Brock Holt provides owners with enticing position flexibility
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 19 plate appearances, and all pitchers must have at least two games started, unless they are a closer. Stock percentage increase and decrease are over the previous week for that particular player.
Hitters
Average
Brock Holt (BOS – 1B,2B,3B,SS,LF,CF,RF)
Owned in 31.9% of ESPN leagues
With 28 at-bats, Holt did some good things. He scored seven times had 11 hits (.393 average) with six RBI and took five walks. Owners needing of any of position can look to him as he fills it all except for pitcher and catcher. He has a solid batting average of .286 for the season but doesn’t supply much power. Entering Tuesday night’s game, Brock had two home runs and only 34 RBI in 343 plate appearances. Over the course of last week, he saw his stock increase 3.7 percent.
Home Runs
Carlos Beltran (NYY – RF, DH)
Owned in 35.8% of ESPN leagues
Beltran brought a whole new concept to “touch ‘em all,” as he hit four home runs in just 22 at-bats for the Yankees last week. He added five runs and seven RBI to the mix and had eight hits for a .364 average. Don’t look for the 17-year veteran to keep rolling with these numbers, but he is still able to produce and has good talent around him in New York. On the season he is hitting .268 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI. His stock jumped 19 percent last week.
RBI
Jedd Gyorko (SD – 2B)
Owned in 7.2% of ESPN leagues
Gyorko has had a wild ride this season. After being demoted to Triple-A, he is back with the Padres. San Diego is giving him a try at SS, so he will add extra value once your league rules kick him in at that position. This last week saw a different Gyorko at the plate. In 23 at-bats, he had six hits with two runs, and he homered twice. Included in this was 10 RBI and a .261 batting average. Over the course of the season, he has batted a paltry .233 with eight home runs and 34 RBI. His stock has risen 2.3 percent.
Stolen Bases
Gregor Blanco (SF – LF,CF,RF)
Owned in 14.1% of ESPN leagues
Blanco is showing all that he has in the leadoff spot for the Giants. In his last 25 at-bats, he had 10 hits (.400) and eight runs scored. He also had three RBI and walked four times. With him on base 14 of the 25 opportunities, he was able to steal four bases over the course of the week. One major thing to consider when evaluating Blanco is that his role may get reduced once Nori Aoki returns from injury, which is expected to happen as soon as Thursday. On the season, Blanco has a .297 batting average with three home runs and 23 RBI to go along with 11 stolen bases. His stock jumped 11.1 percent.
Runs
Jackie Bradley (BOS – CF, RF)
Owned in 28.5% of ESPN leagues
Bradley has seemingly come from nowhere. Entering the week he only had 86 at-bats for the Red Sox over the course of this season. The last 25 at-bats have shown a whole new side to the young player. He has 12 hits (.480 average) with two home runs, eight RBI and three walks. On the season he is hitting .244 with four home runs, 17 RBI in 86 at-bats. His stock jumped 28 percent, or nearly his entire current ownership percentage.
PITCHERS
Strikeouts
Carlos Rodon (CWS – SP, RP)
Owned in 30.7% of ESPN leagues
In his last 15 innings Rodon has been stellar. He has only given up two earned runs, both on solo home runs, and just eight hits and four walks. His WHIP on the week was 0.80, and he had just a 1.20 ERA. Rodon struck out 16 batters in the process. Maybe it’s the Angels that need to figure him out because both his starts last week came against the Halos. His season ERA is 4.42 with a 5-5 record and 106 strikeouts in 99.2 innings pitched. Rodon’s dual eligibility will also come in handy. His stock rose 11.5 percent.
Wins
Jeremy Hellickson (ARI – SP)
Owned in 9.3% of ESPN leagues
Hellickson has made my list a few times over the course of this season, and he is back again. In his 13.1 innings he allowed 10 hits and one walk with just one earned run and 10 strikeouts. Hellickson’s 0.83 WHIP and a 0.68 ERA was his best pitching week this season. Hellickson has a 4.60 ERA and a 9-8 record with 107 strikeouts in 115.2 innings pitched this season. He saw his stock jump 2.7 percent over the week.
Saves
No qualifiers this week.
ERA
Chris Rusin (COL – SP, RP)
Owned in 3.1% of ESPN leagues
Rusin hadn’t done much until this last week. In the 15 innings that he pitched he gave up just one earned run on 14 hits and two walks. He also struck out nine. He was outstanding against the Padres in his last start as he logged a complete-game shutout. His previous game he took a hard-luck loss, as he only allowed one run against the Mets. On the season, the left-hander has a 3.99 ERA with a 4-5 record and 62 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched. Rusin’s dual eligibility is also a nice perk. His stock rose 1.8 percent over the course of the week. It’s hard to roster a Rockies’ SP this season, but he could make a nice streaming option as shown last week.
WHIP
Drew Hutchison (TOR – SP)
Owned in 35.9% of ESPN leagues
Hutchison’s option to Triple-A Buffalo was due more to his pitching schedule than his performance. The Blue Jays will not be in need of a fifth starter until the 29th of August, and the right-hander will keep on schedule in the minors until then. Over the course of last week, he was very much in control. He threw 13.2 innings and only allowed three earned runs, two walks, and seven hits. He also struck out 11 in the process. Hutchison has won his last six and eight of 10 games, but his overall ERA of 5.06 and WHIP of 1.44 has limited his potential. He is a winner, as his record is 12-2. His stock rose 7.3 percent over the course of the week.
Mike Valverde is a correspondent for FantasyPros. To read more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @RFLRedZone.
