The baseball season keeps chugging along, and another week of games is in the books. While some players are playing unexpectedly well this season, others who we had high hopes for have been struggling. For fantasy purposes, you may be wondering what to do. But don’t sweat it! This weekly write-up will highlight the week’s hot and cold performances in order to help with lineup and waiver wire decisions. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some Week 12 risers and fallers for 2023 fantasy baseball!
More great fantasy baseball advice and analysis: Waiver Wire & FAAB Recommendations | Daily MLB Injury Report | MLB DFS Picks | Line-up Analysis | Dynasty Rankings and Strategy | MLB Bullpen Updates | MLB Player Props | Prospect Rankings & Analysis | Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Week 12 stats from 6/12 – 6/18
Risers
Ryan McMahon (2B/3B – COL)
Ryan McMahon is in the middle of an 11-game hitting streak and has been on fire in June. Last week, he was 10-for-21 with five extra-base hits. McMahon tallied two home runs, six runs scored, and four RBI. Additionally, his six walks were good for a 22.2% walk rate, which paired nicely with an 11.1% strikeout rate for the week.
McMahon is having one of his best seasons to date, hitting .277/.356/.511 with 12 home runs, 42 runs scored, 41 RBI, and four steals across 298 plate appearances. His quality of contact metrics are also career bests, including a 13.7% barrel rate and 49.1% hard-hit rate. Additionally, McMahon’s even been impressive on the road – something he’s struggled with throughout his career. He’s evenly split his home runs between home and away this season (six apiece), and his .832 OPS on the road is a 155-point improvement from his career .677 OPS:
| 2023 | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wRC+ |
| Home | 0.292 | 0.368 | 0.542 | 0.909 | 116 |
| Away | 0.266 | 0.346 | 0.486 | 0.832 | 123 |
| CAREER | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wRC+ |
| Home | 0.272 | 0.346 | 0.501 | 0.847 | 99 |
| Away | 0.222 | 0.307 | 0.369 | 0.677 | 84 |
McMahon has moved up the batting order, exclusively hitting third in his last 20 games. If he can continue to produce on the road, McMahon should put up career numbers this year.
Christopher Morel (2B/OF – CHC)
Following an 0-for-21 skid that cost him playing time, Christopher Morel is starting to heat up again. The slugger had nine hits last week, including a double and a triple, as well as three home runs. He also totaled six runs scored, 10 RBI, and posted a .571 ISO across his 21 at-bats.
Morel will likely carry a strikeout rate of around 30% and his 36.5% whiff rate is in the first percentile. However, his power is tough to ignore. Morel has 13 homers in 32 games this season, and his 35.1% HR/FB rate leads the league among hitters with a minimum of 120 plate appearances. Morel also crushes the ball. For the season, he’s sporting a 17.7% barrel rate and 48.1% hard-hit rate across 125 plate appearances. Morel has played in nine of the Cubs’ last 10 games and should be able to secure steady playing time as long as he stays hot.
Leody Taveras (OF – TEX)
Leody Taveras was a solid all-around contributor last week. He had 10 hits in seven games, including three multi-hit performances. He also popped three home runs and stole a couple of bases while posting a 1.094 OPS for the week.
Taveras is quietly having a career year, hitting .301/.356/.490 with a 134 wRC+ across 226 plate appearances. He also has a career-high eight home runs to go along with 35 runs scored, 32 RBI, and seven steals. Taveras has 94th percentile speed as well as some pop. He isn’t flashy but will contribute a little everywhere, making Taveras a sneaky good fantasy asset. It also doesn’t hurt that he plays for the Rangers, who lead the league in runs scored.
Eddie Rosario (OF – ATL)
Eddie Rosario powered his way through the week. He clubbed five home runs, with nine runs scored and 11 RBI across 21 at-bats. Rosario also barreled the ball at a whopping 26.3% clip and posted a .710 ISO for the week.
Rosario has been outstanding in June, hitting .339/.403/.821 with eight home runs across 14 games. He’s also among the league leaders in ISO (.482), OPS (1.225) and wOBA (.503) for the month. Rosario is a strong side platoon bat but still gives fantasy managers exposure to one of the best lineups in baseball.
Fallers
Nolan Gorman (2B – STL)
Nolan Gorman has had an awful June, and last week was no different. He went 1-for-23, and struck out at a whopping 44.4% clip. To be fair, Gorman also walked 14.8% of the time, but still.
Gorman has been ice cold in June, slashing an underwhelming .107/.180/.214 with an 11 wRC+ across the month’s 61 plate appearances. His strikeout rate has also skyrocketed from 26% to 45.9% during that span. On the plus side, Gorman continues to make quality contact during his cold spell (50% hard-hit rate), but his whiffs and below-league-average contact rates are undercutting his production. If he continues to struggle, Gorman could get dropped in the batting order or lose playing time altogether.
Seth Brown (1B/OF – OAK)
Seth Brown had a rough week. He registered four hits in 22 at-bats, to go along with one run scored and two RBI. He also struck out 45.5% of the time. Brown has struggled since coming off the IL with an oblique injury. He’s slashing .193/.272/.337 in those 26 games, with three homers and a steal. Brown is still crushing the ball since his return (56.3% hard-hit rate), but his 38% strikeout rate will continue to limit his overall production numbers.
While Brown’s .442 xSLG indicates he’s underperforming in the power department, he’ll likely fall short of another double-digit steal season (25/11/.230 in 2022). Combine that with a low batting average and sagging run production numbers in Oakland, and Brown could be more of a roster drag than not.
Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA)
Sandy Alcantara’s last outing was not a good one. He gave up 10 hits and five earned runs across 5.1 innings pitched against Washington. Oddly, he also only managed one strikeout in the game.
Alcantara continues to struggle this season. He’s allowed at least four earned runs in three of his last four outings, including giving up five earned runs to both the lowly Athletics and Nationals. Additionally, Alcantara has a 5.26 ERA (4.58 xFIP) and 1.21 WHIP across those 25.2 innings pitched, as well as a paltry 7.5% K-BB%. Alcantara is allowing more hard contact this season, and while his changeup is getting more whiffs than it did last season, batters are hitting .313 against it (.145 BAA in 2022). Alcantara certainly has the talent to turn things around, but that might not happen this week against a tough Toronto lineup.