that is translating to some early success with the Rangers.
Matt Carpenter (1B, 2B, OF – NYY)
The Matt Carpenter resurrection project has been quite the story. This past week the story continued ono as Carpenter hit .400 with three home runs, 12 RBI, and six runs scored over five games. Carpenter even walked 15% of the time, so he was reaching base at a solid clip when he wasn’t enjoying the short porch in the Bronx.
Carpenter does not play every day but is playing enough to have profound fantasy relevance. He has played 31 games since joining the Yankees and is hitting .354 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI. In addition, he has a ridiculous .557 ISO, 1.380 OPS, and 278 wRC+. Of course, this insane run Carpenter has been on will not last forever, but for now, it is very impressive and worth some serious fantasy attention.
Ramon Urias (2B, SS, 3B – BAL)
We have seen big weeks from Urias and the slumps that eventually follow. So take this with a grain of salt, but also realize that Urias will have some serious streaming times for your fantasy teams. This past week, he hit .421 with three home runs, five runs scored, and seven RBI. Urias only stuck out 10% of the time while barreling the ball 11.8% with a 58.8% strikeout rate. Urias is now hitting .255 on the season with nine home runs. A streak bat but serviceable in deeper leagues, especially with all that positional flexibility.
Wow, there was a Yoan Moncada sighting this past week. He hit safely in six of seven games for a .333 batting average. Moncada hit two home runs while scoring ten runs. He barreled the ball 14.3% of the time but only had a 28.6% hard-hit rate. Moncada still struck out 27.3% of the time, which is higher than his season 26.8% strikeout rate. He is now hitting .213 on the season with five home runs. Moncada has a long way to go to be trusted weekly on your fantasy team, but this past week was promising.
Vaughn has been swinging a scorching bat of late, and this past week was no exception. He hit safely in six of seven games for a .393 batting average with two home runs and ten RBI. Vaughn only struck out 16.7% of the time to go with an incredible 1.112 OPS. He made contact 83% of the time, and the results were excellent, with a 13% barrel rate and 43.5% hard-hit rate. Vaughn is now hitting .301 on the season with ten home runs and a 16.7% strikeout rate. He also plays every day, which locks him into your fantasy lineups.
Fallers
How a week can change things from a fantasy perspective. Just a week ago, Schwarber was one of the hottest hitters in baseball as he hit home run after home run. This past week was the opposite: he had one hit all week, a home run, and a .040. Schwarber struck out an insane 56% of the time and what is even crazier is he did not walk once. Schwarber will still hit for power, and his OBP skills will return, but he realizes he is exceptionally streaky and runs like this will happen from time to time. He will still be a fantasy stud in the long run.
Playing time has begun to diminish for Ortega, and weeks like this will not help him win back that time. Ortega went hitless over five games. He did walk 10.5% of the time but also struck out 26.3%. Ortega had zero barrels to go with a .000 ISO and -64 wRC+. It was a dreadful week, but a trend we have seen from Ortega. Since June 29, he has been hitting .116 with two extra-base hits (no home runs) and two stolen bases. For now, Ortega is only viable in the deepest of leagues.
I was a big Kolten Wong supporter this draft season, and I now have no Wong on my fantasy teams. Times have changed, and a lot is due to Wong’s fantasy production, or lack thereof. This past week Wong collected three hits and scored one run. Unfortunately, his .000 ISO, .325 OPS, and -9 wRC+ will not cut it for fantasy. Wong is only hitting .204 in July with a home run and two stolen bases. The production has struggled so much that he is losing playing time, and it appears he may be joining a platoon at second base. In 12-team and shallower leagues, it is time to move on from Wong.
Many were starting to fall in love with Brown over his recent power surge but failed to realize that is what Brown does. He is extraordinarily streaky and will hit his fair share of home runs, but he will also crush your team’s batting average. This past week he hit .208 with no home runs and one RBI. Brown did not walk all week and struck out nearly 30% of the time on his way to a 28 wRC+. Brown will have value from time to time, especially on weeks with a lot of RHP on the schedule, but by no means should you be locking Brown into your lineups weekly.
The Oneil Cruz buzz quieted down quite a week this past week. He did not hit a home run, stole two bases on four events, and hit .174. Most concerning was a 44% strikeout rate, 41.5% O-swing, 61.5% contact rate, and 16.9% SwStr. Cruz has always struck out too much, but this past week was bad. He will have his awesome moments, but it also seems there are some improvements that Cruz still needs to make before he can be the stud we all want him to be.
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