Welcome back to Buy & Sell, where this week’s theme is second time’s the charm! So many struggling players this year have thrived after a demotion, that I’m almost more interested in prospects and other young players who have failed than those getting called up fresh from the minors. The results don’t lie! So let’s bet on the triumphant return and get on to the list!
BUY
10-team
Matt Wallner (OF, Minnesota Twins)
I call him the “Say Hey Kool-Aid Kid” because he’s blasted through the wall. Nervous as I was to take another chance on him after his dreadful April, he’s been one of the games most fearsome hitters since his recall, hitting .353 with three home runs in just 17 at-bats this week, and raising his season line to .271/.403/.612 with 10 home runs in just 129 at-bats (146 plate appearances). While I could do irresponsible extrapolation and say that he’s on a 40-homer pace over a full season, I choose to be even more irresponsible and cherry pick out those first 50 plate appearances, since he’s clearly not the same hitter.
I mean, the strikeouts are still a concern and probably always will be, but he simply does so much contact when making contact with the ball that it reminds me of a light version of Aaron Judge (not light for most people, but this is Aaron Judge we’re talking about).
One other reason he could be diet Judge is that he’s showing he can get an occasional steal, and three successful stolen bases without a single time caught suggests he could grab a handful more before the season is done. With the continued uptrend in his xwOBA, there’s even a chance that he could be not just a power-focused play, but even a sneaky five-category contributor.
Alex Bregman (3B, Houston Astros)
Some people may have hit the panic button when they heard Bregman will have to manage his elbow injury and play DH sometimes, but his bat is at the disco. He’s hit .349 with six dingers in 63 at-bats over the past three weeks and his rising xwOBA has me buying where I still can.
Spencer Steer (1B/2B/OF, Cincinnati Reds)
Steer has had a bit of a rocky road this season, but it seems he’s finally getting back on track. He’s hitting .286 with a homer and a bag this week, with a better long-term run of hitting .288/.403/.559 with four home runs and four stolen bases in 59 at-bats over the past three weeks. With Candelario down, Steer has even more playing time security than before, and I like that he’s repeating last year’s pattern of drawing more walks as the season goes on, with an excellent 12/14 walk-to-strikeout ratio over that three-week span.
Lastly, for those who are unaware, Steer’s give games at the keystone also qualify him for this year at the second base position in many leagues, since his 16 games there from last year didn’t hit the mark for leagues with 20-game next-year eligibility. While I’ll admit that I underestimated Steer due to the expected regression in batting average (which frankly, wasn’t really wrong) he still does a little bit of everything to make him a key cog in all 12-team lineups and a viable utility streamer in 10-team OBP.
12-team
Spencer Torkelson (1B, Detroit Tigers)
This is a week of Spencer’s Gifts. Tork has hit the ground running since his return, smashing two dingers and even a triple while going 12/36 since his return to the Tigers. Given that they really don’t have any other viable options at the position besides the volatile Henry-Malloy, his playing time is likely secured, and we saw last year how much damage he can do when seeing the ball well.
I managed to snag him for just $2 of my $1000 FAAB in my 15-team TGFBI, but given the name value he will likely require a bigger bid in FAAB leagues in which he’s still available, and I think I like him even a bit more than Triston Casas going into the homestretch, so he’s a must-add in all 12-team formats and a solid spec add in 10-teamers.
Pete Crow-Armstrong (OF, Chicago Cubs)
This has been quite a stretch, Armstrong. PCA has looked like a star the past month, hitting .298/.365/.579 with four home runs and five stolen bases in 57 at-bats over the past three weeks. While that’s actually down from his previous stolen base pace, this was needed after a rough stretch, and after raising his season line to .224 with seven home runs and 26 stolen bases, with just one caught stealing, he’s now making those who gave up on him eat Crow.
15-team
Miguel Amaya (C, Chicago Cubs)
You can’t spell Chichen Itza without Chi, C, and itza; terrible pun about Amayan temple. Amaya has been a totally new hitter after making some swing adjustments, hitting .375 with three dingers over the past three weeks, but mostly fueled by a blue-hot past week in which he hit an impossible .517 with two homers, 11 RBI, and just two strikeouts in his past 21 at-bats.
