The trade deadline had a lot of activity and changed the roles of many players significantly. Injuries and performances change the rankings each month. Here are some of the players rising and falling in my rankings for the month ahead outside of the obvious players affected by trades.

Risers

Joey Votto (Reds): Votto wasn't targeted in drafts and went late. He struggled in April and was hurt in May. He was good in June and exceptional in July. He batted .319 with 18 runs, 11 home runs and 25 RBIs in July. Votto tied a major league record with a home run in seven consecutive games, hitting nine in that span. He is slashing .272/.366/.548 with 40 runs, 21 home runs, 59 RBI, and one stolen base in  279 at-bats this season. He has career-highs in hard hit (50 percent), exit velocity (92.6 mph), max exit velocity (114.1 mph), and barrel rate (16.2 percent). Votto is swinging more and has a career high 23.6 percent strikeout rate, but it's resulting in more power.

Austin Riley (Braves): Riley has gone through power surges, including eight home runs in his last 11 games, but the overall numbers have been excellent. Riley is slashing .292/.374/.523 with 55 runs, 22 home runs and 63 RBIs. Even without Ronald Acuna, Riley still has good hitters in front of him as the cleanup hitter. Riley has shown immense improvement from his rookie season in 2019 and the walk rate has increased each season and is at 10.4 percent this year. He has a barrel rate of 12.4 percent and has a max exit velocity in the 89th percentile.  

Jo Adell (Angels): It took long enough for the Angels to finally call up Adell. He made his first appearance of the season for the Angels on Tuesday and went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one walk and three RBIs and a stolen base. Adell was crushing it at Triple-A Salt Lake hitting .289/.342/.592 with 23 homers and eight stolen bases. One of his flaws is strikeouts and he had a 29.2 percent strikeout rate this season. He had a 41.7 percent strikeout rate in 124 at-bats with the Angels last season. Still, he has the power and speed combo making him an add in most leagues.

Daulton Varsho (Diamondbacks): A player eligible at catcher, getting at-bats and can steal bases is an easy player to move up. Varsho was playing a lot at catcher in July, but Carson Kelly is back. Still, Varsho should play enough, also getting time in the outfield. In 58 at-bats in July, Varsho slashed .276/.400/.586 with 12 runs, five home runs, 13 RBIs and two stolen bases with an 18.6 percent strikeout rate and 17.1 percent walk rate. Varsho is making more contact and better quality contact after a rough start to his career.

Frankie Montas (A's): Montas was low on my list about two months ago and I dropped him in a 12-team league, but he has turned things around. Montas had a 5.87 ERA after his May 3rd start and it's down to 4.08. He had a 6.20 ERA in April, 3.18 in May and 5.28 in June. Montas was excellent in July with a 2.30 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 31.7 percent strikeout rate, and 7.1 percent walk rate. Montas is getting hitters to swing at more pitches out of the strike zone. It has led to fewer home runs. In the first half, he allowed 1.26 HR/9 and in the second half it's 0.95. The FIP's for Montas since May have been 3.72, 3.33, and 2.59. Montas struck out at least 10 hitters in three of the last four starts and one came against the Astros. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his last eight starts.

Fallers

Taijuan Walker (Mets): It was clear Walker was pitching over his head. He's a good pitcher and made the All-Star team, but the underlying numbers indicated there could be some struggles ahead. Walker had another bad start Tuesday night, allowing eight hits, four runs, two walks and two home runs in 5.2 innings against the Marlins. He has allowed seven home runs over his last three starts. He has allowed at least four earned runs in his last four starts and one of them lasted one-third of an inning. Fatigue is likely setting in after he pitched 13 innings in 2018, one inning in 2019 and 53.1 last season. Walker is at 105 innings this season. Over his last 25.2 innings, Walker has allowed 32 hits, 24 earned runs, walked 13, struck out 19 and allowed eight home runs.

Cody Bellinger (Dodgers): Bellinger looks lost at the plate. He is slashing .165/.262/.284 with 28 runs, five home runs, 21 RBIs and two stolen bases. The strikeout rate of 27.2 percent is the worst of his career. The hard hit rate of 34.1 percent is the worst of his career. He has 12 hits in his last 97 at-bats. When the Dodgers are completely healthy, it wouldn't be surprising to see him lose at-bats.

Yoán Moncada (White Sox): Moncada hasn't taken the next step many hoped for. While he's getting on base, the power is lacking. He is slashing ..260/.375/.401 with 47 runs, nine home runs, 46 RBIs and two stolen bases. After hitting 25 home runs in 511 at-bats in 2019, Moncada has 15 home runs in his last 542 at-bats. Moncada has a fly ball rate of only 28.8 percent. In his last 44 games, Moncada is 36-for-162 with 19 runs, five home runs, and 17 RBIs.