Over the past few weeks, Yasmani Grandal has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Despite being a pinch-hitter who sometimes wears the wrong helmet, he has been hitting .345 with a .392 wOBA over his last 30 days. Part of that has to do with an unsustainable .409 BABIP during that span, but most of it has to do with Grandal being locked in and being more aggressive at the plate. While he has a history of being frustrating to fantasy owners who aren’t utilizing him in OPS or OBP leagues, Hot Yasmani has been very different this season.
Regular Yasmani is a patient hitter who posts OBPs 100 points higher than a mediocre AVG, who walks 15% of the time and strikes out 25% of the time. He can hit home runs but hurts AVG in standard leagues. Last season, he rewarded fantasy owners with 27 home runs, which is great, especially at the catcher position. But, again, he hit just .228, struck out 25.4% of the time, and recorded just 86 hits. That means a third of his hits went for home runs. With 116 strikeouts and 62 walks, it also means that he either struck out or walked 50% of the time. Other than the home runs (which, again, are great to get at the catcher spot), those numbers are fine for OBP/OPS leagues but are not ideal for your standard leagues.
Hot Yasmani, 2017 Yasmani, is a different story. Hot Yasmani has no time for patience at the plate. He wants to eat. HY’s BB% over the last 30 days is less than 6%, and it’s below 10% on the year. He already has 42 hits and is on pace for well over 100 for the first time in his career. He his hitting around .300 after hitting below .235 the last four seasons. The home runs are down, for now, but he is making up for it with career marks in nearly every other offensive category (except walks, of course). I included HY in this week’s Top 100 because he is no longer just posting good numbers for a catcher; he’s one of the hottest hitters not named Charles Cobb Blackmon (full name, look it up) right now.
Now, for a few guys who are not so hot right now…
- Cesar Hernandez – Hernandez’s regression to the mean is upon us. While he has been hitting better the last few days after a slump, that slump dropped his batting average 30 points. He’s hitting .212 with a .255 wOBA the last two weeks, and while he will chip in 15-20 steals this season, he doesn’t have much power to offer. If it’s me, I’m selling Hernandez before his value drops any further.
- Odubel Herrera – If you want to look for someone dropping faster than Hernandez, you don’t have to leave Philadelphia. He is batting .148 over the past two weeks, and he whipped out the rarely seen Platinum Sombrero last week. Herrera has been solid in his two seasons with the Phillies and was a possible 20/20 candidate heading into the season, but he looks lost at the plate right now. Here is one potential reason:
Odubel Herrera used to swing at more balls out of the zone than the average hitter.
He's doing it even more now. His offense is suffering. pic.twitter.com/FFdQAPZWVQ
— Ben Harris (@byBenHarris) May 28, 2017
- Jay Bruce – As he is wont to do, Bruce has gone cold. While he has 12 home runs on the year, he is batting .158 over the last two weeks. Part of that has to do with a .148 BABIP, but he is also back to striking out 25% of the time. He has 30+ home run power but is always going to go through hot and cold streaks. If you want the counting stats, you’ll have to accept that he is going to hurt your percentages most of the time.
Note: These rankings are considered ROS Trade Value
Mike Maher’s Top ? Hitters
(Rankings based on 12-team Roto. GREEN = player rising. RED = player dropping. BLUE = new to the 100.)
The Honorable Mentions (Next Five In…)
Rank | Name | Pos | Team |
101 | Carlos Santana | CLE | 1B |
102 | Justin Bour | MIA | 1B |
103 | Adrian Beltre | TEX | 3B |
104 | Devon Travis | TOR | 2B |
105 | Travis Shaw | MIL | 1B/3B |
Dropped from the rankings: Aaron Hicks (98), Stephen Piscotty (104), Yasmany Tomas (105)
As was always the case during the M@ era of the Top 100…don’t agree with something?
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