Stock Watch Risers

Matt Adams 1B, ATL- Bad news for owners of Freddie Freeman turned into good news for the fantasy prospects of Matt Adams as the Braves went and traded for the Cardinals first basemen with Freeman expected to be sidelined for the next 8-to-10 weeks.  Adams hit his first home run as a member of the Braves on Monday night and should be in the lineup everyday hitting in the middle of the order.

Ian Happ OF, CHC-  Happ entered the season as the 63rd ranked prospect in baseball and after having a solid start at the minor league level this season he was promoted following injuries to the Cubs roster.  Since his promotion Happ has done nothing but hit .357 with eight runs, two home runs and five RBI.  He is a long-term option in the Cubs lineup and as long as he remains hot he should remain in the team’s lineup.

Jose Berrios SP, MIN-  Berrios had absolutely nothing left to prove at the minor-league level but 2016’s disastrous season was still fresh on many fantasy owner’s minds which likely made them hesitant to jump on the Berrios train this go around.  However, Berrios has quelled those fears through his first two starts by allowing just one earned run while striking out 15 over 15.1 innings.  His next start will come on Wednesday against an Orioles team that just struck out 12 times to Marco Estrada over the weekend.

Stock Watch Fallers

Odubel Herrera OF, PHI- Herrera was a popular sleeper heading into 2017 after finishing the previous year with 87 runs, 15 home runs, 49 RBI and 25 stolen bases.  Unfortunately, this season he is hitting just .232 with 15 runs, three home runs, 13 RBI and four stolen bases.  Over the last 15 days Herrera is hitting just .170 with one run, one RBI and one stolen base which is a total disappointment for fantasy owners.

Ryan Zimmerman 1B, WSH- This should not be shocking to anybody as Zimmerman just was not going to hit .450 all season long with Mark McGuire like power.  Over the last 15 days Zimmerman is hitting .182 with zero runs, zero home runs, four RBI and an OPS of .507.  Fortunately for Zimmerman owners he has remained healthy but the man is still hitting .362 on the season and that number is likely going to drop down closer to .300 sooner rather than later.

Masahiro Tanaka SP, NYY- 2017 has been an utter disaster for Tanaka as the Yankees pitcher is 5-3 with a 6.56 ERA and a 1.60 ERA over nine starts.  The month of May has been even worse as Tanaka owns a 10.50 ERA over four starts, having allowed 21 earned runs on 10 home runs and 34 hits over 18 innings.  There has long been a lingering elbow issue with Tanaka and fantasy owners should wonder just how healthy that elbow is right now.

Buy or Sell?

Eduardo Rodriguez SP, BOS

The Red Sox acquired Eduardo Rodriguez three seasons ago in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles that sent reliever Andrew Miller to the O’s.  Rodriguez was ranked as high as #59 according to Baseball America’s top 100 prospects rankings so there is certainly some talent in ERod’s left arm.  His first taste of the majors came in 2015 where he went 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA over 21 starts.  Not too bad for a rookie but a closer look into his game log would show that his 3.85 ERA was inflated by four of those 21 starts where he gave up a combined 30 of his 52 earned runs.  Take away those four starts and Rodriguez had a 1.86 ERA over the remaining 17 appearances.  There was plenty of optimism heading into last season with ERod expected to take the next step forward in his development but a knee injury in spring training and issues with tipping his pitches lead to a down year.  All of that brings us to 2017 where Rodriguez is again healthy and has credited Chris Sale with some adjustments he has made while on the mound, most importantly his pace, and that has led to him being 3-1 with a 3.10 ERA over nine games with 55 strikeouts over 49.1 innings.  Rodriguez’s 10.03 K/9 is a career best has helped him limit the damage as he still has some trouble with free passes but the rest of his numbers are proving that this indeed does look like a breakout season for the 24-year-old south paw.

Dylan Bundy SP, BAL

Bundy was once ranked as the No.2 prospect in all of baseball back in 2013 but injuries delayed his progress to the major leagues.  Finally breaking through in 2016, Bundy appeared in 36 games (14 starts) for the O’s, going 10-6 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.  Bundy began 2017 in the O’s rotation and was a popular late round sleeper pick given his prior pedigree and he has delivered so far, going 5-2 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP over nine starts.  There are however some factors that are a bit concerning with Bundy which could lead to some regression soon.  First, Bundy is just not striking anybody out, owning a 6.09 K/9 which would be the lowest mark of his professional career with the exception a 5.13 K/9 mark he had at High-A in 2014.  Bundy owns a 2.97 ERA but a FIP of 3.92 and an xFIP of 4.78 which indicates he is getting relatively lucky, largely due to his lack of strikeouts and .259 BABIP.  The strikeouts could certainly come for Bundy as the season moves along and that will help his underlying numbers but as the summer months come the ball tends to travel which could be bad news for a flyball contact pitcher in one of the leagues better hitting divisions and for that reason I would look to move Bundy now.