While there have been quite a few young pop-up options at the catcher lately including Joey Bart, Alejandro Kirk, and Austin Wells, to name just a few, one thing I like about Amaya is that his playing time is virtually guaranteed as long as he stays upright, as he was playing regularly even when struggling as Yan Gomes dissipated into thin air. He’s not going to stay this hot, obviously, but his xwOBA has been continually rising, with a .359 xwOBA over has past 100 PA, and a .402 xwOBA over his past 50. I’d snag in all 15-team single-catcher formats and certainly even the shallowest of two-catcher formats.
Parker Meadows (OF, Detroit Tigers)
Meadows has been quietly re-establishing himself as the talented table setter the Tigers thought they had this spring, hitting a hefty .328/.368/.567 with two homers and five stolen bases in 57 at-bats over the past three weeks. Hitting atop a suddenly refreshed Tigers lineup, he’s a great play in 15-team leagues and a viable streamer or fallback option if you fail to land Wallner or PCA.
Ramón Laureano (OF, Atlanta Braves)
Looks like Laureano switched from being obsessed with coffee to Red Bull. He’s hit .323 with five home runs and one stolen base in 62 at-bats over the past three weeks, and is especially valuable in leagues where you need a centerfielder.
I do think the average will regress, especially with 10 strikeouts in the past week, but he’s in a good situation right now and is a must-add in all deep leagues and a viable 15-team stream for his power upside in his new more batter-friendly digs.
Deep Leagues
Vidal Bruján (2B/3B/SS/OF, Miami Marlins)
I may have been over the past few years one of the most bearish on Brujan once I realized that both his power and speed were vastly overrated. But even though he’s no longer close to the stolen base threat Xavier Edwards was (Brujan has five stolen bases but also five caught stealing), Edwards’s recent injury allows Brujan to play out the string, where his multi-position versatility can help you get by in NL-only formats.
Will Wagner (2B, Toronto Blue Jays)
He has been cooling off since his red-hot start, but he still remains one of the few rookies who actually looks like they can maintain a plus batting average with his combination of high HardHit rate (48%) with a relatively low strikeout rate (20%).
Andrés Chaparro (3B, Washington Nationals)
The 25-year-old rookie has acquitted himself well so far, hitting .265 with a homer in 49 AB (52 PA), but I also love his combination of above-average bat speed to go with a low strikeout rate (10%) to be a solid deep league stream, though I still prefer José Tena’s louder tools.
SELL
10-team
Josh Jung (3B, Texas Rangers)
Much like the JJ doll my wife bought just because my kid loves Cocomelon, he’s pretty lame and coasting on name value.
Seriously, how can a doll in 2024 only have THREE voice lines and only one song that isn’t even one of the classics?! Think I’m going to need to find a way to give him a phantom injury and put him on the baby toy IL.
As for this JJ, he’s actually been worse since his return from the IL than his similarly-initialed younger brother Jace, and Josh has hit just .217/.214/.275 with a homer in 69 at-bats over the past three weeks. Aside from the mild amusement of his OBP being worse than his batting average, it’s worth also noting that terrible 0/23 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
Although I’m glad he’s healthy enough to play and some rust should be expected after such a long layoff (I mean, we’re talking the entire offseason here after he was initially expected to return in May), it’s hard to hold on here. I mean, a 33% strikeout rate is really bad, but without a single walk and limited power to balance it out, this could one of those cases where the sample is bad enough to just pull the kill switch early. I was tempted to call him a 12-team drop, but I’d try to hold out a little longer at least in batting average 12-teamers given the Riley injury really thinning the position further. But perhaps I’m even being too conservative there. Cut in shallow formats and tell Jung to stick to analyzing your dreams.
