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DFS Stock Watch: Lucas Duda, Nelson Cruz, Matt Harvey

Lucas Duda's stock has risen over the past week

Lucas Duda’s stock has risen over the past week

MLB is in full swing as we head into the second weekend of the season. This week’s headlines were dominated by notable players who found themselves on the DL, namely, David Wright, Carlos Gomez, Derek Holland and Henderson Alvarez.

While these injuries hurt their respective pro teams and perhaps your season-long fantasy team, the beauty of DFS play is that these injuries can be pushed to the back burner. Remember, in DFS it’s all about who’s hot and who’s not.

Each week this column will take a look at the risers and fallers in DFS play. Names like Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew McCutchen and Miguel Cabrera may not appear here, since their price tags don’t change all that much, day-to-day and week-to-week. This list is for players who currently find themselves on either a hot or cold streak, causing their value to increase or decrease.

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Stock UP

Infield: Lucas Duda – 1B – NYM
Duda tore it up this week. In the past seven games, Duda hit .444 (12-for-27) to go along with six 2B and six RBI. The 29-year-old was the highest-scoring 1B in DFS in the past three days and saw his price tag increase $700 since Monday. ($3,400 on Monday to $4,100 on Friday).

He’s played so well this week that he’s no longer a value play heading into his weekend series against the Miami Marlins.

Other Notables: D.J. LeMahieu – 2B – COL; Caleb Joseph – C – BAL

Outfield: Nelson Cruz – OF – SEA
There are a number of OF who could be on this list, but anyone who hits a HR in five-straight games deserves to have his name mentioned. Simply put, Cruz was the bomb this week. Since Sunday, Cruz hit five HR, had six RBI and scored six runs. He averaged 8.75 FPPG his last four games, and has since seen his YTD salary increase $600 to $4,800.

Other Notables: Adam Jones – OF – BAL; Lorenzo Cain – OF – KC; Dexter Fowler – OF – CHC

Starting Pitcher: Matt Harvey – SP – NYM
If you had Harvey in your lineup this week against the Philadelphia Phillies, consider yourself lucky. It may be the last time you are able to use the 26-year-old ace. He is slowly creeping up to the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez and Max Scherzer, in terms of salary. The talent on the other hand, has always been there.

In a “pedestrian” game against the Phillies on Tuesday, Harvey pitched six innings, giving up 5 H and 3 ER with 8 SO and 0 BB. He put up a total of 15 fantasy points. Harvey has now seen his YTD salary increase $1,500 to $10,500 for his next start.

Other Notables: Chris Archer – SP – TB; Anthony DeSclafani – CIN – SP; Nick Martinez – SP – TEX

Stock DOWN

Infield: Edwin Encarnacion – 1B – TOR
Encarnacion had a pretty strong opening week, but has not been able to carry it over into week two. He was 1-for-18 in five games this week, and is now batting just .184. On top of the low batting average, he only has two HR and six RBI to start the year. The 32-year-old 1B had 34 HR and 98 RBI last season. Encarnacion has now seen his salary dip $300 to $4,300, since the start of the year. At that price, he’s untouchable.

Other Notables: Jonathan Lucroy – C – MIL; Brandon Belt – 1B – SF

Outfield: Chris Carter – OF – HOU
Carter cannot buy a hit. Carter was 1-for-11 in three games this week, and is now batting just .067. This is a guy who hit 37 HR and had 88 RBI last season. Granted, he hit .227 and had an OBP of .308, but he wasn’t this bad. Carter has now seen his salary drop $700 since the start of the year, to $2,600. Until he proves he can turn things around, you should avoid him.

Other Notables: Ryan Braun – OF – MIL; George Springer – OF – HOU

Starting Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg – SP- WAS
Simply put, Strasburg has struggled out of the gate. In two starts he is 0-1 with an ERA of 6.75 and only 10.2 IP. On Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox Strasburg went 5.1 IP, gave up 10 H and 5 ER. He did manage to collect 5 SO while not allowing a walk. Strasburg has now seen his salary decrease by $700 YTD, checking in at $9,800. He needs to have at least one quality start before proving that his first two appearances were just flukes.

Other Notables: Jon Lester – SP – CHC; Masahiro Tanaka – SP – NYY

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AJ Stone is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from AJ, check out his archive and follow him @ajstone18.

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