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.
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Start/Sit Lineup Advice
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball Stock Report: Stock Up
Jared Jones has quietly put up some of the best numbers among starting pitchers this year. Through four starts, he has a 36.4% strikeout rate and a 2.14 xFIP. Both rank first for starting pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched this season. He’s also walking just 2.3% of batters, tied with George Kirby for second-best.
He’s also one of the hardest throwers in the league, ranking just behind Hunter Greene in fastball velocity (97.1 miles per hour) and behind only Tyler Glasnow and Yusei Kikuchi in slider velocity (88.4 miles per hour).
Jones is only 22 years old and was the 44th overall pick in the 2020 draft. He’s someone you want to have your eye on as he helps Pittsburgh compete in the National League Central.
The Orioles are loaded with young talent, however, people may not have selected Jordan Westburg as the Baltimore player ranked highly in many offensive metrics this year. Westburg is third on the team in wOBA (.431), third in ISO (.298) and third in wRC+ (189). He’s also been striking out at just an 18.8% clip.
As it stands right now, Colton Cowser leads the way for Baltimore in all three of those metrics, however, he has two red flags in his profile. One is his massive 30.4% strikeout rate, which ranks only behind Jorge Mateo‘s 35% mark. And second is his .520 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), which ranks only behind Jarred Kelenic and LaMonte Wade Jr. in the entire league. The BABIP shows Cowser has been playing over his head and should experience some regression.
But as far as Westburg goes, his BABIP is at .341. He’s shown he can be an integral part of this lethal Orioles lineup despite hitting close to or at the bottom of the order.
There are three top prospects named Jackson in the league. This one gets talked about the least. Jackson Merrill has been quietly having a great start to his career with San Diego, ranking fourth on the team in wOBA (.369) and tied for first in stolen bases with four.
He hasn’t flashed much power to start the season, but Merrill only carried a .171 ISO throughout Double-A last season. He won’t profile as someone who can lead the Padres in homers, but he’s shown an ability to get on base at an impressive rate. He has an 11.3% walk rate, a 16.9% strikeout rate and is second behind Jurickson Profar in OBP at .408.
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