Vinnie Pasquantino (1B, Kansas City Royals)
It doesn’t get much attention given, but lately his contribution at the cold corner has been Pasquantiny. He’s hitting just .259/.313/.440 with 18 home runs and one stolen base over 544 plate appearances. Although it’s nice that he’s finally healthy, he’s been notably worse in the second half with a .294 rolling xwOBA over his past 250 plate appearances following a .388 xwOBA in his prior 250 plate appearances. His walk rate also dropped for the second consecutive year down to a 7% mark that’s below league average. Sorry Italian Breakfast, going forward I’d much rather roster a Zach CorNeto or Triston Casaspuccino.
12-team
Jose Miranda (1B/3B, Minnesota Twins)
It’s hard to not see the graphic of Miranda’s rolling xwOBA without saying “Eeeeooooooooo” like the sound Wily E. Coyote makes falling off a cliff. His .320+ batting average was never sustainable but it seems he’s lost his mojo after his terribly-timed injury, hitting just .177 with no homers over the past three weeks to bring his season AVG down to .197. In fact, his horrific rolling .233 xwOBA over his past 100 PA is the biggest xwOBA rolling xwOBA decline over that span. Given his defensive limitations, he becomes a playing time risk if he can’t turn it around fast, so don’t get charged with possessing him or you’ll be read a list of your Miranda Wrongs.
Ryan O’Hearn (1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles)
While he’s weirdly been a Statcast darling this year, and now has more playing time opened up with Mountcastle hitting the IL, he’s been quite punchless without a single homer over the past three weeks (aside from the one I just saw him hit now) and hitting just .077 this week. Even with more at-bats, I think that his overall solid batting average isn’t enough to compensate for lackluster power or speed in 12-team formats anymore, and he’s already O’hurt you enough.
15-team
Connor Wong (C, Boston Red Sox)
For most of the season, I’ve called Wong a sell, yet he has managed to keep a somewhat decent line on the season, without having a single massive slump to correct the obviously unsustainable batting average.
Well, perhaps now the other shoe is finally dropping as he’s hitting just .179 with one home run in 56 at-bats over the past three weeks, and just .143 this past week. It’s time to thank him for the good times but stop anchoring to his hot spring and terminate his tenure while saying Sayonara Connor.
Jeff McNeil (2B/OF, New York Mets)
McNeil was one of the hottest players for a stretch last month, but has returned to being who we thought he was (for this season), hitting just .224 with two dingers over the past three weeks. Without batting average, he really is only hurting you and is an easy cut in 12-team formats where his roster rate is still way too high, and even a viable cut in 15-team OBP)
Austin Wells (C, New York Yankees)
He acquitted himself well while Trevino was on the IL, but has sadly fallen back in a timeshare again now that Trevino is back, and I don’t really expect him to play more than 60% of remaining games, making him unrosterable in 15-team formats, and I’d certainly try to cut him for Bart, Amaya or even Del Castillo if they’re still available.
Deep Leagues
Max Kepler (OF, Minnesota Twins)
When’s the last time any of us have thought about Max Kepler, really? I honestly thought he must have hit the IL some point last night and I just missed it. But nope, the guy I loved as a sleeper coming this year hasn’t been able to wake up, hitting just .233 with a homer in 60 at-bats over the past three weeks as he’s been clearly surpassed by both Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach. I’d have assumed he’s playing through an injury, given that his eight homers on the season are just a THIRD of his homer total from last year, but this could be the second time in three years he has a single-digit homer total. It’s past time to cut him in all 15-team formats, and playing time is the only thing keeping him relevant in AL-only.
Max Schuemann (2B/SS/OF, Oakland Athletics)
The race between fantasy relevance of Schneider, Schneeman and Schuemann has really been a roller coaster this year, though now they’re all ground level to fuel the breakout of Schwellenbach. Schuemann has still been playing for now, despite hitting a blood-curdling scream-inducing .070/.235/.070 with zero home runs, stolen bases, or even RBI in 43 at-bats the past three weeks, and I wouldn’t be surprised for the imminent return of Jacob Wilson to send him to the bench or the minors. Max… Shoo man, don’t bother me.
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurtwasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Sell Pasquantino? 4th in RBIs in the league? I’m starting to doubt the advice given on this site.