Another week of some interesting risers and fallers! It’s nice to be able to have more games to get a larger sample size of players. We’re starting to see hot players cool off and some slow starters are beginning to come into form. But, there are still some names that stuck out more to me than others for the list this week. I will try to bring you names each week that aren’t being talked about enough or are being overlooked. With that, I give you the week 2 risers and fallers.
Weekly Risers and Fallers: Week 2
Fantasy Baseball Risers
Brandon Marsh, OF, Los Angeles Angels
7–Day Stats: 18 PA, .308/.389/.462, 2 R, 5 RBI, 1 SB, 2/2 K/BB
Between Mike Trout being injured and Jo Adell still striking out too often, we haven’t heard much about Brandon Marsh this season. He is quietly putting together a solid start to his season and we are seeing underlying improvement from last season to this season.
Brandon Marsh 2021 ➡️ 2022
K: 35% ➡️ 20%
BB: 7.7% ➡️ 12.5%
Chase: 27.3% ➡️ 18.4%
Whiff: 33% ➡️ 23%
Zone Contact 76.9% ➡️ 80.9%
Chase Contact: 43% ➡️ 64.3%Only one barrel, but top-15% in HH% & AVG EV w/ 97th% Sprint speed.
Definitely worth adding right now.#FantasyBaseball
— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) April 22, 2022
Marsh’s K% has dropped 15% from last season to this season, helped by a decrease in both chase and whiff rate. He has shown an improved approach at the plate thus far this season and he is only going to get better. He seems a little underrated right now, and may even be available in shallow leagues. Eric Cross has Marsh as his top waiver pickup of the week, so go check to see if he is still available stat. Marsh should also steal close to 20 bases this season, so he won’t be underrated for much longer. Go and get Marsh in any format if someone hasn’t been paying attention to his encouraging start to the season.
Carlos Carrasco, SP, New York Mets
7-Day Stats: 12.2 IP, 1.42 ERA, 2.42 FIP, 15 K, 2BB, 1 QS
It’s very good to see Carrasco enjoy a nice start to the season after all that he has been through health-wise. After taking care of some loose bodies in his elbow in the offseason, it looks like we are getting vintage Cookie. His breaking pitches were clearly hampered by the elbow issue he pitched through last season, but he seems to have full confidence back in those pitches. He has been locating his slider and changeup well, apparent by the 3% walk rate. One thing to watch is his velocity, which is down a tick across the board from last season. I was skeptical of Carrasco after all of his health issues, but my confidence is back after three solid outings.
Alec Bohm, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies
7-Day Stats: 19 PA, .400/.368/.600, 4 R, 6 RBI, HR, 1/1 K/BB
I wonder if, in some weird way, Alec Bohm’s remarks about hating playing in Philly have lit a fire under him. After beginning the season in a platoon with Bryson Stott, Bohm has started to take over the position for himself. After a disappointing 2021, we were looking for Bohm to make adjustments in his third season. So far, he has done just that.
It’s very encouraging to see that much deep red on Bohm’s Baseball Savant page. His barrel rate is nearly double what it was last season, currently sitting at 12.5%, and he has even raised his launch angle from 5.6 last year to 7.4 in 2022. It’s already helping, as his GB% is down to 45.8% from 52.7% in 2021. His LD% is way up from the 28.2% it sat at last year, as he has posted a 41.7% line drive rate thus far in 2022. The adjustments have seen results so far, and the arrow is pointing up for Bohm early in the season.
Fantasy Baseball Fallers
Trevor Story, SS, Boston Red Sox
7-Day Stats: 23 PA, .238/.304/.286, 2 R, 3 RBI, 9/1 K/BB
The Red Sox lineup was supposed to be good for Story, but he has started the season cold. He doesn’t have a single barrel yet this season and his hard-hit rate is down 18.8% from last year. His strikeout rate is also inflated and is currently at 35.1%. Like many hitters this season, I’m sure Story will turn it around once we get warmer weather. Offense is down as a whole across the league and there isn’t much to point out that would concern me about Story after such a small sample size. I don’t think he is as highly regarded as he once was in fantasy, but he’ll come around just like the rest of the league will. It’s ugly now, but it’s too early to panic about Story. If the struggles persist, then it will be time to reconsider Story’s SS ranking.
Willy Adames, SS, Milwaukee Brewers
7-Day Stats: 25 PA, .095/.240/.095, 2 R, 1 RBI, 9/4 K/BB
Adames was a sexy sleeper name this draft season. Unfortunately, he has begun the season in a serious slump. The positive takeaway is that Adames’ walk rate, hard-hit rate, and xBA are all higher than they ever have been. It’s the expected stats that are the most encouraging. With a .264 xBA, .423 xSLG, and a .341 xWOBA, I’m not concerned at all about Adames’ slow start. The results aren’t there right now, but he looks poised to break out soon and go on a heater. If someone in your league is concerned about Adames and is looking to sell, buy buy buy! I still believe Adames is in for a huge season, so don’t be too concerned about the slow start to the season that many players are dealing with.
Trevor Rogers, SP, Miami Marlins
7-Day Stats: 1.2 IP, 12.15 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 3 K, 4 BB
After a breakout season in 2021, 2022 has not been kind to Trevor Rogers. I wrote about Rogers in a preseason article, so his concerning start is a bit of a surprise to me. A 2.8 K-BB% is not going to get it done and is alarming, especially from a pitcher such as Rogers who has plenty of strikeout upside. Control seems to be an issue early in the season and has been something that has plagued Rogers in the past. If he is unable to harness his stuff he won’t be effective and could regress from his strong rookie season. The underlying numbers look fine, so Rogers should be good if he gets his control, well, under control. I’m not panicking just yet, but Rogers’ next few starts will be important to monitor as we get deeper into the season.