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 14 risers and fallers for fantasy baseball!
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Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Week 14 stats from 6/26 – 7/2
Risers
Tommy Pham (OF – NYM)
Tommy Pham is a man on fire. He led the league with 13 hits last week, including four multi-hit performances. He also totaled two home runs, six runs scored, five RBI, and a steal. Pham’s hot play has even moved him up in the batting order, with the veteran hitting out of the two-spot in his last two games.
Pham has come on strong since seeing regular playing time in the first week of June. In his last 22 games, Pham is slashing .360/.409/.581 with a .990 OPS. He also popped three homers with 14 runs scored, 15 RBI, and four steals. Additionally, Pham is making a ton of quality contact, sporting a 14.1% barrel rate and 54.7% hard-hit rate during that span. Pham is one of the few bright spots on a lackluster Mets team right now, and his hot bat is well worth riding.
Anthony Volpe (SS – NYY)
Watch out, Anthony Volpe is heating up! He’s currently on an eight-game hitting streak, including six multi-hit performances. Volpe finished the week with 12 hits, including five runs scored, one RBI, and a stolen base. He also posted a 1.194 OPS.
Volpe had a rough May but turned things around in June. He upped his overall numbers, improving his batting average nearly 100 points and his OPS nearly 180 points:
| AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wRC+ | |
| May | .174 | .216 | .376 | .592 | 57 |
| June | .265 | .342 | .426 | .769 | 116 |
Volpe’s pop and speed are as advertised. He has 11 homers and 16 steals on the year across 316 plate appearances. His 29.4% strikeout rate isn’t ideal, but Volpe should still be able to contribute across the board. A big second half could be in store for the versatile rookie.
Carlos Santana (1B – PIT)
Carlos Santana made some noise last week. He tallied 11 hits, including six extra-base performances. He finished the week with three home runs, six runs scored, and six RBI. The veteran also flexed some power, barreling the ball at a 13% clip.
Santana had a nice June, hitting .287/.333/.543 with six home runs and 19 RBI. He also posted an .876 OPS and 133 wRC+ for the month. Santana’s quality of contact metrics are down this season, but he still has solid plate skills with a 10.4% walk rate and 17.4% strikeout rate. As long as he continues to hit, Santana makes for a steady contributor out of the cleanup spot.
Reid Detmers (SP – LAA)
Reid Detmers continues to roll. In his start against the Diamondbacks last week, he allowed three hits, with two earned runs in six innings pitched. He also finished the outing with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Detmers has been fantastic in his last five starts, including tough outings against the Dodgers and Texans. He allowed two earned runs or fewer across that span, while racking up at least eight strikeouts in each outing. For the season, Detmers is rocking his slider to the tune of a 37.7% whiff rate and has a 3.72 ERA (3.66 xFIP) and 1.25 WHIP across 82.1 innings pitched. He’s also sporting a 20.8% K-BB% on the year. Detmer’s value is dinged a little by being in a six-man rotation, but that shouldn’t stop him from being on fantasy rosters.
Fallers
Adam Duvall (OF – BOS)
Adam Duvall has continued to struggle since coming off the IL with a wrist injury. He went 2-for-16 (.125) last week, and struck out at a 35.3% clip. Since his June 9 return, Duvall is slashing .154/.247/.262 with one home run and a lowly .108 ISO and .508 OPS across 73 plate appearances. He’s also not making quality contact, posting a below-average 30.8% hard-hit rate. The power outage isn’t surprising given his wrist fracture, but if Duvall doesn’t start flexing some muscle soon, he could quickly become tough to roster.
Joey Votto (1B – CIN)
What a difference a week makes. Following his three-homer debut week, Joey Votto went ice cold. He was hitless in 17 at-bats and struck out at a 45% clip. There will likely be ups and downs with Votto, as the veteran slugger is coming off rotator cuff surgery. The power is certainly there – Votto already has four homers and a .308 ISO across a limited 47 plate appearances this season. But that power will also come with some load management and cold stretches. Votto is better left riding the pine until he can string together some productive at-bats.
Cristian Javier (SP – HOU)
Cristian Javier continues to struggle. He coughed up six runs on eight hits against the Cardinals last week, and only registered one strikeout in four innings pitched.
Javier is in the middle of a brutal four-game stretch. He’s allowed four or more earned runs in three of those starts, with a combined six strikeouts during that span. He also has a bloated 7.27 ERA (8.00xFIP) and 1.90 WHIP in those outings with a -3.5% K-BB%. Overall, Javier has had command issues with his slider this season, and batters are teeing off on his fastball to the tune of a .464 SLG (.488 xSLG). Javier should be benched until there’s a turnaround.