Rising Stock
Kendrys Morales 1B, TOR - I mean, obviously right? Morales had hit home runs in seven straight games heading into Monday when he went 0-for-3 to snap the run. During the streak he hit eight home runs to bring his season total to 21 on the season. The good news is that Kendrys is hammering right-handed pitching this season, hitting .287 with an OPS of .919 which means on most nights we are getting a legit power threat. Despite his run of home runs he is only owned in 15-percent of standard leagues. He may be 35 years old but there is still plenty of power left in this bat and while it’s not a perfect comp I don’t think we should be counting him out yet when a guy like Nelson Cruz is still mashing home runs at 38 years old.
Adalberto Mondesí 2B, KC- Mondesi has made this list before but given how late in the year we are and fantasy owners are looking for some single category contributors that can help them rise up the ranks I think its prudent to mention him again. Mondesi has swiped five bags over the last two weeks which ties him for the league lead. On the year he has 17 stolen bases over 47 games this season. He is projected to steal anywhere from 4-6 more bases moving forward depending on which charts you look at but we know his upside is greater if he can get on base. Adding to his value is the occasional home run he hits as he hit his fifth home run of the season this evening. He isn’t going to do you any favors in the average department but if you need steals he should be in consideration. A few other stolen base upside players right now that are likely floating around the waiver wire are Orioles second baseman Jonathan Villar who has swiped a bag in three straight games and Indians outfielder Greg Allen who has also stolen five bags over the past two weeks.
German Marquez SP, COL - Marquez’s ownership is likely due to the fact that he calls Coors Field his home but even lately that has been zero problem for Marquez who has allowed more than two earned runs just once over his last four home starts and that lone start was a three earned game against the Pirates in which he still struck out 10. On the road Marquez is a Cy Young caliber pitcher, going 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA while striking out 83 over 81 innings. During the month of August Marquez has a 2.12 ERA over five starts while striking out 40 over 34 innings. Despite all of that, Marquez is still unowned in nearly half of ESPN standard leagues. Add this man!
Falling Stock
Dylan Bundy SP, BAL - You know what really grinds my gears? The fact that Dylan Bundy has the same ownership as German Marquez . Bundy’s ownership sits just under 50-percent in standard leagues despite the fact that he had an ERA of 8.38 during the month of July and now has an ERA of 9.24 during the month of August. That is a stretch of nine starts where he has allowed 44 earned runs over 44.2 innings for an ERA of 8.87. What is 50-percent of fantasy owners riding out an 8.87 ERA for two months? Drop this bum from your team, if you are even still on contention for owning him this long in the first place.
Joey Votto 1B, CIN - Speaking of players who have killed fantasy owners this season. Joey Votto had an average ADP of 17.1 in ESPN standard leagues which means some poor fantasy owner used their second round pick on somebody they thought might have been the most sure thing in baseball given his track record and yet Votto was really nothing more than a JAG this season and to make matters worse he is on the DL and the team has not given a timetable for his return. Votto’s nine home runs and .284 batting average would be his worst output really since 2012 if we exclude the 2014 season when he only played 62 games due to injury. Even then, in 2012 he played just 111 games and hit .337 with an OPS of 1.041. If you are in an OBP league he is still valuable there but otherwise you honestly might be better off with Kendrys Morales over the final few weeks of the fantasy season.
Elvis Andrus SS, TEX - The Rangers shortstop is hitting just .095 over the last week and just .163 over the last 15 days. Andrus missed a big junk of this season due to an arm injury but that doesn’t explain the fact that he has just four stolen bases over the 70 games he has played this season. Now I do realize you need to get on base in order to steal a bag but he has attempted just two stolen bases during the month of August and was thrown out stealing both times. On the year he has three caught stealings. This is a player who hasn’t stolen any fewer than 21 bases in any season since he entered the league and while I agree it is unreasonable to expect that output given the injury I would still think that given the fact that nothing else is going well for him this year he would at least try to be more aggressive when he finds his way to first base.