Rising Stock

Jonathan Schoop 2B, BAL- It was just a few weeks ago that Schoop found himself in the falling stock portion of this article as his ownership levels were still well over 60-percent despite the fact that he was barely hitting over .200.  However, baseball is a funny sport and players can snap out of cold streaks and all of a sudden become the leagues hottest hitter and that is what we have seen from Schoop of late.  Over the last seven days Schoop is hitting .438 with two home runs and an OPS of 1.188.  His batting average was .197 on July 1st and here we are on July 10th and his average is up to .227.  If this is a sign of things to come then Schoop is a must add for the second half of the fantasy baseball season.
 
Wil Myers OF, SD- Myers had gotten off to a slow start to his season and the power had been lacking but all of that has changed over the past few games which we have seen Myers launch six home runs over his last four games.  The six home runs during this stretch bumps his season total to eight on the year to go with a .301 batting average.  Myers is owned in about 80-percent of leagues so you will likely need to try and trade for him if  you want him on your team.
 
Stephen Piscotty OF, OAK- Piscotty has homered in three straight games to give him 10 home runs now on the season.  Over the last week he is hitting .320 with an OPS of 1.146 which has helped bump his average up to .258 on the season.  We saw some solid years from Piscotty in St. Louis and it looks like he may now be settling in with his new team which bodes well for his fantasy owners.
 
Blake Swihart C, BOS- Red Sox catcher Christian Vasquez is going to miss the next six-to-eight weeks after undergoing surgery on a broken finger.  While this means more playing time for Sandy León it also now creates more playing time for Swihart.  For those who do not know, Swihart was once the top catching prospect in baseball and it wasn't for his defensive abilties rather for his offensive upside.  After a solid debut in 2015 which he hit .274 with five home runs over 84 games the Red Sox decided to try him out in the outfield during the 2016 season in an effort to get his bat in the lineup and fill a gaping hole the team had in left field.  Unfortunately Swihart suffered a season ending ankle injury just a few games into the outfield experiment and he hasn't been the same player since.  Out of minor league options the Red Sox have stuck Swihart on the bench for most of this season but now is a chance for him to rebuild some value and potentially find himself as part of a trade come the deadline.  Swihart went 2-for-4 with a double on Tuesday night and should find himself in the lineup upwards of three times a week.
 
Falling Stock
 
Sonny Gray SP, NYY- Gray finds himself owned in 45-percent of standard leagues which seems just too high for a guy with a 5.85 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.  Over Gray's last three starts alone he has allowed 15 earned runs on 19 hits over 11 innings.  I realize Gray has solid road splits this season but at best that makes him a streaming option and not somebody that is owned in almost half of all standard fantasy leagues.
 
Brandon Nimmo OF, NYM- At one point Nimmo was the best thing going for the Mets but even now he has fallen back to earth.  Over the last two weeks Nimmo is hitting a dismal .143 with an OPS of .470.  Nimmo's ownership has dipped below 50-percent in standard leagues and that decline figures to continue as his slump extends.
 
Marwin González UTL, HOU- Gonzalez had a breakout season in 2017, hitting .303 with 67 runs, 23 home runs, 90 RBI, nine stolen bases and an OPS of .907. That production and the fact that he qualified at nearly every position made him a top target towards the second half of fantasy drafts this season.  Unfortunately he is in the midsts of one of the worst seasons of his career as he is hitting just .227 with a .661 OPS.  Over the last two weeks Gonzalez is hitting just .130 with an OPS of .417.  Despite his struggles this season his ownership is still at nearly 60-percent in standard leagues which is really surprising to me.