We have made it through another week of the season to mid-August, meaning we have two months of baseball to go. Therefore, we have another set of players to Buy High or Sell Low based on their weekly performances. Based on their recent performances and a full-season outlook, I will break down some players to buy or sell in the coming weeks. Some are just hot streaks, and some are worth buying into, so we are here to help make the right decisions for your fantasy teams. With that said, this will also be the last week of the column, so thanks for following along, and I hope the information helped you out. For now, let’s look at a handful of players that you should buy high or sell low.
Buy High
Eloy Jimenez (OF – CWS)
Jimenez has returned from the IL recently, and he returned with authority. This past week, Jimenez hit safely in five of seven games, with multiple hits in each game. He hit .444 with one home run and a .148 ISO. The power could be a little better, but his 1.059 OPS and 202 wRC+ will play for fantasy. Since Jimenez returned from the IL on July 6th, he has been hitting .313 with five home runs, 11 runs scored, and 15 RBI. He is feasting at the plate, and the power appears to be returning as he gets healthier. Buy now to finish the year on an Eloy Jimenez heater.
Jesse Winker (OF – SEA)
It has been a very long season when it comes to waiting for Winker to provide some fantasy production. However, there have been some signs of life lately, and this past week is hopefully a glimpse of the season’s final two months. This past week Winker hit .313 with two home runs and walked 36 percent of the time. Winker has now hit safely in seven of his last nine games for a .320 average with three home runs and a 28.6 percent walk rate. His .400 ISO, 1.234 OPS, and 248 wRC+ are very impressive. He is also barreling the ball 15 percent of the time with a 60 percent hard-hit rate. If it has been a tremendous nine-game run, I will buy into Winker’s strong finish to the season.
Darick Hall (1B – PHI)
I was going to write up Rhys Hoskins as a buy high, but I wanted to give his teammate Hall some love instead. Rhys is still worth buying, by the way. Hall has a solid rookie campaign, and this past week was a banger. He hit safely in all five games he played this past week, with three home runs. He only struck out 15.8 percent of the time while barreling the ball 14.3 percent with a 71.4 percent hard-hit rate. Hall is now hitting .282 on the season with eight home runs, and I don’t see him slowing down anytime soon. He’s a power-hitting machine.
Jesus Luzardo (SP – MIA)
Luzardo returned from the IL this past week and did not disappoint. He threw 12 innings, allowing two runs, and struck out 11 times while only walking one. He had an excellent 23.3 percent K-BB with an 11.6% SwStr. Luzardo dominated the Cubs and Reds, which he should do, but it was great to see him rack up the strikeouts and limit the walks. He now has a 21.6 percent K-BB on the season with a 3.29 SIERA and 3.19 xFIP, so hopefully, a solid finish to the season is in store for Luzardo.
Triston McKenzie (SP – CLE)
It has been an up and down season for McKenzie, and this past week was no exception. In his first start, he allowed four earned runs to the D’Backs but followed that up with eight shutout innings versus the Astros. More importantly, he struck out 15 while only walking three for a 24 percent K-BB. Since July, McKenzie has had a 1.70 ERA and 3.38 xFIP with a 20.6 percent K-BB. He may give up too many runs from time to time, but he is also racking up strikeouts in bunches, making him very valuable for the remainder of the season.
Sell Low
Jarren Duran (OF – BOS)
When Duran was called up, it looked like he would be a fantasy stud. Well, that has come to an end. This past week he hit .167 with a home run. He did have six RBI and a .206 ISO, but a zero percent barrel rate and 30 percent hard-hit rate makes it hard for consistent production. Since the all-star break, he is only hitting .179 with a 30 percent strikeout rate and playing horrible defense. The Red Sox did DFA Jackie Bradley Jr., which should keep Duran in the lineup, but the production is not worth rostering.
Jonathan Schoop (1B/2B – DET)
There was a recent stretch where it looked like Schoop was figuring it out at the plate, but that has quickly ended. This past week, he hit .100 with a double and a home run while striking out 40 percent of the time. A 40 percent strikeout rate is atrocious, a zero percent barrel rate, and a 33.3 percent hard-hit rate. Schoop now has eight home runs and five stolen bases on the season while hitting .205, and it appears he will not figure it out this season.
Jared Walsh (1B – LAA)
The Angels’ season is going up in flames, and so is Walsh’s production at the plate. This past week he hit .182 with a home run while striking out 37.5 percent of the time. His 65.9 percent contact rate and 16.1% SwStr are horrible, and it has been this way for a while. Since July 1st, he has been hitting .147 with that one home run while striking out 33 percent of the time. Walsh is lost at the plate, and it is not worth hanging onto him to see if he figures it out the rest of the season.
Michael Kopech (SP – CWS)
Kopech made two starts last week, a mix of two starts. He threw seven innings in his first start and allowed two runs, but only 3.1 innings in his second start while allowing four runs. He allowed three home runs over the two starts and only struck out seven. He has a dreadful 9 percent K-BB rate on the season and has struggled to throw six innings regularly. Kopech needs to figure out if he can be a dominant starter as we all hoped he could, but for now, it does not appear he can.
Domingo German (SP – NYY)
I am not high on German as he gives up too many home runs, but this past week he did make two starts, throwing five innings in each start while allowing one home run, walking three, and striking out four. He kept the ball in the park, but there were still too many walks and not enough strikeouts. In his four starts this year, he has allowed four home runs over 17.2 innings while striking out 13. So try and sell off two average outings before the blowups come soon.
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Brian Entrekin is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Brian, check out his Twitter @bdentrek.
