The fantasy baseball season is winding down, which means optimizing our fantasy rosters becomes more critical each week. Whether you’re comfortably sitting in the lead or are playing category catch-up, it’s vital to be aware of which players are producing and which aren’t. This series will help you determine just that. We’ll track the previous week’s hot and cold players from a fantasy perspective to help with lineup decisions. The aim is to put you in the best position to finish the season strong, so let’s get going and look at some Week 21 fantasy baseball risers and fallers.
Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Stats from 8/12 – 8/18
Risers
Mark Vientos (3B — NYM)
Mark Vientos had a nice week, going 8-for-22 (.364) with two doubles and a couple of home runs. His 33.3% strikeout rate could be better, but Vientos made up for it by walking at a steady 14.8% clip and smoking the ball to the tune of a 69.2% hard-hit rate. He also moved from the middle of the order to the two-hole in his last four games.
Vientos cooled off a bit in August, so his solid week is encouraging. He’s had a fantastic season, slashing .277/.338/.551 with 19 dingers and a 149 wRC+ across 302 plate appearances. Additionally, Vientos is making loud contact this year with a 15.7% barrel rate and his .274 ISO is tied for ninth-best among players with at least 300 plate appearances. The Mets’ offense has woken up recently, and Vientos should continue to be a productive bat in shallow leagues — especially if he sticks near the top of the lineup.
Gavin Lux (2B/OF — LAD)
Gavin Lux was 7-for-27 at the plate last week (.333) with three multi-hit efforts. He also recorded three doubles, swatted a couple of home runs, and barreled the ball at a 15% clip.
Lux has excelled in the second half of the season, sporting a 1.076 OPS and 198 wRC+ across his last 102 plate appearances. He also flexed some muscle in that span, cranking five of his eight homers while posting a .278 ISO. Lux sits against lefties but should still be a solid run-production source while batting fifth in a potent Dodgers offense.
Carlos Santana (1B — MIN)
Carlos Santana is on a power heater. He popped three long balls in his last five games and finished the week with a .409 ISO and 21.1% barrel rate. The batting average wasn’t there (.182), but a 23.3% walk rate helped fuel a solid .958 OPS for the week.
Don’t let Santana’s .200 batting average in August fool you. He’s also posting a .788 OPS and 122 wRC+ across his last 61 plate appearances while sporting a season-high .260 ISO. Additionally, Santana’s 12.8% barrel rate and 14.8% walk rate this month are season-best marks. Santana isn’t flashy, but he bats in the middle of a productive Twins lineup and generates across-the-board production. Santana is a useful bat in 12-teamers and gets a boost in OBP formats.
Ramon Laureano (OF — ATL)
Ramon Laureano put on a show last week. He had eight hits across 24 at-bats (.333), including a team-leading three home runs. He also smoked the ball with a whopping 30% barrel rate and finished the week with a .417 ISO.
Laureano started seeing regular playing time on August 8. In that 11-game span, he has a 1.156 OPS with four home runs, eight runs scored, and six RBI. He’s also making a ton of quality contact with a 26.9% barrel rate. The sample size is small, but we ride the hot hand in fantasy baseball, and Laureano is dealing right now. He could be a sneaky-productive bat in deep leagues.
Fallers
Ryan McMahon (2B/3B — COL)
Ryan McMahon had a brutal week, logging only one hit across five games and striking out at an elevated 45% rate. Strikeouts have been an issue for McMahon in August, where he’s whiffed at a season-high 37.9% clip. His swing-and-miss ways have contributed to an unsightly .102 batting average and .367 OPS across his last 58 plate appearances. Additionally, he’s failed to hit a home run this month. McMahon has started sitting more often against lefties recently, but he could be in danger of losing more playing time if he can’t get right at the plate soon.
Christopher Morel (3B/OF — TBR)
Christopher Morel’s struggles at the plate continued last week, where the slugger went 4-for-25 (.160) and struck out at a 34.6% clip. While Morel got off to a promising start with the Rays — going yard in his first two games with his new club — it’s been downhill since.
In his last 14 games, Morel has a .132/.246/.151 slash line with zero home runs and a 29.5% strikeout rate. More concerning is that Morel’s quality of contact metrics have plummeted with Tampa Bay, as he has a 5.7% barrel rate and 20% hard-hit rate for the month — well below his career marks of 13.3% and 43.5%, respectively. Some positive regression should be coming (.200 BABIP in August), but in the meantime, Morel is a batting average drain with little power. He can be dropped in shallow leagues.
Jonah Heim (C — TEX)
Jonah Heim managed only two hits last week across 12 at-bats (.167). While one of those hits cleared the fence, the greater concern with Heim is that he started in only three of seven games last week — and has only eight starts in the Rangers’ last 17 games.
Heim has had a rough second half, registering a .538 OPS across his last 73 plate appearances. He also struggled to elevate the ball in this span, posting a 56.7% ground ball rate (career 39.9%). Receding playing time and a high ground ball rate isn’t a recipe for fantasy baseball success. There are likely better backstop options in one-catcher leagues.
Sal Frelick (OF — MIL)
Sal Frelick’s second-half slump continues. The speedster logged one single across seven games last week and got on base at a lowly .087 rate. Frelick’s fantasy value stems from his ability to get on base and steal bags. But after a strong first half where the speedster racked up 14 swipes and a steady .349 OBP across 326 plate appearances, Frelick’s numbers have cratered. He has only one stolen base in his last 90 plate appearances while getting on base at a .261 clip. Frelick also posted a below-the-Mendoza Line batting average of .188 in that stretch. Frelick can’t be counted on right now if you’re trying to squirrel away steals for the final stretch of the season — even in deep leagues.