The second half of the fantasy baseball season is officially in full swing, and with trade deadline rumors swirling, every roster decision carries extra weight. Whether you're making a late push for the playoffs or fine-tuning your roster for the stretch run, tracking weekly momentum shifts is crucial. This week’s stock watch features power surges from unexpected corner infielders, rotations stabilizing in tough parks, and a few key contributors whose midsummer slumps are officially sounding the alarm bells. Let’s dive into who’s rising and who’s falling as we head toward August. Before fully getting into the article, check out all the players we’re looking to buy or sell for the remainder of the fantasy baseball season!

Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch Risers This Week

Spencer Torkelson, 1B Detroit Tigers

And just like that, Spencer Torkelson is up to 19 home runs on the year and is on the rise. He’s homered three times this week, and that’s what he provides the most of: home runs. He’s a legit 30-35 home run candidate at this point, and his fantasy value is tied to just that. Torkelson’s career tells us the power is real, as he’s twice had 31 home run seasons and in each of those two seasons, Tork drove in at least 78 runs and scored 82-plus. He’s pacing to come up short on the runs scored, but he does have a chance at matching the home runs and RBI numbers from those seasons.

Ty France, 1B San Diego Padres

What in the world has gotten into Ty France? NOBODY in baseball has more home runs over the past seven days than Ty France with five. Only Fernando Tatis and Andres Chaparro have driven in more than the 10 runs that France has this week. France is now up to 16 home runs on the year, which is four shy of his career-high (2022), and his .547 SLG% is 137 points HIGHER than his career average. France could potentially be dealt at the deadline, and if he’s not and the Padres sell off other pieces, there are no reasons to think France isn’t going to continue to play every day.

Cade Cavalli, SP Washington Nationals

Over the last week, Cade Cavalli has gone 2-0 with a 17:2 K:BB ratio and notched a quality start in each game. The most impressive part is that the two starts came in Coors Field and Sutter Health Park. It literally doesn’t get any better than that. He has three straight quality starts, and he’s notched one in five of his last six. He’s well over 10 K/9 and his ERA is down to 3.58, which was predictable seeing all of the batted ball luck go against him at the beginning of the year.

Brady Singer, SP Cincinnati Reds

Brady Singer is kicking off the second half with how he ended the first half, and that’s a really quality starting pitcher. He’s made two starts since the second half kicked off and has two quality starts, two wins, and a 12:1 K:BB ratio. He has three quality starts in a row and four over his last six outings total. His home ballpark is always a concern, but he’s a pitcher who keeps the ball on the ground and has done a better job keeping the ball in the park. I’m adding Singer to my watch list.

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch Fallers This Week

Ivan Herrera, C St. Louis Cardinals

Over the past week, Ivan Herrera has gone 4-for-27 with two runs scored and just one RBI. This drop-off hasn’t been a one-week issue either, considering he hit just .218 in June and has dropped down to a .200 AVG in July. For an elite on-base guy, he’s put up just a .247 OBP in July, and things have really gone south for the Cardinals catcher. Herrera is a top-five fantasy scorer at the catcher position per Yahoo! Fantasy scoring, so this month of July has really hurt fantasy owners during the stretch run of the regular season. You’re not dropping him yet because there aren’t many catchers worth adding, but keep an eye on your waiver wire.

Kyle Stowers, 1B/OF Miami Marlins

It didn’t matter all too much last year when Kyle Stowers was raking that he struck out over 27% of the time, but it matters because that K-rate is up to 32% at this point and hasn’t been nearly as good. He’s struck out 11 times over six games since the All-Star break and has a .125/.192/.167 slash line with no home runs, no runs scored, and one RBI. His walks are down, his strikeouts are up, and he’s not homering at similar rates as last year. July’s been his worst month of the year, and that comes at a bad time.

Kerry Carpenter, OF Detroit Tigers

This is a bad season for Kerry Carpenter, and things are even worse lately as he’s been 1-for-19 this week and has one hit since July 7th. He’s hitting .093 this month and hasn’t hit any home runs or driven in a run. Not one. Carpenter, who’s always been a good source of power when he’s rolling, has not and doesn’t seem like he’s going to be that guy at all for the remainder of the season.

Braxton Ashcraft SP, Pittsburgh Pirates

Despite how great of a season it’s been to this point, Braxton Ashcraft’s season reached a new low coming out of the All-Star break as the bad Yankees offense put up seven runs against him. The home run ball continues to bite him as he’s served up eight bombs over his last four starts. He’s allowed five earned runs or more in three of his last four starts, and his ERA has risen to 3.95, and hasn’t had a quality start since June 24th.