We have made it through another week of the MLB season, and there were some awe-inspiring performances. But, 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 trades may be in order. Other players may be widely available, making a potential waiver wire claim in the cards. So this week, I will highlight some known and lesser-known players. So let’s see some of the risers and fallers for fantasy baseball Week 6 (5/1-5/7).
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Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers: Week 6 (2023)
Risers
After a slow start to the season highlighted by a lack of hustle, Robert has turned things around in a big way. This past week he hit safely in six games with a .526 batting average with two home runs and a .474 ISO. Robert walked 19.2% of the time while only striking out 15.4%. He barreled the ball 20% of the time with a 60% hard-hit rate as he mashed in the middle of the White Sox lineup. It will be difficult for Robert to sustain this production level, but the skills are there for a big summer if he can stay healthy.
Like Robert, Baez was benched due to a lack of hustle, and he responded in a big way. He hit safely in five of six games this past week with a .364 batting average. Baez hit three home runs while walking 7.7% of the time with an awe-inspiring 0.0% strikeout rate. Baez only had a .263 BABIP with a .409 ISO, 1.234 OPS, and 237 wRC+. Those were Baez’s first home runs of the season, so fantasy managers would be quite pleased if this power was not a one-time thing and he returned to the masher he was a few years ago.
After a slow start to the season, Santander broke out this past week with two hits in each of his six games. He hit .444 with three home runs with nine RBI. A .500 BABIP is not sustainable, but only striking out 20.7% of the time with a 19% barrel rate and 61.9% hard-hit rate is excellent. Santander is now hitting .266 with five home runs as he looks to return to the power form we saw in 2022.
Varsho was off to a disappointing start to the season, according to some fantasy managers on Twitter. However, this past week, Varsho should have hushed those concerns. Instead, he hit safely in six of seven games for a .393 batting average. More importantly, Varsho hit three home runs while stealing two bases. He is hitting .238 on the season with five home runs and six stolen bases. Varsho is on track for 20+ home runs and close to 30 bases which would be excellent for a fantasy catcher.
Ober continued his excellent start to the 2023 season with seven shutout innings with six strikeouts versus the Guardians. He has pitched 18.1 innings while allowing two runs and striking out 16. Ober has a 23.5% strikeout rate with a 12.3% SwStr. He should be a staple in the Twins rotation for the rest of the season, and that will be big for fantasy managers.
Fallers
Meneses is off to a rough start to the season, and this past week was no exception. He hit .241 on the week with a home run on Sunday to salvage the week. Meneses did not walk this past week while striking out 24.1% of the time with a .103 ISO and 54 wRC+. Meneses had a 50% hard-hit rate but only a 4.6% barrel rate as he struggled. The 31-year-old is coming off a breakout 2022 season but needs help replicating that success.
McMahon collected two hits this past week while he hit .105. He struck out 42.9% of the time with a 0% barrel rate. McMahon is now hitting .203 on the season with four home runs while striking out nearly 36% of the time. Fantasy managers are losing their patience with McMahon, and his continued struggles make it hard to argue those concerns.
Gallo started the year swinging it well, leaving some fantasy managers hopeful of returning to his productive fantasy form. However, Gallo gave us all flashbacks of his offensive downfall this past week. Gallo went hitless last week with a 25% walk rate and 30% strikeout rate. Gallo is now hitting .186 with seven home runs. However, the drain he provides to your batting average makes it tough to keep rostering Gallo.
Miranda’s struggles in 2023 continued this past week as he collected two singles for a .095 batting average. He did not walk this past week while striking out 28.6% of the time. Miranda’s .000 ISO, 0% barrel rate and -58 wRC+ are far from desirable. He is now hitting .219 on the season with only three home runs, and playing time could get interesting as more Twins get healthy.
Heaney’s 2023 struggles continued this week as he allowed six runs over 4.2 innings versus the DBacks. Heaney walked four while striking out five and allowing three home runs. He has a 5.52 ERA on the season, allowing seven home runs over 29.1 innings. Heaney only has a 13.4% K-BB, and his gains with the Dodgers are a thing of the past.
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