MLB Streaks and Trends, Risers and Fallers Week 19: The Emergence of Cole Ragans for the Kansas City Royals

Published: Aug 12, 2023

Updated: Aug 12, 2023

From today until the end of the Major League Baseball season, Saturday is for looking at the various streaks and trends across the MLB, as well as those fantasy baseball players with rising or falling stock. Who should be your priority waiver wire pickups? Who deserves some of your precious FAAB? Are there any potential fantasy baseball buy low trade candidates? As always, we’ll start by talking about some fantasy baseball risers and fallers, highlighted by Chase Silseth and Cole Ragans, a couple of starters who could make a difference down the stretch of this fantasy baseball season. On the other hand, guys like Ezequiel Duran and Reid Detmers are trending in the wrong direction. Let’s take a look at some of the notable hit streaks and current trends across Major League Baseball, as well as fantasy baseball risers and fallers.

AVG			OBP			SLG
1	Luis Arraez	.366	1	Freddie Freeman	.420	1	Shohei Ohtani	.662
2	Freddie Freeman	.344	2	Ronald Acuna Jr.	.420	2	Matt Olson	.601
3	Ronald Acuna Jr.	.337	3	Juan Soto	.413	3	Freddie Freeman	.597
4	Bo Bichette	.321	4	Luis Arraez	.411	4	Ronald Acuna Jr.	.580
5	Yandy Diaz	.318	5	Shohei Ohtani	.409	5	Mookie Betts	.579
xBA			xwOBA			Hard Hit%
1	Ronald Acuna Jr.	.351	1	Aaron Judge	.491	1	Aaron Judge	63.4%
2	Corey Seager	.327	2	Ronald Acuna Jr.	.455	2	Matt Olson	58.0%
3	Freddie Freeman	.326	3	Corey Seager	.434	3	Matt Chapman	57.8%
4	Bo Bichette	.321	4	Shohei Ohtani	.432	4	Juan Soto	57.7%
5	Luis Arraez	.321	5	Yordan Alvarez	.422	T5	Ronald Acuna Jr.	56.7%

Hit Streaks
Streak	Player	AB	R	Hits	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG/OBP/SLG
16	Ha-seong Kim	58	13	24	3	8	12	9	.414/.514/.603
15	Maikel Garcia	60	12	20	0	9	4	11	.333/.358/.400
13	Jose Altuve	53	15	23	3	8	8	10	.434/.516/.698
12	Nick Castellanos	52	10	17	6	13	1	12	.327/.340/.692
10	Gleyber Torres	39	7	17	2	5	6	7	.436/.511/.692
10	Ozzie Albies	46	8	15	2	8	2	11	.326/.347/.565
9	Tom Murphy	33	6	13	2	6	1	7	.394/.400/.667
9	Nolan Arenado	38	8	12	2	4	2	4	.316/.350/.500

Fantasy Baseball Risers

Chase Silseth, Los Angeles Angels

I mean, how do we not talk about Silseth here? Two of his last three starts have resulted in double-digit strikeout outings, with his most recent outing putting forth 12 strikeouts against the Mariners across seven innings of work! There hasn’t been anything too drastic with his pitch mix, but a noticeable difference has been with his splitter, which has posted a 38.3 percent whiff rate this season.

Over his last three starts, he has a 17.3 SwStr% and a 35 O-Swing%, so the strikeout upside is tangible with him down the stretch. The Angels aren’t in a spot to mess around too much, and Silseth right now gives them a good chance to win ball games. He’ll be in the rotation moving forward so long as he pitches well, and you can count on that.

Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

Okay, wins are going to be a bit hard to come by, but Rangs has posted a 19:2 K/BB ratio over his last two starts (12.2 IP). He’s picked up some velocity on his fastball, and he mixes in a slider to left-handed hitters, which has been lethal this year (.091 BAA, 47.1 Whiff%). His expected statistics look even better than his overall numbers, which is encouraging, as there is a profile to build on here. Ragans is still just 25-years-old, and while his recent starts have been better than his ceiling indicates, fantasy managers can strike a bit of gold here down the stretch. If he’s available, he’s worth adding, as the strikeouts have been good of late, and he should help with your ratios, even if he doesn’t give you a bunch of wins, because you know, the Royals.

Honorable Mention: Eury Perez, Steven Matz, Johan Oviedo, Jack Flaherty, Mike Tauchman, Joey Meneses, Triston Casas, Maikel Garcia

Fantasy Baseball Fallers

Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels

While one Angels starter rises, another falls. Demters has allowed 16 earned runs over his last 11 innings pitched, posting a 9:7 K/BB ratio during that span. As the year has gone on, he’s continued to throw his curveball more, which has been pretty good all things considered. However, his four-seam fastball has been rocked of late, dating back to July where his four-seamer was pummeled to the tune of a .333 average, and .744 SLG. Now, the expected statistics aren’t as bad as the raw numbers, but we have to call them out. Rostering Detmers is like a roller coaster, in that it’s fun and scary at the same time, but if you have Detmers on the team, look to start him when he pitches at home, as that is the best side of his splits.

Ezequiel Duran, Texas Rangers

Let’s keep it short and sweet here, shall we? Duran just hasn’t been the same guy of late.

First 70 Games: .308/.344/.526
Last 21 Games: .156/.260/.266

Since the All-Star Break, his average exit velocity, barrel rate, and hard hit rate are all down, and he’s seeing less pitches in the zone. It was a great first half for Duran, but post-break, it hasn’t been great. His overall numbers for the year still look quite good, but tread carefully moving forward, especially in the near future, as he’s slumping pretty hard right now in these dog days of summer.

Honorable Mention: Jeremy Pena, Mitch Keller, Braxton Garrett, Lucas Gioltio, Luis Severino, David Roberston, Luke Raley, Henry Davis

Statistical Credits:
baseballsavant.mlb.com
fangraphs.com
baseballmusings.com