We have made it through another week of the MLB season, and there were some awe-inspiring performances. As usual, there were some great showings and some rough ones 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. Other players may be widely available, making a potential waiver wire claim in the cards.
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 7 (4/29-5/5).
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Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers: Week 6
Risers
Greene is having an outstanding start to his season. This past week was a monster fantasy week: Greene hit safely in five of six games with three home runs and two doubles. He barreled the ball 20% of the time with a 40% hard-hit rate. It wasn’t all roses for Greene, as he struck out 30.8% of the time to go with a .500 BABIP. Greene hit his ninth home run of the season on Monday and is one of the top fantasy outfielders this season.
We saw Rooker go on heaters from time to time this past year, and this past week was another one of those heaters. He hit safely in four games with three home runs, six home runs and seven RBI. The power is expected occasionally, but the plate discipline was great from Rooker. This past week, Rooker walked 20% of the time while striking out only 10%. Rooker will cool down, but he’s worth riding while he’s hot. Right now, he is white-hot.
Massey returned from the IL recently, and after a slow start he has begun to heat up at the plate. This past week, Massey hit safely in all six games with two doubles and two home runs. Massey drove in seven while only striking out 12% of the time. Massey hit his third home run of the season on Monday night, and he’s now hitting .294 with ten RBI. Massey is on many waiver wires and should be rostered in most formats.
Flaherty is having an excellent bounce-back season, and this past week was one of his best starts. It was the revenge start of all revenge starts as Flaherty struck out 14 Cardinals over 6.2 innings. After this past week, Flaherty had made six starts with a 4.00 ERA but a 2.17 xFIP. His 30.6% K-BB is one of the best in baseball, and better days should be ahead thanks to a .321 BABIP and 66.7% LOB will both regress. Flaherty appears to be back this year, and fantasy managers will benefit greatly.
After a couple of rough starts, Crochet has bounced back in a significant way. He made two starts this past week, in which he allowed three earned runs over 11 innings while striking out 13. He has a great 26.6% K-BB with a 5.31 ERA but a 2.87 xFIP. Crochet has a 59.7% LOB, which should regress and lead to more success for Crochet. He may not throw deep into the season due to an innings limit, but the rest of the starts he’ll make should return excellent fantasy value.
Fallers
Doyle was playing well for most of the season, but this past week he took a significant step back. Doyle collected two singles for a .087 batting average. He struck out 30.8% of the time with a .212 OPS and -55 wRC+. Doyle hits at the top of the Rockies batting order and gets a whole week in Coors this week, so it’s time to put up or shut up for Doyle.
Haniger’s bat has hit a major roadblock of late. This past week, he collected two singles for a .100 batting average. He struck out 28.6% of the time with zero barrels and a 43% hard-hit rate. Haniger is now hitting .212 on the season with four home runs and a .630 OPS. He still hits in the middle of the Mariners lineup, but that could change soon if he does not start producing at the plate.
Nootbaar returned from the IL a few weeks ago and has yet to get going on the plate. This past week, Nootbaar collected three hits for a .125 batting average while striking out 32% of the time. He barreled the ball 12.5% of the time with a 50% hard-hit rate, which leaves some optimism going forward. Nootbaar is not a buy right now, but starting him confidently takes a lot of work.
Rogers had two starts this past week, and things did not go well. He allowed 11 runs over 7.1 innings pitched. Rogers only struck out four while walking six and allowing three home runs. He has a 6.15 ERA with a 4.20 xFIP and an 8.2% K-BB. Rogers may be heading back to AAA with Braxton Garrett and others returning from the IL, and if he does not go back to AAA, he should return to your waiver wires.
The knuckleballer Waldron made two starts this past week, which was a disaster. He allowed 11 earned runs over nine innings pitched with six strikeouts. Waldron has a 5.82 ERA and 4.57 xFIP with a 10.3% K-BB. Waldron should not be long for the Padres rotation or any fantasy rosters.
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