Every week during fantasy baseball season I’ll be doing a stock report on players who are rising or falling in value, so if there’s a particular player you’d like me to take a closer look at, feel free to tag them. twitter.
Let’s dive right in and take a look at some fantasy baseball players who are on the rise and some who are on the decline.
Fantasy Baseball Stock Report (Week 15)
Stock up
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B – TOR)
Brady has been on a roll over the past two weeks, ranking second in ISO (.571), first in wOBA (.609) and first in wRC+ (307) since June 20. He has recorded a hit in each of his last eight games.
He was just named the American League’s starting first baseman in this year’s All-Star game, something he’s accomplished in three of the past four seasons, and he’s also the reigning Home Run Derby champion. July is always a good month for Brady.
The Blue Jays have been much better during Guerrero’s hot spell. They still sit at the bottom of the AL East, but they boast the nation’s sixth-highest ISO (190) and ninth-highest wRC+ (119) since June 20.
Taj Bradley (SP – TB)
Bradley may not be on everyone’s radar just yet, but the 23-year-old is the best strikeout artist in baseball right now: Among starters with at least 50 innings this season, his 11.71 K/9 ranks behind only Garrett Crochet, Paul Skenes and Tyler Glasnow.
Bradley’s xFIP is 3.18, which ranks 15th in the MLB. Bradley’s biggest issues are walks and home runs. He is currently walking 3.25 batters per nine innings and allowing 1.63 home runs. About a month ago, he gave up nine runs and four home runs in a game against Baltimore.
Bradley can make up for some of his walk issues with a good strikeout rate, much like Blake Snell has done in recent years — he struck out 11 in five innings in his last start against Washington — so he’s a player to have on your fantasy radar beyond this season.
Byron Buxton (OF – MIN)
Will this be Buxton’s season? It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time for the former No. 2 overall pick to have a healthy, productive season. Unfortunately, the one new player who won’t be able to stay on the field is his teammate, Royce Lewis.
In his last 10 games, Buxton has 14 hits, including seven doubles and four home runs. He has hit just eight home runs this year, half of which have come since the last week of June. His slugging percentage (.892) since June 20 is fourth in the league.
The Twins are slowly trying to close the gap on Cleveland this year, but they have a lot of work to do. If this offense continues to thrive, the Twins have a realistic shot at winning the division. And it starts with keeping this version of Buxton on the field.
Stock prices fall
Julio Rodriguez (Outfielder – SEA)
It’s hard to know what to make of JRod this season exactly, but it’s hard to overlook how poorly he’s played so far this season, managing just four hits in 41 at-bats over his last 10 games.
Since June 20, he has the second-worst wOBA (.124) and second-worst wRC+ (-23) in baseball. He also has a zero in the Isolated Power category. His strikeout rate over that span is a modest 21.3%, but his walk rate is also low at 4.3%.
Julio is one of the best players in baseball when he’s in good form, but unfortunately he didn’t make the All-Star team due to his poor form. Perhaps the second half of the season will be easier for Rodriguez than last season.
John Gray (SP – TEX)
Gray has struggled in his last few starts, giving up nine runs against the Mets and eight against Baltimore. Since June 20, he is second only to Dakota Hudson in xFIP (5.95) and has struck out an alarmingly low 9.2% of batters.
Gray has struggled, but he’s done a great job of not walking batters — he’s doing it 6.4% of the time this year — but the rest of his profile this season hasn’t been as good: Since June 20, he’s allowed the ninth-most hard contact with opposing batters (42.9%).
Gray had a decent month in May, so there’s a chance we’ll see the 32-year-old turn things around in the second half of the season.
Marcus Semien (2B – TEX)
Rounding out this week’s list of “falling stocks” is the Rangers. After making it to the World Series last year, Texas has had a disappointing season this year, due to both injuries and underperformance from key players like Semien.
Semien is tied with Julio Rodriguez for the second-worst wRC+ (-23) since June 20. His performance over that span is pretty similar to J-Rod’s, with just four hits in his last 10 games and a strikeout rate of just 10.7%, but that’s the only notable aspect of his recent profile.
The Rangers second baseman was named an American League starter last season but was not selected to the All-Star team.
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