I hate this week’s Stock Up and Stock Down report because it highlights a few things that I (Steve) was wrong about. I felt very highly on Taijuan Walker, liked Juan Nicasio and thought that Trea Turner would already have replaced Danny Espinosa at second base. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Those are a few highlights (and lowlights) off this week’s article. Who else made this week’s stock reports? Find out here!
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Stock Up
C.C. isdoing so well, he should celebrate with a drink! Oh, wait…
C.C. Sabathia, SP-New York Yankees. Apparently, fantasy players are just as surprised as me that Sabathia has been pitching as well as he has because he is still owned in under 50% of leagues across the major sites. However, the skepticism of people in your league should be your gain. I’m done waiting for the bottom to drop out for this guy, I think he’s found the fountain of youth at least for this season. He still hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in a start in 2016, and has allowed three total earned runs in his last six starts. It isn’t like he is doing this against cupcake offenses either. In those six games he has faced Baltimore twice, Toronto twice, and Detroit with only one crap team in Oakland in the mix. He isn’t going to strike out 200 batters like back in the day, but if he is available, Sabathia should be scooped up today. I would never have guessed this back in March, but his stock is up in a major way.
Danny Espinosa, SS-Washington Nationals. It looks like the few days that Trea Turner got in the Majors stuck a firecracker up Espinosa’s ass because all of a sudden he has started to hit! Since June 4th he has three multi-hit games, four home runs, and has driven in six runs. He still isn’t taking walks, but Espinosa has cut down on his strikeouts some. He is doing everything he can to keep Turner down in the Minors, and on the short term he could help your fantasy team at any of the positions he is currently eligible in. I have a hard time believing that Espinosa will be able to hold off Turner much past the All-Star Break, so while this might be a short term bump, Espinosa’s stock is at its highest of the season.
Robbie Grossman, OF-Minnesota Twins. He did not start the season in the Majors, but ever since Grossman was promoted to the Twins he has been hitting up a storm. He has back to back multi-hit games this week, including a double and a home run. Miguel Sano is not even close to returning right now, and as long as he is out, Grossman’s stock remains at a high level. In 58 games between AAA and the Majors he has 11 home runs and 28 RBIs, which isn’t too shabby. I expect his batting average to drop some from the .330s he is currently hitting, but Grossman should continue to be a strong source of production. He is still striking out a little too much, but he is also walking pretty regularly too. His stock will drop when Sano returns, but right now if you need a fourth outfielder or utility guy Grossman is a strong pickup.
Stock Down
C’mon Taijuan Walker…quit making me look like a fool for predicting big things from you this year!
Taijuan Walker, SP-Seattle Mariners. As a Taijuan Walker owner and preseason advocate for the young starter, Walker’s performance has been extra disappointing to me. He’s only earned one win in his last nine performances, given up three or more earned runs in five of his last seven games and now is dealing with an foot (arch) injury. The Mariners say that he should be able to make his next scheduled start on Sunday, but an injury is the last thing that Walker needs to deal with in order to try to get back on track. Last year one of his big problems was that he gave up 25 home runs on the season and so far in 2016, he’s given up 14 dingers, which is tied for sixth in MLB. Personally, I’m not ready to drop Walker as I think he still has the talent to turn things around, but he should be on your bench if you have other options until he figures things out.
Dexter Fowler, OF-Chicago Cubs. We knew it couldn’t last, didn’t we? Dexter Fowler started the season off like gang-busters as in March/April he hit .347 with three home runs, 15 RBIs and 19 runs. Fantasy owners were rejoicing! However, Fowler is a career .269 hitter and hasn’t actually had a season where he’s hit over .263 since he hit .300 in 2012 when he was with the Rockies and hitting in the best hitters park in the league. In June so far, he’s barely hitting over .200 and it looks like his regression to the mean is in full swing. You may still be able to get something for Fowler based on his hot start, so if you are in need of help at another position and can afford to move him, in may be in your best interest to do so now.
Juan Nicasio, SP-Pittsburgh Pirates. At the beginning of the season, everyone was clambering over Ray Searage’s newest reclamation project, Juan Nicasio. He started out the season well, as in March/April, Nicasio pitched to a 3.33 ERA, had an opponent’s batting average of .194 and gave up ten earned runs in 27 innings. Since then, he’s been really bad. In May, he had an ERA of 6.75 and so far in June, it’s been 7.50. He’s also given up a total of 25 runs in his last 32 innings over that time and with future stars, Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow nipping at his heels trying to steal his spot in the rotation, Nicasio’s fantasy value is close to nil right now. I dumped him several weeks ago and if you are still holding on to him in your league, I suggest you do the same.
The post Stock Up, Stock Down: Sabathia, Fowler, Taijuan and more! appeared first on Fighting Chance Fantasy.