Week 8 of the fantasy season is upon us. Here are the three hitters you need to buy and three you need to sell in order to make your team championship worthy.
Can you believe it’s already Week 8? This season is flying by. Luckily, we still have a few more months before it’s over. As you prepare for this week, here are the three hitters I suggest to buy and three to sell.
What I mean by “buy or sell” is that there are players that you need to be investing in or adding to your team and players that you need to cut bait and move on from. While it may be counterintuitive to try to sell a player that isn’t putting up numbers, because you won’t get much back, you need to win a championship and those players won’t be helping you much.
The players to buy are those on the upswing, either coming back from injury or breaking out of a slump. The players I suggest to sell are those that are underperforming and don’t see any chance for a change. Your best bet is to move on and look elsewhere for production.
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The list of hitters here are going to be hitters I or any of my colleagues didn’t write about before. How cheap would that be? Writing about a player we already covering earlier in the week would not be beneficial to anyone.
Before I get into my list, here are some players worth mentioning.
Carlos Beltran: Buy. The veteran outfielder has seven RBI in his last three games and three home runs in his last 11 games. While he does go hitless in some games, he can bounce back strong and have a three-hit game. He has hit safely in six of his last seven games. In a Yankees lineup that is a little older and injured, Beltran’s May performance is welcomed.
He’s owned in just 38.3 percent of ESPN leagues. With the injuries to many outfielders recently, he is worth an add as an OF4 or OF5 in most leagues.
Randal Grichuk: Sell. After a breakout season last year, Grichuk was a high draft pick heading into this season. He hasn’t performed to the level we all thought he would so far. He is hitting .219 with five home runs, 19 RBI and 23 runs scored. He suffered lower back tightness on Thursday and missed two games.
Grichuk has just one RBI and no homers in his last 10 games. He’s already being dropped in leagues, 5.5 percent. With the St. Louis Cardinals having some outfield depth, Grichuk may not be playing as often as we’d like.
Now, here is my Week 8 hitters to buy or sell.
Next: Jonathan Schoop
If you need help at second base or middle infield, Jonathan Schoop is someone worth picking up. Over the last 30 days, Schoop ranks 14th on the Player Rater among second basemen. The Baltimore Orioles currently have one of the best offensive in the league and he is one of the main contributors.
Over the last nine games, Schoop has 11 RBI and a .323 batting average. There are only two home runs in that span (in the same game), but he doesn’t need to be the power hitter Manny Machado and Chris Davis are. The fact that he can get on base, score and drive in runs makes him a valuable asset in most leagues.
He does hit in the bottom third of the Orioles lineup, which limits the number of at bats and scoring opportunities, this does give him chances to drive in some runs. And driving in runs is something he’s been doing recently.
Schoop is owned in 46.2 percent of leagues, an increase of 13.4 percent over the last seven days. With some of the second basemen on the waiver wire not playing up to snuff, Schoop is atop the list.
Next: Ben Revere
Ben Revere was a part of the Toronto Blue Jays/Washington Nationals trade in the offseason. He hit well last season with Toronto and the Philadelphia Phillies, .306 average in 156 games. This season, however, is far from that.
In just 14 games this season, he missed 27 games with an oblique injury, Revere is hitting .148/.197/.230 with three RBI, 11 strikeouts and three walks. The biggest surprise is the lack of steals. He does not have a steal in only two attempts this season. He had 31 steals last year.
While the rest of the Nationals lineup is hitting, Revere is the odd-man out. Management continues to sit him against lefties, and with good reason. He has just five plate appearances against a lefty pitcher this season. Against righties, though, he is hitting .138 in 61 plate appearances.
Revere has been the second-most dropped hitter over the last week, 12.7 percent. Yet, he is still owned in 53.6 percent of leagues. I understand that some of those leagues are deeper or dynasty leagues where there are very little replacement options.
If you don’t want to outright drop Revere, he belongs on your bench until he becomes more consistent basis.
Next: Trayce Thompson
The younger brother to NBA’s Klay Thompson, Trayce Thompson is hitting well for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. In 35 games this season, he has seven home runs, 19 RBI and a .281 batting average. He has three home runs (two on May 16) and five RBI in his last six games.
The Dodgers have a lot of outfield depth, I talk about another player in the next slide, so playing time is a commodity. Thompson is listed as the backup right fielder, but he’s been outperforming the starter throughout the season.
Luckily, he is also getting playing time in left and center field, so he’s not wasting away on the bench. Thompson, over the last 15 days, is ranked 33rd on the Player Rater among all hitters.
Thompson spends most of his time hitting towards the bottom of the Dodgers lineup, which doesn’t help his counting stats. Los Angeles ranks 10th in team batting average and 11th in on-base percentage among all National League teams.
