Despite my best efforts, I can no longer avoid writing about this week’s most added player, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Adam Duvall (68.9% owned; +45.8% over the last seven days). It’s not that I don’t like him. I actually considered writing about him a few weeks ago. After deciding to go in another direction, that opportunity came and went quicker than a patron at a pay by the hour hotel. Everyone seemed to jump on the Duvall bandwagon, and for good reason. Over his last 14 games, he’s smashed 9 homers to go along with 14 runs, 19 RBI, and a .268/.293/.786 triple slash line. If you want to go back a bit further, he’s produced a 24/14/30/1/.292 line since May 3rd (31 games). Those are numbers that’ll have his fantasy owners frequenting the hourly hotels on a regular basis. While he’s unlikely to maintain this blistering power pace for the rest of the season, Duvall hit 35 homers between AAA and MLB in 2015, and 30 homers across those same levels in 2014. The power is very much for real. The strikeouts (29.7% K%) are likely to keep his average in the .250 range, and while his on-base skills (.327 or lower OBP at every stop but one since 2012) and speed (10 stolen bases since 2013) are severely limited, 35 homers appears to be in his wheelhouse. Think of him as the NL version of Mark Trumbo. In competitive leagues, Duvall is likely long gone, but if his owner is interested in “selling high,” it’s worth exploring a trade if you’re looking to add some power.
Here are a couple of other interesting adds/drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:
Byung-ho Park: 47.4% owned; -8.3%
Well, I suppose that this is turning into the donkey edition of trash/treasure. I guess that makes me an ass lover. Guilty as charged! Park is cut from the same donkeyish mold as Duvall and Trumbo: lots of power (.247 ISO), lots of fly balls (44.0% FB%), lots of strikeouts (30.7% K%), lots of hard contact (36.7% Hard%) and pull-heavy tendencies (49.5% Pull%). He’s coming off of back-to-back 50+ homer seasons in Korea, and is currently 12th in MLB in average fly ball distance (309.56 ft). His .217 batting average leaves something to be desired, but he possesses legit 35 homer power, and his average should settle into the .250 range (much like Duvall) with neutral luck. If he’s sitting on your wire, grab him and enjoy the free power. TREASURE.
Trayce Thompson: 23.7% owned; +7.0%
Entering this season, the Dodgers appeared to have an extremely crowded outfield. Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, and Scott Van Slyke were fixtures on the roster. There didn’t seem to be much room for the newly acquired Thompson. However, injuries to Ethier, Crawford, and Van Slyke created an opportunity for regular playing time for Thompson, and he’s taken full advantage. In 138 plate appearances, he’s produced a .279/.362/.566 line with 23 runs, 9 homers, 21 RBI, and 4 steals. He’s currently one of just four MLB players (min 100 PA) to have a 10+% BB% and a .280+ ISO. The other three players are Manny Machado, David Ortiz, and Todd Frazier. Thompson also currently has one of the lowest O-Swing percentages (20.1%) in the league, and his 7.7% SwStr% is below the MLB average as well. Ethier is still hurt, and Crawford was just recently designated for assignment, which means that Thompson is in line for everyday at bats moving forward. There’s .270/25/10 potential here. TREASURE.
