6 Fantasy Baseball Players Trending Up & Down (Week 9)

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. Here are a few fantasy baseball players trending up and others on the way down.

Fantasy Baseball Stock Report (Week 9)

Stock Up

Jarren Duran (OF – BOS)

Jarren Duran and his teammate Rafael Devers have both been on fire over the last week. Unfortunately, it hasn’t resulted in too many wins for the Red Sox. Over the last two weeks, Duran is tied with Marcell Ozuna and Corey Seager with the 11th-highest ISO in MLB. The 27-year-old has three triples in that same time frame, more than any other hitter.

He’s been a fantasy goldmine lately with his ability to generate points. He has a high probability of scoring runs based on players like Devers and Tyler O’Neill hitting after him in Boston’s order. He’s tied for 20th in the league with 30 runs scored. This, plus the speed/power combination he’s shown lately, makes him someone you want on your fantasy team.

Seth Lugo (SP – KC)

Seth Lugo is not a name you hear about all that often. I’m sure there are a lot of baseball fans out there who don’t even know what team he plays for. Still, he’s been one of the best pitchers in the league in May, and I believe there are a few reasons why.

The main one is his schedule. He looked incredible in four out of his last five starts, but those were against the Athletics, Angels, Blue Jays and Tigers. He had one matchup against Milwaukee sandwiched in between those, and he had a good but not great outing. So I do think his schedule has something to do with his success. That said, in May, Lugo had the fifth-lowest xFIP (2.30) and the fifth-highest K/9 (11.52).

Lugo also has an incredibly high 91.5% left-on-base percentage, meaning he’s getting lucky that the baserunners he’s allowed are not coming around to score. That mark is the 13th-highest among qualified pitchers in May. Overall, Lugo’s numbers show he’s been really good, but he’s also been lucky.

Matt Chapman (3B – SF)

Matt Chapman has found his groove in his last five games. Over that stretch, he has 11 hits in 18 at-bats (a .611 batting average). He predictably beat up on the Rockies pitching in their three-game series, but he has kept the fire alive with two-straight games homering against Pittsburgh.

San Fransisco as a whole has seen a boost to their offensive numbers over the last couple of weeks, with the help of Chapman batting in the heart of their order. The Giants rank sixth in wRC+ (117) over that span, as well as ninth in wOBA (.328). Chapman leads this team in stolen bags on the season with five, but that’s not saying much because the Giants have the lowest amount of stolen bags in the league with just 16. That said, Chapman has recorded the most runs on this team, and he’s someone to look at, especially now that he’s hot.

Stock Down

George Springer (OF, DH – TOR)

Statistically, George Springer has been one of the worst hitters in May. This has led to Toronto moving him down in their order in favor of Davis Schneider. So far in this month, Springer has the third-lowest wRC+ (26), third-lowest wOBA (.199) and the third-lowest ISO (0.39).

His batted ball profile is also concerning. He has the third-highest ground ball rate (59.5%) in May and a 53.3% mark so far this season. This is a significant change from the 45.3% he has recorded over his 11-year career. Now, at the age of 34, it’s fair to wonder if we will see the same Springer we were used to seeing.

Bailey Falter (SP – PIT)

Bailey Falter’s game log looks concerning, especially when you factor in he’s faced Colorado and Oakland in two of his last four. So far, in just the month of May, Falter could be considered the worst starting pitcher in the league. He’s dead-last in xFIP (5.83) and dead-last in K/9 (2.84). The strikeout rate is highly concerning. On the entire season, he’s also ranked dead-last at just 5.12 batters per nine innings.

Striking out that few batters spells trouble for pitchers, and Falter has also had trouble keeping the ball in the yard this year. Multiple base runners and multiple home runs allowed are not a winning recipe for success. Hopefully, the Pirates’ young pitching talent can offset some of the struggles we have seen from their rotation.

Brendan Rodgers (2B – COL)

Brendan Rodgers has been ice cold at the plate in May and hasn’t delivered much the entire season. He has the ninth-lowest ISO (0.76) this year, coupled with the 14th-lowest wRC+ (67). In May alone, his power numbers have been in the basement of the league, and similar to Springer, he’s not getting the ball in the air. He has the ninth-highest ground ball rate in May at 56.9%.

Colorado as a whole has struggled, and a lot of that is from their pitching, but it is concerning to have an everyday player like Rodgers making such weak contact while playing half his games at Coors Field.

MLB Weekly Advice Jarren Duran Rafael Devers Marcell Ozuna Corey Seager Tyler O’Neill Seth Lugo Matt Chapman George Springer Davis Schneider Bailey Falter Brendan Rodgers