Hot and Freezing Outfielders: We’ve All Got as Much Stealing as Chandler Simpson This Month
It’s already mid-June, and with the NHL and NBA (The Knicks!!!) over, we’re down to one of the four major games that continue through September. Okay, yes, there’s that World Cup thing going on, but most of the time it’s just baseball. So how about the return of our “Who’s Hot and Who’s Not, Outfielder Edition” game. Let’s take a look at some of the hottest eligible guys over the past 30 days in terms of wRC+ and some who may have found their way into the Fantasy ranks but didn’t. The stats are 30 days until Sunday along with HR, Runs, RBI’s, Steals
On Fire (Rostered Everywhere)
James Wood 208 wRC+, .359, 8, 30, 17, 6
Yordan Alvarez 202 wRC+, .333, 10, 20, 24, 0
Juan Soto 189 wRC+, .319, 9 18, 20, 5
Pete Crow-Armstrong 181 wRC+, .314, 8, 18 , 15, 5
Jackson Chourio 178 wRC+, .330, 9, 24, 23, 4
Yep, you got what you paid for lately from these guys. And then others. With Wood, you have to wonder and worry if he collapses in the second half like he did last year, when his K rate exploded. There are no signs of that right now as he posted a K% of 24.8% last month, which is pretty good when combined with his power and BB% of 16.8%.
Yordan continues to rally and may win the Real Life Triple Crown. And now fully FIT for all formats! PCA and Soto have completely different looking games, as one has lightning speed and plays an elite CF, and the other… But their stat line from last month is almost identical. Chourio’s is also the same, but with higher counter figures as he is the only one of the three who is clearly in a good team.
On Fire, And Who Has Seen Some Of These?
Jung Ho Lee 207 wRC+, .480, 0, 17, 8, 3
Blaze Alexander 193 wRC+, .393, 2, 9, 14, 3
Tyler Soderstrom 188 wRC+, .319, 7, 11, 19, 0
Tristan Peters 181 wRC+, .338, 3, 11, 13, 0
Heriberto Hernandez 175 wRC+, .333, 6, 10, 15, 2
When Jung entered the league a few years ago, he profiled like a Stephen Kwan profile. Well, at least the former version of Stephen Kwan who hit for average, stole a little, and might get you 10 homers, Jung’s numbers here are in 77 PA’s since he was in IL earlier last month. But you’re on a real hot sheet as you can see…you’re only getting air from one of those 77 PA’s. Unfortunately, his pop is very limited with only 3 homers on the year and 13 total in 1038 MLB PA’s. He also doesn’t run enough, with just 15 career steals. He is a younger version of his current teammate, Luis Arraez. If you need Avg sure, try to download him, he may be available in shallow formats.
Blaze actually has a run speed of 81 percent, so I can’t joke with his name. He doesn’t do that often with 7 steals on the year and 14 in his 621 PAs. Statcast thinks his production this year is real, as he has a .354 xwOBA vs. .342 wOBA on the season, thanks to an excellent 92.6 EV. Meanwhile, he reduced his K% from 32.3% last year to 22.9% this year. And you deserve it in every field. There’s a lot to like. But on the other hand, you only have a barrel of 5.9%, so you don’t get much pop. He’s also not an everyday player as he’s made just 6 of his past 10 starts against the righties. He deserves to go in the deep leagues if for no other reason than he’s good and you can put him in any injured guy. But he doesn’t do enough to bother with shallow formats.
Soderstrom is probably already listed pretty much everywhere, but I kept him in this group since he’s not exactly Elite Tier. Obviously he would be if he could play the whole season without Vegas! In his six games in the desert last week, he hit .381 with 4 homers and 9 RBIs and a .611 wOBA. The good news is that his home park in Sacramento is a hitter’s place as well, so hopefully he can keep this up.
Peters is somehow likable, and not just because she’s a Savannah Banana (seriously). He is hitting .294 on the year with 4 steals in a good lineup. Unfortunately, he’s a platoon player, especially since Everson Pereira is back in IL. He has just 19 PAs against the rest this year and has just 2 hits and a -45 wRC+ to show for it. Deep formats are only here, and are only usable in weeks with a lot of fairness.
Guess I saved the best for last, as Hernandez is the most entertaining of the bunch. He’s spent less time in AAA this year and more as a shortstop, but he’s in the process of shedding that. He has made 3 straight starts against righties, and 5 of his last 7 overall. And he’s on fire. I tried to get him into a deep FAAB league, but I got 1 out of 7. His Steamer 600 projection got him 20 homers and 9 steals in 600 PAs, but just a .222 Avg with a 30% K%. He’s really interesting, we’ll see
It’s as cold as ice
Chandler Simpson 31 wRC+, .190, 0, 9, 3, 0
Dylan Crews 56 wRC+, .193, 3, 10, 10, 2
Chase DeLauter 60 wRC+, .226, 1, 8, 8, 2
Sal Frelick, 71 wRC+, .234, 0 7, 13, 4
Simpson was a dangerous game to begin with. At best, you were getting a great steal and Avg plus and maybe a wash with a run. He literally has 0 potential, he might lose PAs in platoons, and he played poorly OF last year. Well, now he’s an 85th percentile player, hitting big time. And zero steals in more than a month! He’s totally unplayable now, always getting phone calls,
The staff is at least giving Fantasy juice for his bad rating, he only has 88 PAs so far. Also, he’s a little unlucky as he has a .268 xBA. I roll everywhere with him.
The DeLauter started out hot but after a while it got a little cold. It’s the old story of rookie pitchers adjusting, and now the rookie has to adjust again. It might not happen now that he’s injured, though he’s not in IL (yet).
Frelick is in the middle and is starting to lose PAs. He has started just 3 of the last 7 games as the Brewers look to get both Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn on the roster. I could go on with all the formats. Last year’s 12 Frelicks were inspired by Jung-Kwan’s bucket. But he may turn out to be an outsider as he has 3 this year and only 5 steals.