As of right now, Thompson is someone to add in deeper or NL-only leagues. He doesn’t have the playing time that would warrant a pickup in standard leagues. If management decides to switch things up and have Thompson start, then that thought could change. He is owned in just 10.7 percent of leagues, so he’ll be there whenever you decide to add him.
Next: Yasiel Puig
Here is the other Dodgers outfielder I was vaguely talking about. Yasiel Puig is the highest-owned player on this list, at 92.3 percent. He is hitting .236 with five home runs, 16 RBI, three steals, seven walks and 35 strikeouts.
His .277 OBP is about 0.5 points behind in 2015 OBP. The frequency of strikeouts is what’s killing him. Regardless, he’s still hitting in the top-third of the lineup. Two of his five home runs have come over the last nine days, and those are the only games that he recorded an RBI. He has two 0-for-3 and one 0-for-4 game in that span.
Puig looks lost at the plate. His walk rate is half of what is was in 2015, 4.2 compared to 8.4. He is also swinging at pretty much everything. He has a 37.3 O-Swing, 66.3 first pitch strike and 15.8 swinging strike rates, all worse than last season.
While he is still owned in over 90 percent of leagues, there are some owners that have bailed. Puig has been dropped in 1.8 percent. Of all the players on the list, he has the best chance at an amazing second half. Maybe you could trade him to someone who thinks name value means more than recent production.
Next: Cameron Maybin
Cameron Maybin made his 2016 debut on May 16 after missing 37 games with a wrist injury. In his first five games, Maybin has been amazing. He stole a base in his first four games and hit his first home run of the season on Friday. He is hitting .647 with five runs scored and two RBI.
While the average will clearly go down as the season progresses, the fact that he is running the bases and making contact is a good sign.
Maybin was a great player with the Atlanta Braves last season. In 141 games, he hit 10 home runs, 59 RBI and .267 with 23 steals. With the start he got to this season, another 10/20 season is very likely.
As a member of the power-hitting Detroit Tigers lineup, Maybin will have a lot of opportunities to score and drive in runs. He hit seventh in his first five games, behind Justin Upton.
Steals are hard to find late in the season. And with some of the speed guys down with injury, or suspension, owners are adding any player that has a chance at 10 steals. Maybin just returned, so those owners that didn’t wait are kicking themselves. He is already owned in 25.1 percent of leagues, up 21.5 percent over the last week.
If you need speed or ratio stats help, then go out and add Maybin before it’s too late.
Next: Kevin Pillar
Last season was a breakout season for Kevin Pillar. He hit 12 homers, 56 RBI and .278 with 25 steals. As a part of the Toronto Blue Jays, he was highly sought after. This season started out strong, seven RBI and .272 average in April, it’s starting to go downhill.
In 20 games this month, Pillar has one home run and eight RBI, but a lowly .211 average. He’s only had one day off this season, so maybe fatigue has something to do with it. Running and diving all over the outfield can take its toll on one’s body.
Over his last five starts (did not start on May 20), he is 0-21 with four strikeouts. Not as bad as Giancarlo Stanton‘s recent streak, but it’s a close second. He has hit in the backend of the lineup and couple of times, but Pillar spends most of his time as the Blue Jays leadoff man.
Hitting leadoff helps his runs total, but when you can’t get on base, that production will drop off. The 16th-round fantasy pick has been dropped in 6.6 percent of leagues, down to 60.1 percent owned.
The season is still young, and Pillar can easily pick it back up, but he could also easily fall deeper into this slump.
Next: Wrap Up
Fantasy baseball is a roller coaster. It’s important for you to capitalize while you’re down so the upswing is more gratifying. Adding or dropping these players will make Week 8, and hopefully the rest of season, enjoyable.
I would understand if you are a little hesitant to cut ties with the struggling players. Because as soon as you cut them, another owner picks them up and has a top-50 hitter on their team and you’re stuck with the scraps.
I am a firm believer in making frequent moves. The phrase “you’re as strong as your weakest link” is how I manage my fantasy team. If a player is struggling for a decent amount of time, you have to cut ties and add the hot bat, or arm if you need a pitcher.
Earlier in the season, I traded Adam Jones for Ian Desmond and Kenta Maeda. Jones is raking now, but I need middle infield and starting pitching help. I also pick up the under-the-radar players and capitalize on their hot streak. The three hitters I list to add can do the same for you.
Next: RP Will Harris Waiver Wire Add
Adding or dropping players is all about your team and what your needs are. Can you afford having a slumping hitter for two weeks while there’s a hot bat available on the waiver wire? Win for now and worry about later, later.