Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Brandon Drury (62.0% owned; +41.5% over the past week) is this week’s most added player in ESPN leagues. If you thought that the DBacks traded all of their promising prospects to the Braves in the Shelby Miller trade earlier this offseason, well, it’s understandable. Dave Stewart might have given up his firstborn child and Curt Schilling’s World Series ring in that deal, but Drury survived the exodus to make the big league roster and platoon with incumbent Jake Lamb at third base for the snakes this season. At least, that was the initial plan. Drury impressed so much in the early going that he quickly forced himself into the everyday lineup and has done everything in his power to stay there. Since April 17th (19 games), Drury has produced 13 runs, 6 homers, 11 RBI, and a .329/.354/.671 triple slash line in 82 plate appearances. Not too shabby. To keep his hot bat in the lineup as well as get Lamb some playing time against right-handed pitching, the DBacks have moved Drury all over the diamond (2B/3B/LF/RF) this season, which should make for some nice positional versatility (though he might not get enough starts at 2B to qualify there). Those are the positives. The negatives (for fantasy purposes) are that he doesn’t have much speed (0 SBs in his last 111 games between AAA and MLB), has limited on-base skills (3 walks in 109 PA this season; 2 walks in 59 MLB PA last season), and is more of a LD/GB hitter than a fly ball one (27.3% FB% in MLB). Drury’s ability to make solid contact should keep his average respectable (.270ish range), but he’s better served as a flexible bench piece in the Brock Holt mold rather than counted on as a fantasy cornerstone.
Here are a couple of other interesting adds/drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:
Jayson Werth: 18.4% owned; +7.8%
Interested in a soon-to-be 37-year-old player who’s walking at his lowest rate (7.8% BB%) and striking out at this highest rate (26.7% K%) since 2003? How about if this player’s power is in decline, speed has vanished, and durability is a huge question mark? Sounds great! Werth should have a decent amount of RBI opportunities while hitting out of the six hole behind Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy in the batting order, but he’s no longer a threat to steal bases, and his average is likely to suffer if he continues to try to hit the ball over the fence (career high 52.0% FB% this season). Think of him as Oswaldo Arcia without the upside. Batty call material only. TRASH.
Delino DeShields: 38.7% owned; -9.5%
The dream of a cheap .265/10/40 season with 90+ runs at the top of a solid Rangers lineup is starting to look like a nightmare. DeShields still possesses the blazing speed and on-base skills (9.4% BB% this season; 10.5% BB% in MLB career) that made him so attractive to myself, Grey, and many others just a couple of months ago, but his situation has gotten iffy in Texas. He recently lost the leadoff spot to Rougned Odor, likely due to a few too many strikeouts (26.5% K%) for manager Jeff Banister’s liking, and is currently buried in the 9th spot in the lineup. Between rookie phenom Nomar Mazara, newly acquired Ian Desmond, and soon-to-be returning Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers have quite the crowded outfield. When you factor in the increasing playing time of Ryan Rua and the presence of promising prospect Lewis Brinson in the upper minors, DeShields is at risk of being squeezed out of the picture entirely in the near future. Unless desperate for speed, shallow mixed leaguers might want to look elsewhere at this point. TRASH.
