We have made it to the eighth week of the MLB season. There were some awe-inspiring performances. As usual, there were some great and rough performances to dig into. This weekly column will help highlight hot and cold players/risers and fallers for fantasy purposes.
Some players are already rostered in many places so trades may be in order. Other players may be widely available, making a potential waiver wire claim in the cards. I will highlight some known and lesser-known players this week. So let’s see some of the risers and fallers for fantasy baseball Week 8 (5/6-5/12).
- 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 8
Risers
Eddie Rosario has been rather bad this season but he had quite a week this past week. Rosario hit safely in five games for a .467 average. He hit three home runs while stealing three bases and driving in five. Rosario barreled the ball 7.7% of the time with a 69.2% hard-hit rate. When he made contact, Rosario was rolling, but he also showcased excellent plate discipline with a 25% walk rate while striking out 10% of the time. It was quite a week for Rosario. We’ll see if the hot streak continues this week as the Nats face mainly right-handed pitching.
Andy Ibanez (2B, 3B, OF – DET)
Andy Ibanez has been heating up since returning from the injured list (IL), and last week was big. He hit safely in four games with two doubles, two home runs and a stolen base. Ibanez was locked in as he barreled the ball 18.8% of the time with a 62.5% hard-hit rate. Ibanez had an impressive 1.229 OPS and 246 wRC+. Ibanez will continue to see playing time all over the diamond for the Tigers and should supply some fantasy goodness in deeper formats and even in 12-team leagues while he’s swinging it like this.
Leody Taveras had himself a week as he hit safely in six out of seven games for a .360 batting average. Taveras hit two home runs while stealing two bases and scoring nine runs. The contact skills were solid as Taveras barreled the ball 10% of the time with a 50% hard-hit rate. His plate discipline was great — walking 16.7% of the time while striking out 16.7%. Taveras has been heating up and has been a run-scoring machine for the Rangers over the last few weeks.
After a slow start to the season, Bryson Stott has picked things up at the plate. Last week, Stott hit safely in four out of five games for a .438 average. He hit three extra-base hits while scoring five runs, driving in six and stealing three bases. Stott even walked 22.7% of the time while striking out 18.2%, which is excellent for a speedster. Stott has been locked in for a couple of weeks. He looks to be in store for a nice repeat of last season’s success.
Brenton Doyle went from faller to riser in a week. This past week, Doyle hit .350 with four extra-base hits, including a home run, while stealing three bases. Doyle barreled the ball 11.1% of the time with a 44.4% hard-hit rate while also walking 12.5% of the time. Doyle is now hitting .289 on the season with four home runs and seven stolen bases. He makes for a solid fourth or fifth outfielder in most formats.
Fallers
Blake Perkins had a week to forget as he went hitless over six games. Perkins walked 8.7% of the time but struck out nearly 35%. When Perkins put the ball in play, he had a 38.5% hard-hit rate to go with a 54% ground ball rate. With Christian Yelich back, Perkins must turn things around quickly, or he’ll see himself on the bench or in Triple-A.
Ty France had a disastrous week at the plate as he hit .136 over six games while striking out 39.1% of the time. France had zero barrels to go alongside a 38.5% hard-hit rate. France is now hitting .235 on the year with two home runs. He has been slumping hard this season. France should only be rostered in the deepest of formats.
Brett Baty started to swing the bat well heading into last week but that stopped. Baty collected one hit over five games for a .059 average. Baty had a 22.2% hard-hit rate while striking out 47% of the time. Baty is getting plenty of chances to succeed with the Mets, but he needs to start producing, as Mark Vientos is waiting in the wings for a chance at regular playing time.
Jared Triolo (1B, 2B, 3B – PIT)
Jared Triolo collected two singles over six games last week for a .105 batting average. He did not barrel a ball with a 41.7% hard-hit rate and struck out 34.8% of the time. Triolo is getting the first crack at the third base job with Ke’Bryan Hayes on the IL. He’ll need to produce quickly as there are other options on the Pirates’ roster.
Mike Yastrzemski collected three hits over seven games last week for a .143 batting average. He scored two runs without driving one in and struck out 40.9% of the time. Yastrzemski had one barrel last week with a 50% hard-hit rate, but a 41.7% ground ball rate slowed down any production. Yastrzemski is only hitting .209 on the season. With all the injuries to the Giants’ outfield, he’ll keep playing. That does not mean you should roster him in most formats.
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