It’s Thursday. You know what that means.
Every week during the fantasy baseball season we do a stock report looking at players whose value is rising or declining. If there are specific players you want me to dive into, feel free to tag me on Twitter.
Now, without any further ado, let’s get to it.
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Fantasy Baseball Stock Report
Stock Up
A date with the strikeout-happy Twins certainly helped, but Tyler Glasnow looked dominant in his last outing. He had 14 punchouts on just 88 pitches, making him the first pitcher to strike out 14 batters on fewer than 90 pitches since pitches were first tracked in 1988.
Through four starts, Glasnow ranks seventh in K% (32.2%) and 12th in xFIP (2.92), which is on par with what he put up last year in 21 starts. He’s allowed more than three hits just once this year.
Don’t expect the 58.3% strikeout rate from his last start to be the norm, but Glasnow is up there as one of the top arms in the league.
Stock Down
There are a couple of red flags here with Jordan Hicks. One is that his velocity is down. He averaged 93.8 miles per hour (MPH) on his sinker in his last start but his season average is 95.6 MPH. We know Hicks throws hard. Since 2020, Hicks has averaged exactly 100 MPH on his fastball, which ranks just behind Abner Uribe and Jhoan Duran. His fastball still averages 97.3 MPH.
Hicks has been a reliever in the past with both St. Louis and Toronto. In his three starts with San Fransisco this year he has thrown at least 79 pitches. Following the recent trend of elbow issues arising from pitchers throwing too hard, Hicks profiles as someone who could follow a similar fate. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019.
The second red flag is that Hicks’ ERA currently sits at an even 1.00 on the year but his xFIP is at 3.63, indicating there may be some regression in store for the 27-year-old.
Stock Up
Tyler O’Neill has been nothing short of dominant since being traded to the Red Sox this offseason. He is currently leading the majors in wOBA (.550), ISO (.514) and wRC+ (263).
He came into the season having only played three games at Fenway but the slugger has already shown that his right-handed power matches up well with Boston’s Green Monster. He took Corbin Burnes deep on Opening Day, which secured Boston’s lone run in the contest. He also smashed a car windshield with the ball in the process.
For a team that lacks pitching, especially after Nick Pivetta‘s recent elbow injury, the Sox have solid power bats in Rafael Devers and Triston Casas that make for nice pairings with O’Neill in fantasy.
Stock Down
I know the season is young but I thought Jeimer Candelario would look a little better than he has to start the year. Cincinnati has been striking out a lot, but Candelario’s 32.7% mark doesn’t inspire much confidence. The switch hitter also has just a .242 wOBA, .152 ISO and a 43 wRC+.
Those numbers won’t get the job done for the first-year Red, who routinely gets starts batting cleanup for Cincinnati. The 30-year-old Candelario brings relative experience to this incredibly young team but he hasn’t shown much promise this year.
Stock Up
It’s probably a little too early to say Jackson Holliday‘s stock is up. The rookie has played just one game at the time of writing. But if there is any team whose entire stock is up, it would be the Baltimore Orioles.
Gunnar Henderson is currently second on this team in ISO (.256) while sporting solid BB% (10.2%) and K% (18.4%) numbers. The 23-year-old has been leading off for this young squad, giving him ample opportunities for runs scored.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see last year’s rookie of the year win an AL MVP award as early as this season or next.
Stock Down
Shea Langeliers may have caught the attention of fantasy managers on Tuesday with a three-homer night against Texas. However, rushing to add the Oakland catcher may not be wise, as this game inflated his season totals. It’s unlikely we see a repeat performance.
Relative to the rest of the Athletics’ numbers he has power. He was second to Brent Rooker last year in homers, but he also had just a .290 wOBA and his strikeout rate was closing in on 30%.
Langeliers also sports a .182 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) this season, meaning he’s been getting lucky and is due for some regression toward his career averages.
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