Welcome back deep leaguers! We are in week 12 of the 2024 season. Becoming a fantasy baseball expert can certainly be a Sisyphean task, but luckily baseball gives us the longest season out of all sports to try and get it right. Hopefully, this week’s Deep League Risers and Fallers column makes rolling that fantasy rock a little lighter for you.
Fallers
Jake Myers, OF, Houston Astros – 11% Rostered
A few weeks ago, I identified Meyers as a Riser due to his excellent play in the month of May. He slashed .329/.406/.518 and hit three home runs and 14 RBI while stealing three bases in 25 games played last month. At that point in time, Myers was in the top 10 percent in wOBA (.391 – 94th percentile) and Ideal Contact Rate (46.9% – 91st percentile).
However, as the calendar has turned to June, Myers has gone in the other direction and this week finds himself in the Fallers side of things. Thus far in June, Myers has appeared in 13 games for the Astros and is slashing a meager .149/.167/.192. Those same advanced hitting metrics now find Myers at .315 in wOBA (56th percentile) and 42.3% in Ideal Contact Rate (77th percentile).
His strikeout percentage has also jumped three points in the past three weeks (18.5% to 21.8%). Through the end of May, Myers had only struck out multiple times in a game four times in 50 total games. In June he has already done that six times, including his first three strikeout game, which occurred on June 11th against the Giants.
What Myers still does have going for him though is his defense. He is fifth in the American League with a fielding percentage of .993 and second in Range Factor/9 innings with 2.92. This could keep him in the lineup while he works through his cold streak.
However, for fantasy purposes it doesn’t hurt to look elsewhere for another outfielder. If there is someone else on a recent offensive tear that you are looking at, don’t be afraid to move on from Myers.
Alec Marsh, P, Kansas City Royals, – 33% Rostered
In a recurring theme in this column, I had placed Marsh in the Risers category in the same column where Myers was identified as a Riser. But now, alas, Marsh has also moved into the Fallers side.
On May 21, Marsh moved to 4-1 on the season with a quality start against the Tigers, lowering his ERA to 2.72 for the season. Since that game, Marsh has made five starts and compiled the following lines:
- May 27 – 7.0 innings pitched, five hits, five earned runs, two walks
- June 1 – 5.0 innings pitched, seven hits, five earned runs, three walks
- June 8 – 5.0 innings pitched, four hits, four earned runs, no walks
- June 13 – 7.0 innings pitched, one hit, no earned runs, two walks
- June 18 – 3.0 innings pitched, seven hits, seven earned runs, two walks.
Besides the June 13th start, which was a nice outing, the long ball has bitten Marsh recently leading to these poorer numbers. In the five starts listed above, he surrendered six home runs after only allowing three home runs in his first eight starts.
All of this has added up to a 5-4 record with a 4.37 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 13 starts for the Royals this season.
Marsh talked about his recent struggles after the June 18th start, which was his shortest of the season. He felt his execution was shaky and talked about the need to return to throwing first pitch strikes. If you have a weak pitching lineup, you could hold Marsh and stream him based on matchups to see if he rights the ship. Otherwise, you can drop him to the waiver wire.
Matt Vierling, 3B/OF, Detroit Tigers – 39% Rostered
For our last Faller of the week, we have Matt Vierling. He is still rostered at a higher percentage than Myers or Marsh, but that number could be dropping.
For the season, Vierling is hitting .257 with nine home runs and 30 RBI, with five of those home runs and 21 of those RBI coming in the month of May, when he had a slash line of .306/.337/.588. But in another recurring theme, he has gone ice cold in June, hitting only .170 with two home runs and two RBI. His on-base percentage has dropped to .295 on the season and his slugging percentage now sits at .451.
Vierling can play at third base or in the outfield, so his flexibility does allow him a greater chance at every day starts.
However, I suggest moving him now to see if you could still get something of value in return.
Risers
Chad Green, RP, Toronto Blue Jays – 19% Rostered
Chad Green, remember him? He went 33-22 with a 3.17 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over seven seasons for the Yankees, while being used primarily in set up duty out of New York’s bullpen. He compiled 10 saves and averaged a robust 11.8 K/9 innings for the Bronx Bombers, including excellent seasons in 2017 and 2018 when he was one of the premier non-closer relievers in baseball.
In 2017, Green was 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA and tiny 0.72 WHIP. The next season he went 8-3 with a 2.50 ERA and had 103 strikeouts in only 69.0 innings pitched.
