Fantasy Baseball Players Trending Up and Down in Late August

Well Rotoballers, we've just about reached the end of the fantasy baseball season. Many of your leagues are about to begin the playoffs, and I hope my advice throughout the year has helped you make the cut. If my advice didn't pan out, that wasn't me. That was some guy named Ralph who hacked my account. He got both me and Jim Bowden.

This will be my final article for this year's fantasy baseball season. But never fear! I will be writing fantasy football content for RotoBaller, and hosting the occasional moderated chat with my good pal Zach W.

Before I sign off on baseball for 2014, I wanted to highlight eight players really quickly who have been hot lately and can help you either make that final playoff push or contribute to your playoff victories.

MLB Players Trending Up

1. Matt Shoemaker (SP, LAA)

Garrett Richards went down with a serious leg injury and us fantasy owners shed a single long tear. Never fear! Teammate Matt Shoemaker is here. In his last seven games he has pitched to a tasty 1.31 ERA, 7.84 K/9 and 0.73 WHIP. If you are in one of the leagues out there where he is not yet owned, go change that immediately - he's starting later today vs. the A's and we expect another filthy start.

2. Drew Smyly (SP, TB)

Well, as a Ray, Smyly has pitched  to 1.50 ERA, 7.25 K/9 and 0.69 WHIP.

Smyly is finally pitching like the sabermetric darling that analysts like me have always said he was. Go grab him off the waiver wire if he's still available in your fantasy baseball leagues.

3. Christian Yelich (OF, MIA)

He has 20-20 potential. He's not quite there yet, but did you realize that since the beginning of August Yelich is hitting .351/.439/.474 with 1 HR, 16 runs scored, 11 RBI and 3 steals? Well, you do now. He's still available in over 30% of leagues.

4. Denard Span (OF, WSH)

Speaking of guys that have hit well since the beginning of August, Denard Span has hit .339/.360/.459 with 1 HR, 15 runs scored, 5 RBI and 7 steals over that span. See what I did there? Span-span. I'll see myself out, but before I do, do yourself a favor and take a long look at Denard.

5. Lucas Duda (1B, OF NYM)

Lucas Duda is "the dude" of baseball right now.  He has been given the chance to be the Mets' everyday first baseman, and he has responded by hitting 26 homers.  The average won't you do any favors, but he has hit 7 HR this month alone. With power down across the league, Duda should be more widely owned.

6. Josh Harrison (2B, 3B, OF, PIT)

Here's a call I definitely missed. The Swiss army knife of baseball hasn't hit the regression that I expected.  In fact, since the beginning of August, all Harrison has done is hit .327/.351/.551 with 3 HR, 19 runs scored, 7 RBI and 4 steals. He's a bit more widely owned since he was an All-Star, but it can't hurt to check in on him, especially since he has a fairly clear path to playing time the rest of the way.

7. Martin Prado (2B, 3B, OF NYY)

Prado hasn't been all that special on the year, but he has been on a tear lately. He really seems to enjoy being a Yankee. In the last two weeks, he is hitting .340/.353/.640 with 3 HR, 9 R and 10 RBI. Yowza, that's one hot tamale. Go pick him up if he's available in your league.

8. Erick Aybar (SS, LAA)

It's not like Erick Aybar has been terrible on the year, but lately he has been great. In the past two weeks, he is hitting .415/.456/.472 with 10 runs scored, 3 RBI and 2 steals. Shortstop is such a thin position that it wouldn't hurt to ride a hot shortstop into the playoff sunset of victory.

MLB Trending Down

I don't feel it's helpful at this point to highlight what players aren't playing well lately, because if they're on your team then you already know. However, this article has really been trending down. The puns have just been getting worse and worse as the year has gone along! I think it's time to call it a day until next year don't you? Until next season, RotoBaseballers (and see you very soon, RotoFootballers).