We’ve officially hit summer, and while some players are heating up at the plate, others have been sitting on ice. This weekly write-up helps you navigate difficult lineup and waiver wire decisions by covering the week’s hot and cold players from a fantasy perspective. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s go ahead and look at some Week 13 risers and fallers for fantasy baseball.
Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Stats from 6/17 – 6/23
Risers
Alec Burleson (OF — STL)
Alec Burleson was a beast last week. He stuffed the stat sheet with three home runs, 10 runs scored, and eight RBI. He also swiped three bags and finished the week with a 1.277 OPS. Burleson has been on fire in June, especially in the power department. He’s cranked seven home runs across 88 plate appearances this month and is sporting a .277 ISO in that span. For the season, Burleson has a .285/.319/.469 slash line with 12 home runs and five steals across 252 plate appearances. He bats second in the order and is a productive bat for all league sizes. Burleson is rostered in under 70% of Fantrax and Yahoo leagues, which is criminal. Go scoop him up!
Brendan Donovan (2B/OF — STL)
Fellow Cardinal Brendan Donovan was also swinging a hot bat. He reached base safely in all six games last week, collecting 11 hits with four multi-hit efforts. Donovan also popped three home runs and was an RBI machine, racking up nine for the week. Donovan has looked good all June, slashing .307/.333/.507 with a 139 wRC+ across 78 plate appearances. He makes a strong amount of contact in the zone (91.8%) and should be a solid source of run production while hitting in the middle of the order during his hot streak.
Spencer Horwitz (2B — TOR)
Spencer Horwitz had himself a week. He hit safely in all four starts and popped two dingers with a 1.508 OPS. He also didn’t record a strikeout in his 14 at-bats and walked at a 26.3% clip. In addition to his stellar plate discipline, Horwitz made loud contact, registering a 64.3% hard-hit and 28.6% barrel rate.
Horwitz has hit the ground running since being called up earlier this month. In 50 plate appearances, he’s slashing .366/.480/.561 with two home runs. He’s also sporting an 18% walk rate and 10% strikeout rate while hitting out of the top two spots in the order. Horwitz has had some luck on his side (.389 BABIP), but he showcased strong plate skills throughout the minors and should continue getting on base at a steady clip. Horwitz sits against lefties but should still be a productive bat in 12-team leagues, especially in OBP and points formats.
Jesus Sanchez (OF — MIA)
Jesus Sanchez flexed some muscle last week. He went 7-for-23 (.304) with three home runs, six runs scored, six RBI, and a .478 ISO. He also smoked the ball to the tune of a 70.6% hard-hit rate and 29.4% barrel rate.
Sanchez makes a ton of quality contact and increased his barrel rate from 11.4% in April to 14.6% in June. He’s also rocking a season-best 58.5% hard-hit rate this month. Overall, Sanchez has seven dingers and a career-high six steals on the year across 234 plate appearances. However, his expected stats indicate more power should be on the way: .384 SLG (.519 xSLG) and .298 wOBA (.364 xwOBA). Get in on Sanchez’s power before it’s too late.
Fallers
Jake Burger (1B/3B — MIA)
Jake Burger’s lackluster season continues to drag on. He managed two hits across 21 at-bats and finished the week with a -35 wRC+. Following a breakout season where he hit 34 dingers, Burger’s power has yet to appear in 2024. He has six home runs on the year with a .217 batting average (.229 xBA) and .596 OPS across 226 plate appearances. Overall, Burger is making less quality contact this season. His 43.4% hard-hit rate is a six-point drop from 2023, and his 10.7% barrel rate is a career-worst mark. Also, Burger is hitting fewer line drives in favor of more ground balls, leading to a career-high 52.2% ground ball rate. Less power and a batting average drain? No, thank you. Burger is a drop in most 12-team leagues.
Rhys Hoskins (1B — MIL)
Rhys Hoskins went 5-for-21 (.238) with a couple of runs scored and three RBI. While it wasn’t the worst week on record, Hoskins struck out at an elevated 34.6% clip — an issue he’s struggled with this month.
Hoskins hasn’t found his rhythm since returning from the IL on May 31. He has a .203/.268/.281 slash line with one home run and a .078 ISO in those 18 contests. He also has a 33.3% strikeout rate in that span. Hoskins has the talent to turn things around, but he’s going to have to cut down the strikeouts to do so (career 24.1%). In the meantime, Hoskins isn’t bringing much to the fantasy table.
Tyler Freeman (3B/OF — CLE)
Tyler Freeman had a week to forget. He failed to register a hit in 14 at-bats and sat in two of the week’s five games. The poor week was a continuation of a down month for Freeman. Across 62 plate appearances in June, he has a .167/.262/.296 slash line with two home runs. He’s also 0-for-1 on the basepaths during that span. A .167 BABIP for the month — tied for sixth-worst in the league — contributes to Freeman’s icy June, so some positive regression should be coming. The problem is that Freeman’s lack of production has cost him playing time in the interim — he rode the pine in four of Cleveland’s last ten games. Freeman was a popular add in deeper leagues due to his across-the-board production. However, he’s tough to roster until he returns to an everyday role.
Salvador Perez (C/1B — KCR)
Salvador Perez had an ugly week. He went 3-for-22 (.136), failed to draw a walk, and logged a 31.8% strikeout rate. However, he still mashed the ball when he did hit, posting a 53.3% hard-hit and 13.3% barrel rate for the week. This has been the case for Perez for all of June — underwhelming surface stats, but hitting the snot out of the ball. For the month, Perez has a .510 OPS with two home runs. But that also comes with a 48% hard-hit rate and 91.9 mph average exit velocity across 79 plate appearances. Additionally, Perez has been unlucky with a .188 BABIP for the month. It’s well worth checking in on Perez’s fantasy manager in your league to see if they’re getting cold feet. The fantasy goodness should be coming, making Perez a nice buy-low opportunity before he heats up again.