Another fantasy week is in the books which means it is time for another addition of the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch Report.  Lets take a look at which players have their values rising and falling since last week.

 

Rising Stock

Brandon Belt 1B, SF- Belt is healthy and on fire right now, hitting .292 with 10 runs, six home runs and 12 RBI.  Now you may be wondering how I can say a guy hitting .292 is on fire, well over his last 10 games he is hitting .333 with five home runs and nine RBI.  Those five home runs have come over the last six games to be even more specific.  At 30 years old Belt is long overdue for that breakout season that never came but with the new emphasis on launch angle around the league its quite possible that he achieves a new career high in homers if he stays healthy.

Yoan Moncada 2B, CWS- The No.1 prospect in baseball got off to a slow start to his year but over the last six games he is showing the potential that made him worth parting with Chris Sale as he is hitting .348 with seven runs, two doubles, one triple, three home runs, seven RBI and three stolen bases over that stretch.  Overall this season he is hitting .244 with 13 runs, four home runs 10 RBI and four stolen bases.  Moncada possesses legit 20/20 upside and though it’s unlikely his batting average finishes north of .250 this season he does have a plus hit tool according to the scouts, so it is entire possible he exceeds expectations.  This kid is still only 22-years old and projects to be an elite talent.

Blake Snell SP, TB- I LOVED Blake Snell heading into the season.  He had a strong spring training which saw him strikeout 27 over 17.1 innings while posting a 1.04 WHIP.  His strong spring came after his impressive second half in 2017 which saw him go 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA while striking out 74 over 77.1 innings.  Snell was once the top prospect in the Rays system and heading into 2016 he was the No.12 overall prospect in baseball.  Entering 2018 he posted a 3.83 ERA with an 8.9 K/9 over 43 major league starts and he just seemed prime for a breakout year and that is what we are getting.  Snell is 3-1 with a 2.54 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP while striking out 32 over 28.1 innings.  His next start will come Friday against the Red Sox and that may deter some from starting Snell but Boston has actually struggled against southpaws this season and Snell himself shut them out over 5.2 innings to start his season.  Snell is owned in just over 70-percent of standard leagues so if you find him on the wire I suggest you pick him up and if you can trade for him I suggest doing so as well.

 

Falling Stock

Yu Darvish SP, CHC- WOOF! That’s how I am describing Darvish’s start to his Cubs career as he is 0-2 with a 6.86 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.  He has allowed four or more earned runs in three of his four starts and has allowed nine earned runs over his last 9.1 innings.  He nearly walked as many batters as he has struck out and his opponents have not exactly been a murders row by any means.  You can give him a pass in his last start if you want when he faced the Rockies in Coors Field but four runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings to the Braves and five runs on five hits over 4.1 innings to the Marlins is not acceptable.  His ownership has dropped to 95-percent in standard leagues, so some are already fed up.  Sure he is talented to bounce back but I wouldn’t blame you if you looked to sell for pennies on the dollar right now.

Jay Bruce OF, NYM- So yes, Bruce did collect three hits and hit a home run tonight and now has a mini three-game hitting streak going but up until tonight he has been a total disaster for fantasy owners and has had many wondering why Brandon Nimmo was not getting more playing time over him.  On the year, Bruce is hitting just .222 with six runs, two home runs and 10 RBI.  Bruce was coming off a solid 2017 season and thus his ADP entering this season was at 138 in standard leagues.  Big thumbs down there.  Bruce’s ownership levels are below 80-percent and dropping though tonight’s three-hit performance could cause a slight spike up for those owners looking for power.

Edwin Encarnación 1B, CLE- I know we have been down this road with Edwin before, last season in fact when he hit .200 with four home runs and nine RBI through the month of April and then went on a tear to finish the season with his usual totals of 38 home runs and 107 RBI, so is there really a reason to be concerned?  I think there is as Edwin is hitting just .154 this season with seven runs, four home runs and seven RBI.  Even more concerning is his inflated strikeout rate of 28.6-percent and his deflated walk rate of just 7.1-percent.  Last season Edwin finished with a strikeout rate of 19.9-percent and a walk rate of 15.5-percent.  If he is walking less and striking out more it means his approach is off and therefore a big bounce back over the next few months may not be a guarantee.  Some things working in his favor are the lowly .152 BABIP which has to increase just out of sure luck and his flyball rate is the highest it has been since 2014 so there is the potential for a power surge if he can start making better contact.