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 14)
Stock up
Bryce Harper (OF – PHI)
Aaron Judge always seems to be the most in-form player in baseball, but Harper will be competing with him in June. This month alone, Harper is second in wOBA (.511), sixth in ISO (.366) and second in wRC+ (236).
He’s an RBI machine for the Phillies, who are back on top of baseball’s best performance. Over his last six games, Harper has 11 RBIs, which is tied with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for most in MLB. Harper also ranks 20th in BB% and has a strikeout rate of just 16%, making him one of the best all-around fantasy assets in the game.
With a series against the hapless Marlins coming up, Harper and the Phillies expect to keep up their momentum offensively.
Hunter Brown (SP – HOU)
In his last four starts, Brown has pitched 25 innings, striking out 29 batters and allowing just one run, but those starts came against the Angels, Tigers, White Sox and Rockies, so take that number with a pinch of salt. Regardless, Brown has improved significantly since his third start of the year against Kansas City, where he gave up 11 hits and nine runs in a winless first inning.
In June, Braun ranks 12th in K/9 (10.45) and 10th in xFIP (3.00). His fastball averages 96.4 mph and he mixes in a cutter, slider, curveball and splitter. I don’t expect him to continue to play at the same level as his last few starts, but his next start against Toronto could be a winnable one.
CJ Abrams (SS – WAS)
Abrams’ fantasy game log over his last five games has been phenomenal, with just one home run in that time, which shows just how versatile he is at the plate: during that time, he’s 12-for-22 (.545) with four RBI, eight runs scored and three stolen bases.
As of June, he ranks fifth in wRC+ (210) and fourth in wOBA (.473). He leads Washington in nearly every offensive category this season, including home runs (12), runs (48), doubles (19) and triples (5). The 23-year-old is living up to expectations as the workhorse of the 2022 Juan Soto trade.
Stock prices fall
Michael Garcia (3B, SS – KC)
While I was high on Garcia at the start of the season, he’s been a disappointment over the past month, managing just 12 hits in June, with just two of them being extra base hits. His ISO is the fifth-worst among qualified pitchers (.024) and his wRC+ is just 2.
He hit .272 in 123 games last season, so I think the 24-year-old still has potential, but if he continues to play like this, he may find himself demoted to Triple-A Omaha. The Royals have a series against Colorado in early July, which often helps fix a slump.
Austin Gomber (SP – COL)
While Rockies pitchers are always likely to be labeled as “down in stock,” Gomber’s stock has dropped significantly in June, going 0-3 this month with just a 5.87 K/9, 1.96 HR/9 and 5.14 xFIP — all good enough for 11th or worse among qualified pitchers.
Gomber is a flyball pitcher who has struggled to strike out batters and has allowed the third-most hard contact in the league (41.9%). He’s struggled in his last three games against the Astros, Dodgers and Twins, but betting against a pitcher who will make half of his starts at Coors Field is still a winning strategy.
Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B – PIT)
Hayes has never been an exciting player in fantasy baseball, but the cold weather in June makes him even more exciting. The Pirates have been able to get a little close to the Reds recently, but they were cold before that.
In June, they have the fifth-highest strikeout rate and fifth-worst wRC+ (87) as a team. Ke’Bryan himself has the 15th-worst wOBA (.234) and 15th-worst wRC+ (47). The 27-year-old posted a career-best .324 wOBA last season, so I think there’s room for improvement, but I’m not going to touch him in fantasy at this point.
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