Hunter Langille | Thu, May 9th 2024, 9:32am EDT

6 Fantasy Baseball Players Trending Up & Down (Week 7)

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, @Hunter_Himself.

Now, without any further ado, let’s get to it. Here are a few fantasy baseball players trending up and others on the way down.

Fantasy Baseball Stock Report (Week 7)

Stock Up

Josh Rojas (2B, 3B – SEA)

Josh Rojas has been one of the key cogs to the Mariners’ 19-16 record this season. Among hitters with at least 90 plate appearances this season, Rojas is ranked fifth in wOBA (.4274) and fourth in wRC+ (182). He’s also been walking at a high clip (11.5%) and striking out just 16.7% of the time.

Outside of the power department, Rojas’ numbers are aligned with Juan Soto‘s numbers at this point in the season. Rojas has a .202 ISO to Soto’s .236. Through four and a half seasons with Arizona, Rojas never recorded a wOBA higher than .327, so the boost we’ve seen so far this year comes as a big surprise.

The 29-year-old is still platooning with Luis Urias at the hot corner this year, but his numbers so far warrant everyday playing duties.

Yusei Kikuchi (SP – TOR)

Yusei Kikuchi’s advanced numbers this season depict him as the ace of the Blue Jays. His teammate Jose Berrios was leading the league in ERA before his last start where he gave up eight runs to the Phillies. Berrios now has a 2.85 ERA, but his xFIP sits at 4.27, signaling that he should experience even more regression going forward. Kikuchi, on the other hand, ranks ninth in xFIP (2.87), ahead of pitchers like Pablo Lopez (2.90) and George Kirby (3.31). He also has a minuscule HR/9 (0.45) and a respectable K% (26.5%).

The biggest change Kikuchi has made this season is his ramped-up curveball usage. He’s been throwing the pitch 29% of the time this year, up from 8.3% last year. The curveball has been Kikuchi’s best pitch this season.

Alec Bohm (1B, 3B – PHI)

Alec Bohm has been one of the hottest hitters in the league over the last few weeks. He’s ranked sixth in wOBA (.423) and eighth in wRC+ (172) amongst qualified hitters this year. His numbers across the board have been up, including a .203 ISO, which is up 0.68 points from the average over his four-year career with Philadelphia.

Bohm has also driven in a whopping 32 runs this year, which ranks just behind Marcell Ozuna and Soto for the league lead. This Phillies team is 8-2 over their last 10 games and currently sports the best record in MLB at 26-12. As long as Bohm can keep batting in the heart of this Phillies lineup, he should find himself at the top of many offense charts at the end of the year.

Stock Down

Tim Anderson (SS – MIA)

Tim Anderson has just one home run since June of 2022. His power has been sapped over the last two seasons, resulting in the second-lowest ISO (0.46) among qualified hitters. Over that same time frame, he has the third-lowest wOBA (.253), second-lowest wRC+ (56) and sixth-lowest WAR (-0.5).

The new scenery in Miami this season hasn’t done much for Anderson’s stock either. His strikeout rate has shot up to a career-high 29.8% in 2024. Over the past two seasons, Anderson is best known for getting knocked out by Jose Ramirez.

Alex Wood (SP, RP – OAK)

Alex Wood signed with Oakland in the offseason and hasn’t found much success with his new club so far. Over eight starts, he has a 4.87 xFIP and just an 18.4% strikeout rate.

Wood has a unique pitch mix. He doesn’t have a fastball in his arsenal; instead, he throws sinkers 45.7% of the time, sliders 31.8% and changeups 22.6%. His sinker has been getting hammered this year to the tune of -6.2 runs above average.

Oakland has a surprisingly good record to start the year, but they will have to get more out of their starting pitchers if they want to compete with the rest of the AL West.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B, DH – CIN)

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is just 24 years old and is in his first full season in the Majors, so I expect his struggles to diminish with time. However, right now, he looks like a candidate to be sent down to the Minors at some point this season. He was also just placed on the 10-day IL and is expected to be out for four to six weeks with a fractured bone in his wrist.

On the season, “CES” has the fourth-lowest wOBA (.227), fifth-lowest wRC+ (38) and has struck out at the 24th-highest rate (28.5%). He also rarely walks. His BB% is the sixth-lowest among qualified hitters at just 3.3%.

He’s flashed an ISO north of .300 in the Minors, so I do believe there is some untapped power potential. But right now, I would be staying away from Encarnacion-Strand until he can prove himself at the Big League level.

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