With another week of baseball in the books, plenty of unexpected players continue to surprise with their productive play. On the flip side, some players who cost a pretty penny on draft day continue to struggle as we head into Memorial Day weekend. Fantasy managers in redraft leagues may be wondering what to do. But don’t sweat it! This write-up covers the week’s hot and cold players from a fantasy perspective to help with tricky lineup and waiver wire decisions. Let’s take a look at some Week 8 risers and fallers for fantasy baseball.
Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
Stats from 5/13 – 5/19
Risers
Joey Ortiz (2B/3B — MIL)
Joey Ortiz hit safely in all six games last week, including three extra-base efforts. He also hit a couple of home runs and added seven runs scored and four RBI to go with a 1.384 OPS for the week.
Ortiz has been playing nearly every day over the last two weeks. He showed plenty of pop in that 11-game span, totaling four home runs and a .375 ISO while slashing .325/.386/.700. The Brewers have been hot in May, and Ortiz should be able to rack up some nice run production totals while hitting in the middle of the order. Plus, his multi-position eligibility is a nice bonus.
Luke Raley (1B/OF — SEA)
Luke Raley was a hitting machine last week. He reached base safely in all six of his games and collected 11 hits, including two doubles. He also contributed across the board, finishing with two home runs, five runs scored, five RBI, and a couple of steals.
Raley has been on fire in May, posting a 1.097 OPS and 216 wRC+ across 48 plate appearances. His hot bat has earned him regular playing time over the last two weeks and a promotion to the clean-up spot in his last two games. Raley brings some pop and speed to the fantasy table and should be a productive bat in a Mariners lineup that is starting to wake up.
Tyler Freeman (3B/OF — CLE)
Tyler Freeman took over the leadoff spot last week and hit the ground running. He totaled nine hits (two doubles) and finished the week with seven runs scored, three RBI, and a couple of steals. He also walked at a 14.8% clip and posted a 50% hard-hit rate.
Freeman is a contact hitter who has shown a little bit of pop and speed this season. He has four home runs across 158 plate appearances and is 6-for-9 on the basepaths. Assuming Freeman continues getting on base at a healthy clip (.361 OBP in May), he could be a sneaky source of steals for the next few weeks with Steven Kwan sidelined — especially since the Guardians don’t shy away from running.
Luis Matos (OF — SFG)
Luis Matos turned heads last week, popping two home runs and knocking in a whopping 16 RBI for the week. Matos was called up to replace Jung Ho Lee and should get the opportunity to play every day. He hit safely in all but one of his six games last week and collected 10 hits, including three doubles. The sample size is small, but Matos is a former top-100 prospect who is well worth scooping up in all leagues to see how he fares at the big-league level. He’s rostered in 45% of Yahoo leagues and 63% of Fantrax leagues.
Fallers
Edwin Diaz (RP — NYM)
Edwin Diaz had a week to forget. Across 2.1 innings of work, he coughed up a combined seven earned runs and blew both of his save opportunities. He also walked batters at a 16.7% clip.
Diaz has been shaky in May. All three of his blown saves have come in his last six appearances. He also gave up three of his five home runs allowed this season in that span. While none of that is good news, it is worth noting that his 9.82 ERA for the month comes with a more palatable 3.78 xFIP. Overall, there’s no need to press the panic button. Diaz is an elite talent who should be able to iron out the kinks, including better command of his slider. But for now, he’s relegated to lower-leverage appearances for the Mets.
George Springer (OF — TOR)
George Springer went 3-for-14 (.214) last week with three runs scored, a couple of RBI, and one stolen base. It wasn’t a horrible week, skills-wise. Springer logged a .710 OPS, and his strong plate discipline was on display with a hefty 17.6% walk rate and a minimal 5.9% strikeout rate. However, in his last three games, Springer dropped from leadoff to sixth in the order.
Springer has gotten off to a slow start this season, but he’s been especially cold in May with a .449 OPS and zero home runs across 54 plate appearances. If Springer stays in the six-hole for a lengthy period, it would be a significant dent in his fantasy value.
Jake Burger (3B — MIA)
Jake Burger has yet to get going since returning from the IL with an oblique injury. Last week, the slugger went 3-for-23 (.130) and tallied only one RBI. He also dropped from third to fifth in the batting order.
In the 12 games he played since his return, Burger has a .104/.104/.125 slash line with a 51.4% ground ball rate across 48 plate appearances. He also experienced a power outage in that span, with a .021 ISO and 2.9% barrel rate (career 15%). More than likely, this is just a case of Burger needing to shake off the injury rust. While the groundball rate is something to keep an eye on, Burger’s other underlying metrics are in line with his career marks. Plus, a .192 BABIP indicates that some positive regression should be on the horizon. But in the meantime, little power and a lower batting order slot in an anemic offense isn’t ideal.
Corbin Carroll (OF — ARI)
The good news for Corbin Carroll is that he returned to hitting near the top of the order. The bad news is that he hasn’t done much in his return. Last week, Carroll went 2-for-19 with three runs scored and was 0-for-2 on the basepaths. In the 12 games since regaining the top spot in the order, he’s slashing .156/.235/.333 with a 59 wRC+. He also has only one home run and zero steals (caught twice) in that span.
Overall, Carroll is off to a sluggish start. While he’s shown some speed this season with eight stolen bases, the last time he swiped a base was on April 17. Carroll’s lack of power is more glaring, as he’s totaled only two home runs across 201 plate appearances. He’s not striking the ball well (32.6% hard-hit rate), and his 86.8 mph average exit velocity is down nearly four ticks from last season. Carroll certainly has the talent to turn things around, but his fantasy value has bottomed out in the meantime.