We have made it through another week of the MLB season. There were some awe-inspiring performances. As usual, there were some great showings and some rough ones to dig into. This weekly fantasy baseball column will help highlight some hot and cold players, risers and fallers. Some players are already rostered in many places. Other players may be widely available in fantasy baseball leagues, making a potential waiver wire claim a possibility.
This week, I will highlight some known and lesser-known players. Let’s see some of the risers and fallers for fantasy baseball Week 15 (6/30-7/6).
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Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers
Fantasy Baseball Risers
Michael Busch (1B – CHC)
Michael Busch is coming off a monster week at Wrigley Field, where he took full advantage of bad pitching and some great hitting weather. Busch hit safely in five out of six games for a .565 batting average. He hit four home runs to go with seven runs scored and seven RBI.
Busch barreled the ball an impressive 26.7% of the time with a 53.3% hard-hit rate. He’s swinging it so well of late that he’s no longer platooning with Justin Turner at first base. Busch should be locked into your lineups for the foreseeable future.
George Springer (OF – TOR)
George Springer is proving that age is just a number this season. This past week, he hit safely in five out of seven games for a .429 batting average. Springer hit five home runs with nine runs scored, 13 RBI and a stolen base.
Springer had an impressive 19.2% barrel rate, complemented by a 50% hard-hit rate, while also demonstrating great plate discipline, walking 12.1% of the time and striking out 9.1%. Springer is having a great season, and there’s no reason he should not be started in most formats.
Trevor Story (SS – BOS)
After a rough start to the season, Trevor Story has found his swing over the past few weeks, and this past week was another solid one. Story hit safely in all six games for a .480 batting average. He hit three home runs to go with seven runs scored, ten RBI and a stolen base. He had a nice 13% barrel rate to go with an impressive 65.2% hard-hit rate.
Story is known to strike out a lot, but that was not the case this past week, only striking out 7.7% of the time. Since June 1st, Story is hitting .319 with seven home runs, 21 runs scored, 30 RBI and five stolen bases, as he continues to have quite an impressive fantasy season.
Willy Adames (SS – SF)
Willy Adames had a horrific start to the season, but has been getting comfortable at the plate of late. This past week, Adames hit safely in all six games for a .423 batting average. He had two home runs to go with six runs scored and nine RBI. He barreled the ball 14.3% of the time to go with a solid 52.4% hard-hit rate.
Adames also walked 13.3% of the time while striking out 16.7% of the time. Since June 1st, Adames is hitting .264 with six home runs, 20 runs scored and 20 RBI — a significant improvement from the first few months of the season. A big second half could be in store for Adames.
Randy Arozarena (OF – SEA)
Randy Arozarena is quietly having a solid season, and this past week was another big week. Arozarena hit safely in five out of seven games for a .346 batting average. He hit six home runs to go with six runs scored and nine RBI.
Arozarena was insanely locked in with a 25% barrel rate and 60% hard-hit rate. Arozarena is now hitting .249 on the season with 14 home runs and 15 stolen bases, as he’s on his way to another 20/20 season.
Fantasy Baseball Fallers
Bryan Reynolds (OF – PIT)
Bryan Reynolds is having a rough season, and this past week was another bad one. Reynolds hit safely in just one out of six games for a .091 batting average with one run scored. He walked 4.3% of the time but had a horrible 43.5% strikeout rate.
Reynolds looked lost at the plate with a 38.1% O-Swing rate, 61% contact rate and 25% SwStr%. Reynolds is now hitting .229 on the season with 10 home runs and 45 RBI as he continues to disappoint fantasy managers everywhere.
Jac Caglianone (OF – KC)
Jac Caglianone continues to struggle as he adjusts to big league pitching. This past week, Caglianone hit safely in one out of six games for a .087 batting average. He had two runs scored and a stolen base to go with a 24% strikeout rate.
Even through his struggles, the quality of contact has been decent, but Caglianone only barreled the ball 5.9% of the time with a 29.4% hard-hit rate this past week. The Royals continue to play Caglianone, and that’s a good thing, but for now, fantasy managers should bench him.
Ryan McMahon (3B – COL)
Ryan McMahon has been having a horrible season, and it continued this past week with six games in Coors Field. He had one hit over the six games for a .053 batting average. McMahon didn’t collect a barrel while striking out 38.1% of the time.
McMahon is now hitting .213 on the season with 12 home runs while striking out nearly 32% of the time. McMahon should not be rostered in any format except a deep NL-Only league.
Brooks Lee (2B, SS, 3B – MIN)
Brooks Lee had been swinging it well of late, but that came to a screeching halt this past week. He had two hits over six games for a .118 batting average. He did not barrel a ball with a 38.5% hard-hit rate.
Lee struck out 26.3% of the time without a walk. He is now hitting .266 on the season with six home runs, but may lose playing time with Royce Lewis back if he can’t start producing at the plate.
Jackson Merrill (OF – SD)
Jackson Merrill has had an injury-riddled season, and the production has not returned after his latest injuries. This past week, Merrill collected three singles for a .125 batting average. He had two runs scored and three RBI, but also struck out 35.7% of the time.
Merrill may be pressing with a 50% O-Swing rate, 67.3% contact rate and 18.8% SwStr%. He is still hitting .270 on the season, but only has five home runs and one steal, which is not what fantasy managers had in mind when they drafted him.
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