He then pitched very little in the 2022 season after recovering from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in May 2022. He moved to Toronto on a two-year deal before the 2023 season, but still only pitched 12.0 innings as he missed most of the season with his recovery.
This season with the Blue Jays, Green missed time due to a shoulder strain but since returning from the IL he looks mostly back to his old self. While not striking out opponents as often as he did in the past (7.0 K/9 innings), he’s limiting damage and through 15 games has an ERA of 1.76 and a 0.85 WHIP. His BABIP of .167 suggests some slight regression may be on the horizon but Chad has gotten the Green light from Toronto manager John Schneider – he will be closing games for the immediate future.
Jordan Romano has been dealing with a lingering right elbow injury most of the season, and then on Sunday, Yimi Garcia left with elbow soreness. This means Green will receive the save opportunities in the ninth inning. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up being the closer for the rest of the season.
If he’s still available in your league, snatch him up.
Carlos Santana, 1B, Minnesota Twins – 15% Rostered
Carlos Santana has had some nice seasons over his 15-year MLB career, including eight seasons of 20 or more home runs. He once again topped that mark last year, hitting 23 home runs and 86 RBI while slashing .240/.318/.429 for the Brewers and Pirates. Although only a one-time All-Star, he has racked up more than 300 home runs and 1,000 RBI in his career.
At the beginning of the season, it seemed Santana would perhaps be platooned or relegated to designated hitter duties. However, Minnesota wasn’t banking on Alex Kirilloff struggling. Kirilloff was designated for assignment last week but now it turns out he was more injured than initially thought. These struggles/injuries have left Santana as the Twins’ everyday first baseman.
And over the past few weeks, the 38-year-old Santana has again been playing “Smooth” for the Twins.
He has always been able to get on base (career .355 OBP) and has been resurgent during the month of June. In addition to hitting three home runs and 13 RBI, Santana is getting on base at a .392 clip while hitting .326 and slugging .609. His most recent home run came in game 1 of the Twins/A’s Father’s Day doubleheader, when he put a pitch into right center clearing the outfield wall and landing in Target Field’s flowers.
If you need some help with your fantasy squad’s offensive firepower, consider adding Santana. He is proving that even at this late stage of his career, he is still a good source of power.
With this hot stretch, he is now up to 11 home runs and 36 RBI for the year. Expect Santana to again eclipse the 20-home run mark for the season and end up with 80-90 RBI playing in the Twins offense alongside Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis.
While Garrett Crochet has been the rookie White Sox pitcher who has received the most attention this season (and rightfully so), Jonathan Cannon has been making noise as of late as well. It would serve fantasy owners well to take notice of his recent outings.
With a name destined to be a major league pitcher, Cannon was drafted by the White Sox in the third round of the 2022 draft. In 2023, he compiled a pedestrian 6-6 record with a 4.46 ERA and 1.36 ERA over 25 starts at A and Double-A in his first full season of minor league ball.
The Sox then placed him at Triple-A to start the 2024 season and he went 2-3 with a 5.50 ERA before being called up to the majors in mid-April. Cannon started three games in April and totaled a record of 0-1 with a 7.24 ERA. He then didn’t appear again for Chicago until June 7th when he was deployed in a relief role. Cannon threw three innings that day, giving up three hits and striking out four to capture his first career save.
One might think the success of his June 7th outing may have led to more multi-inning relief appearances, but instead the White Sox put him back into the rotation. Cannon started again on June 12th and was sharp in the best start of his young career. He went seven innings against the Mariners allowing four hits, one earned run, one walk, and striking out seven.
Cannon followed that up last night with a masterful pitching performance in one of the best outings for any pitcher this season. Facing the Astros, Cannon nearly went the distance throwing 8 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his first career victory. He gave up seven hits, struck out four and walked one.
Ironically, Cannon doesn’t have a cannon arm that overpowers hitters; he has averaged only around 90 MPH on his cutter this season while deploying a sinker and a sweeper to keep hitters off balance. Instead, he is using precise control of his pitch mix to find his success. Cannon has only six walks in 32 innings of baseball this season.
Cannon has only six Major League games under his belt, but if you are in a deep league and need to make a pitcher change, he could be your man.
While he won’t rack up gaudy strikeout numbers for your fantasy team, his strong control could help lower your ratios. He rounds out our risers this week and he’s been one of a few bright spots for White Sox fans this season.
Next week Sam Lutz is back for more Deep League Risers and Fallers.
Dude.. you spelled meyers name wrong like 20 times