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Fantasy Baseball Category Analysis

Brock Holt has been on fire for the Red Sox, and provides position flexibility to fantasy owners

Brock Holt has been on fire for the Red Sox, and provides position flexibility to fantasy owners

Here’s this week’s category analysis, providing you with potential players to add to boost your fantasy baseball team in a range of H2H categories. All hitters must have at least 20 plate appearances and all pitchers must have at least two games started, unless they are a closer.

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Hitters

Home Runs

Justin Turner (3B, LAD)
Owned in 40.2% of ESPN leagues

Turner has been able to do just that, turn on every pitch he sees to crank it out of the park. He homered in three straight games and had four total on the week. In 23 at-bats he knocked in eight runs, crossed the plate seven times himself, and had a .464 batting average. He also saw his stock rise 30.6 percent over the week.

Runs

Brock Holt (1B/2B/3B/SS/OF, BOS)
Owned in 47.9% of ESPN leagues

Holt has been on fire over the last week. In 27 at-bats he is batting .460 with a home run, five RBI, one stolen base, and nine runs scored. His performance has led to his stock rising 35.8 percent. Holt is very multi-dimensional, and as long as he keeps hitting he will find a place in the Red Sox lineup.

RBI

Ryan Howard (1B, PHI)
Owned in 24.1% of ESPN leagues

If only Howard could be more consistent at the plate. He has a nice stack of home runs (13) and RBI (36) on the season, but his .228 average just won’t cut it. When you add his slow base running and playing for a poor team, it results in a low ownership rate. Last week in 29 at-bats he had six hits, eight RBI to go along with two home runs for a .207 batting average, and still saw his stock drop one percent. As the trade deadline approaches, the Phillies will assuredly try very hard to deal him, and if successful, it could rejuvenate his career. However, it will be difficult to find a team who wants to carry his remaining salary.

Batting Average

Carlos Beltran (OF, NYY)
Owned in 31.3% of ESPN leagues

Did Beltran finally find himself? It appears so, as he has had a nice June thus far as he has gone 17-for-53 (.321) this month and has raised his average to .260. Beltran also found his power stroke, as he homered three times last week. Over the week, he has 10 hits in 22 at-bats (.455) with seven RBI and four walks. Do so has caused his stock rise 9.4 percent.

Stolen Bases

Gerardo Parra (OF, MIL)
Owned in 7.5% of ESPN leagues

Parra seems as though he has found a home in Milwaukee. He was not much more than a fourth outfielder in Arizona. Now with the injury to Khris Davis, he has been a nice play for the “Brew Crew.” Parra is now slashing .288/.320/.439 on the season. Even when Carlos Gomez returns from his hip injury, expect Parra to remain a lineup regular for the Brewers. Over the course of last week, he had nine hits in 25 at-bats (.360) with two RBI and four runs. He also stole three bases. His stock rose 3.4 percent.

Pitchers

Strike Outs

Jeremy Hellickson (SP, ARI)
Owned in 4.8% of ESPN leagues

Hellickson was dealing over his last two starts. In 12 innings he struck out 13 and only walked one. It didn’t stop there, as he also had a 2.00 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP while giving up four earned runs and 10 hits, winning one game. His season ERA is at 4.94, and he only has a 5-4 record with 62 strikeouts in 78.1 innings pitched. He’s worth monitoring, as he could be a streaming option moving forward.

Wins

Joe Blanton (SP/RP, KC)
Owned in 6.4 percent of ESPN leagues

Blanton has picked up some starting duties over the last week. In his two performances, he pitched 11 effective innings. He won both of his starts, striking out 11 while just giving up seven hits and no walks for a 0.64 WHIP. His two earned runs put him at a nice 1.64 ERA. He has seen his stock rise 4.7 percent over the week.

ERA

Brett Anderson (SP, LAD)
Owned in 12.8% of ESPN leagues

Over the last 14 innings, Anderson has looked sharp. He has given up only five hits and two walks to go along with just one earned run and one strikeout. His ERA for the week came out to be a rock solid 0.64 ERA. Over the course of the season, he has a 3.29 ERA and is 3-4 with a 1.33 WHIP. He saw his stock rise 1.6 percent over the week.

WHIP

Mike Montgomery (SP, SEA)
Owned in 11.5% of ESPN leagues

Montgomery was very successful over his last two starts. He pitched 16.1 innings allowing just four earned runs, two walks, 11 hits, and he struck out 11. He finished the week with a nice 2.20 ERA and a stellar 0.80 WHIP. Over the course season, he has a 2.04 ERA with a 2-2 record. He has 22 strikeouts in 35.1 innings pitched with a 0.96 WHIP. He has seen his stock grow 0.7 percent over the week.

Saves

Carson Smith (RP, SEA)
Owned in 40% of ESPN leagues

Smith is looking good in the closer role for Seattle. He has three saves in three chances. When it comes to holds he has been nearly as dominant. He only has one blown save on the year, which occurred on April 11th.  His season ERA is 1.52 and he has five total saves to go along with 36 strikeouts in 29.2 innings pitched. This may be one of the last weeks you may see Smith under 50% ownership, so you may want to grab him now if you have a need. His stock rose 10.9 percent over the week.

Mike Valverde is a correspondent for FantasyPros, and he also writes for Fantasy Sports Warehouse. You can follow Mike @RFLRedZone and Fantasy Sports Warehouse @FantasySportsWH.

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