The All-Star break is around the corner, which means we get a breather to assess our fantasy baseball teams. The latest edition of Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers is here to help with that assessment. We’ll highlight last week’s hot and cold players from a fantasy perspective to help with tricky lineup and waiver wire decisions. With that in mind, let’s look at some Week 15 risers and fallers for fantasy baseball.
Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Stats from 7/1 – 7/7
Risers
Brenton Doyle (OF — COL)
Brenton Doyle powered his way through the week. He swatted four home runs and finished with a .762 ISO and 1.886 OPS across 28 at-bats. He also racked up 11 hits — including four doubles — and swiped a bag for good measure.
Doyle is coming off a lackluster June (.543 OPS), so the recent production is encouraging. Despite the down month, Doyle is having a solid season, logging 11 home runs and 20 steals across 349 plate appearances. His .272/.336/.440 slash line on the year is a marked improvement from 2023 (.593 OPS), largely due to plate gains — Doyle cut his strikeout rate by 10 points to 24.9% this season. He’s also making more quality contact. Doyle has pop, speed, and a plus batting average, making him a productive bat in shallow leagues. EDITOR’S NOTE: Doyle hit two more home runs last night after this article was submitted.
Jose Miranda (3B — MIN)
Jose Miranda has been a hitting machine. He’s on an 11-game hitting streak, totaling 14 hits last week, including four doubles and a home run. Miranda also showcased his strong plate skills with a minuscule 4.5% strikeout rate and a hefty .727 OBP across the week’s 20 at-bats.
Miranda is slashing .331/.373/.533 on the year with nine home runs and two steals across 263 plate appearances. He’s also sporting a .352 xwOBA and 154 wRC+ in that span. Miranda’s 13.3% strikeout rate ranks in the 94th percentile, and he’s nearly doubled his barrel rate from 4.2% in 2023 to 8.1% this season. Miranda has hit cleanup in four of his last five starts and should be a useful bat moving forward.
Ben Rice (C/1B — NYY)
Ben Rice made some noise last week, crushing four homers and racking up 10 RBI. He also made noisy contact by barreling the ball at a 31.3% clip. Much of Rice’s production came from a historic three-home run game, but he’s hit the ground running since being called up on June 18.
In his 18 major-league games, Rice has a .273/.359/.545 slash line with a .436 xwOBA. He’s also making quality contact (17.8% barrel rate) and carried over his strong plate skills from the minors, sporting a 12.5% walk rate and 17.2% strikeout rate. The sample size is small, but Rice is worth taking a shot on in 12-team leagues, especially since he looks like the Yankees’ new leadoff hitter.
Rowdy Tellez (1B — PIT)
Rowdy Tellez continues to be productive at the plate. He cranked three dingers last week and posted a 1.386 OPS across 17 at-bats. Tellez has been cruising since the beginning of June. In his previous 27 games, he has a .349/.393/.627 slash line and 184 wRC+. He flexed some muscle in that span, popping six of his eight home runs with a .277 ISO and 12.1% barrel rate. Tellez also made a ton of zone contact in this stretch (93.9%), consistent with his career-high 90.4% zone contact rate on the year. Tellez sits against lefties, but is a solid middle-of-the-order contributor while he’s on a heater.
Fallers
Ezequiel Tovar (SS — COL)
Ezequiel Tovar had a brutal start to July. He failed to collect a hit in his 24 at-bats at Coors Field, was caught stealing, and struck out at a 42.3% clip. Despite a solid season overall, Tovar has stumbled since mid-June. In 80 plate appearances since June 16, Tovar has a .403 OPS with one home run and a -5 wRC+. Not surprisingly, there was little production in this 19-game span, as Tovar totaled only four runs scored and three RBI. Some unluckiness was at play (.224 BABIP), so this is likely just a slump for the youngster. But re-evaluate after the All-Star break.
Dansby Swanson (SS — CHC)
Dansby Swanson had a rough week, logging only one hit in 21 at-bats (.048) and striking out at a 39.1% rate. Swanson is coming off his best month of the season (.758 OPS in June), but his sophomore year in Chicago hasn’t been a kind one.
For the year, Swanson has a .204/.281/.341 slash line with eight home runs and five steals across 310 plate appearances. That also comes with a below-average 78 wRC+. While Swanson is still making quality contact, he’s had trouble elevating the ball this season, posting a career-worst 51.5% ground ball rate — a nearly 10-point increase from his career norm. Swanson is also struggling with his plate discipline, registering a career-high 27.7% strikeout rate. Swanson has the talent to turn things around, but as the 33rd-ranked shortstop in 12-team leagues, according to the FanGraphs player rater, you’ll likely find better streaming options in the interim.
Nolan Jones (OF — COL)
Nolan Jones didn’t make the most of Colorado’s homestand last week. He went 4-for-19 (.211) with a double and two RBI. Jones registered a 61.5% hard-hit rate for the week, but 66.7% of his hits were ground balls.
Since returning from the IL in mid-June, Jones is slashing .213/.355/.344 with two home runs and a stolen base. The .355 OBP is nice, but it’s a little empty as Jones totaled only six runs scored, seven RBI, and one swipe in those 20 games. The lack of production is a running theme for Jones this season. He has three home runs and three steals across 180 plate appearances — a far cry from his 20/20/.297 breakout season in 2023. In addition to paltry production, Jones dropped to the bottom third of the batting order in his last eight games. Little production with a 30+% strikeout rate? I’ll pass.
Tyler Soderstrom (1B — OAK)
Tyler Soderstrom had a down week. He went 3-for-17 (.176) with one double and two RBI. He had a solid plate approach, posting a 10% walk and 5% strikeout rate, but that’s about it.
Power is Soderstrom’s best fantasy asset, but we haven’t seen much of it lately. After cranking five home runs in a 12-game period between June 10 and June 22, Soderstrom has only one dinger in his last 12 games. He also has a .098 ISO and .440 OPS in those 45 plate appearances. While Soderstrom still smashed the ball in that stretch with a 50% hard-hit and 11.8% barrel rate, he brought little else to the fantasy table. Soderstrom sits against lefties and is a better play in 15-team leagues — or as a power stream in shallower leagues when he heats up.