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 10 (5/20-5/26).
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Start/Sit Lineup Advice
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers: Week 10
Fantasy Baseball Risers
Luis Rengifo (2B, SS, 3B, OF – LAA)
Luis Rengifo is back and healthy. With that health, production followed. Rengifo is hitting second daily for the Angels and balled out this past week. Rengifo hit safely in five out of six games for a .400 batting average with two home runs and two stolen bases. He had a hard-hit rate of 54.5% while striking out 11.5%. Rengifo brings power, speed and multi-positional flexibility, making him a great fantasy asset.
Dylan Moore (2B, SS, OF – SEA)
With injuries to Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford, Dylan Moore saw his playing time skyrocket, and his production followed. Moore plays every day and warrants regular at-bats. This past week, Moore hit safely in five out of seven games for a .318 batting average. He hit two home runs with two stolen bases. The power and speed are excellent, but Moore’s plate discipline was great last week, as he walked 17.2% of the time while striking out 13.8%. With Polanco heading back to the injured list (IL), Moore should continue playing regularly, making him a fantasy stud.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B, 3B, OF – TOR)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa has shown weeks of good and bad production throughout his career, but he puts up serviceable fantasy production in most seasons. This past week was good as he ended the week on a five-game hitting streak. He hit .346 last week with four extra-base hits, two being home runs. Kiner-Falefa even stole a base while only striking out 10.7% of the time. He plays all over the infield. That flexibility and his current production make Kiner-Falefa a nice fantasy streamer.
Colt Keith had high expectations during the draft season, but the start of the season has been disappointing. He has heated up lately and had a significant fantasy week. He hit safely in five out of seven games for a .455 batting average and, more importantly, showcased some power with his first home run of the season. Keith may not hit many home runs, but the hit tool is solid and should provide an excellent batting average throughout the season. It may be time to believe in Keith once again.
It has been a bad start to the season for Matt Chapman but his bat has shown signs of life in the past few weeks. This past week, he hit safely in four out of six games with three home runs and two doubles. Chapman showcased his elite quality of contact skills with a 31.6% barrel rate and 63.2% hard-hit rate. The hit tool was impressive, but the plate discipline was even better, as Chapman walked 14.3% of the time while striking out 17.9%. Chapman may have his ups and downs at the plate, but his defense will keep him on the field, and his power and occasional steals will help throughout the season.
Fantasy Baseball Fallers
Andy Pages entered the bigs this year with high expectations, and the early results were outstanding. Those days feel like a lifetime ago as Pages is in a massive slump. He collected one single over five games this past week for a .048 batting average. He did not walk and struck out 42.9% of the time. There was a bit of a silver lining this past week as Pages had a 16.7% barrel rate and 58.3% hard-hit rate. Pages is slowly losing some playing time, but I will not give up on him yet. Let’s hope this is a rough patch and that better days are ahead.
Jo Adell was the talk of the fantasy streets a few weeks ago, but that has come to a halt. This past week, Adell collected two hits, both home runs at least, and hit .080. He had a 20% barrel rate and a 40% hard-hit rate, but he did not collect a walk and struck out 40% of the time. Strikeouts were a significant issue for Adell in the past, but the contact quality was not. Adell needs to turn things around quickly to stay on most fantasy rosters.
It has been slow going for J.D. Martinez since he joined the Mets this season. This past week, he hit .160 with a double and a home run. He had an 18.2% barrel rate and a 63.6% hard-hit rate, which is excellent, but the plate discipline was not. Martinez walked 3.8% of the time while striking out 53.8%. Martinez has a track record that keeps fantasy managers’ hopes up, but his recent production does not leave a lot of confidence.
Jonny DeLuca had a great start to his season but lost playing time out of nowhere. He is now back in the lineup, but his production was not great. This past week, DeLuca hit safely in two out of five games for a .111 batting average. He did not barrel a ball with a 9.1% hard-hit rate while striking out 35% of the time. DeLuca is very talented, so let’s hope this is just a slump and we’ll get that strong production going again.
Colton Cowser was one of the hottest fantasy commodities to start the season but he has cooled down tremendously. This past week, Cowser collected two hits, including a home run while hitting .091. Cowser did have a 15.4% barrel rate and 53.8% hard-hit rate, but his 37.5% strikeout rate was not great. Cowser continues to play daily, but a longer slump could make that playing time slowly disappear, as the Orioles have many options in the outfield.
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