Another week above water for Buy/Sell! I might just be getting the hang of this fantasy baseball thing.
Owners finally sat up and took notice of Danny Duffy after his 10-strikeout performance against the White Sox. He’s among the most added players across all the major platforms over the last few days. Jake Lamb had another solid week as well. On the sell side, Jacoby Ellsbury cooled off as expected, but Kenta Maeda pitched well against the Diamondbacks. He did suffer an injury during that start when a Paul Goldschmidt liner hit him in the knee, but it appears to be minor.
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Week 11 Buys
Jayson Werth, OF, Washington Nationals
Werth turned 37 on May 20. He celebrated with a two-hit night against the Marlins, which brought his season line up to an uninspiring .224/.293/.418. Since then, he’s hit .288/.356/.488 with four homers and 28 R+RBI in 22 games. Despite his advanced age, Werth’s peripherals look as healthy as ever. He’s making plenty of hard contact, walking at close to a 10 percent clip, and keeping the strikeouts at a manageable level. While his base-stealing days are probably behind him, Werth is established as the 2-hole hitter in the Nats’ lineup, meaning he should provide plenty of category juice. He’s free to add in three-quarters of Yahoo leagues.
Jon Gray, SP, Colorado Rockies
It’s not often that anyone recommends a pitcher who calls Coors home, but after a couple of rough outings to start the season, Gray has come on strong of late. He’s 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 29:7 K/BB in his last four turns, two of which were at home. Gray’s low strand rate may be more of a feature than a bug; if his professional track record is any indication, he has some issues to resolve pitching from the stretch. That and his unfavorable home park will limit his upside, but Gray’s big strikeout numbers and solid command make him worthy of a roster spot in many formats.
Week 11 Sells
Steven Souza Jr., OF, Tampa Bay Rays
Souza has been a solid contributor to this point, with 10 homers, 51 R+RBI, and three stolen bases to go along with a playable .255 batting average. Unfortunately, the smart money is on that average taking a tumble. It’s tough to keep that number respectable when you strike out 35 percent of the time like Souza does. Right now, he’s being propped up by a .364 BABIP that isn’t really supported by his batted ball profile. He’s also probably due for some regression in the power department, as his HR/FB% is second-highest in baseball.
Cole Hamels, SP, Texas Rangers
Hamels has been a consistent fantasy producer for the past decade. He’s currently 6-1 with a 3.14 ERA and striking out nearly a batter per inning. What’s not to like? Well, we can start with the career-worst walk and homer rates. Could just be a fluke from a small sample, sure. But since joining the Rangers at last season’s trade deadline, Hamels has had problems with the long ball, and he’s thrown more pitches out of the strike zone than ever before. For whatever reason, Hamels also appears to be shying away from his changeup, which has always been his best pitch. The projection systems all have him in the neighborhood of a 4.00 ERA rest of season. Given his name value and solid surface stats, now might be a good time to field offers for Hamels.
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