Good day fellow Razzballers, hope you all were kind to your moms this weekend and spent some time with her if you could. A solid week of baseball we just had and some nice comebacks by several teams I was watching. The Angels in particular had some great wins recently and the Mets as well shocked the Phillies the other day and look a lot different with Ole Buck in the dugout. In honor of the stock market being in news lately for the wrong reason I’m going to do a special Bull and Bear Edition where I will highlight a few Third Baseman who are in the Bull Market and players you should be rostering and starting if you can and Third Baseman that are in a Bear Market which should be benched or possibly cut depending on your league makeup.
BULL MARKET THIRD BASEMAN
Alec Bohm Phillies
All right interesting player here. The former overall #3 pick in 2018 has bounced back from a terrible 3 error game at the beginning of the season and has played a lot better at the hot corner but still leads the team in errors. In fantasy, we really don’t care all that much if the player’s at-bats are not affected. I like what I see offensively from Bohm so far. His xBA (Expected Batting Average) is .344 while his xSLG is .568 both are career highs but I don’t think the regression will be drastic at all the way he has looked at the plate. His plate discipline is still strong striking out only a total of 10 times the whole month of April. Another encouraging sign is his line drive rate of 34% so far. To give you context the average major leaguers line drive rate is 25% so you can see he’s seeing the ball well, hitting with power, and not striking out. The Phillies definitely have defensive issues but they will have to ride out the year it looks like with Bohm at 3B. He will eventually move to 1B and they will most likely move on from a very popular player in Rhys Hoskins but that’s for another time as Bohm’s contract is still very team-friendly. Unless you have I would say Machado, Devers, Ramirez, Arenado, Riley you are starting Bohm at 3B and if you have a CI spot with one of those guys mentioned you are looking good with Bohm at CI.
Luis Urias Brewers
Fantasy owners finally were able to breathe a sigh of relief as they plugged Urias into their lineups last week. The uber valuable utility player fills a major role in most fantasy teams as his ability to get on base scoring runs and stolen bases fill-up the stat box routinely. He also provides pop in the lineup as his blast yesterday off Hunter Greene was crucial in a 5-4 win against the Reds. In 31 PA’s he already has 6 BB’s as opposed to 6 k’s and is hitting .333. I would definitely be starting Urias over players such as McMahon, Rendon, Chapman who are dragging your avg down at the moment and not providing much other than the occasional HR once in a while.
Jeimer Candelario Tigers
His .159 avg in April was pretty dreadful but in context, if everybody else is hitting .210 is it all that bad? Some things that are pointing up for Jeimer is he already is showing improvement in May hitting .289 with 7 RBI’s so far. He has 4 games in May with multiple hits and has brought his average up to .206 just below the ML average at the moment. He’s hitting the ball hard as well and although he has hurt us in the past by believing in him you still think there is something there. I’m still a believer he puts a good string together and rewards me for my loyalty. I would start him over struggling hitters such as Turner, Donaldson, and Escobar.
BEAR MARKET THIRD BASEMAN
Matt Chapman Blue Jays
Chapman has been brutal so far not providing much other than the occasional HR. I don’t see anything to suggest he is on the verge of a breakout and has always been a .240 hitter or below. At this point, he would be lucky to hit .220 and are you really going to sit through multiple days of 0-4 with 2 k’s to eventually get that HR for the week. I wouldn’t and would be trying to get one of the guys above or mining the news for someone being called up soon. Hopefully, you have a replacement and can put Chapman on the bench until he maybe finds a hot streak for a week or two is your only hope at this point.
Ryan McMahon Rockies
Just isn’t doing a whole lot for you. His batting average is ok at .252 but there doesn’t seem to be any upside here. His k’s are up in May doesn’t have any steals just a few singles to show for the month so far and that isn’t going to cut it. I would be starting guys like Dozier, Espinal, and Yandy Diaz over him.
Eduardo Escobar Mets
Hitting .125 in May and doesn’t look comfortable at the plate. J.D. Davis is in the fold as well at 3B and could take time away from Escobar as well. When he does make contact it’s pretty weak and his only HR of the year came all the way back on April 21. Not much to like here unfortunately if you drafted him and were counting on him being in your lineup. I would be starting guys like Dozier, Espinal, and Yandy Diaz in place of him as well.
I hope you all have a great week and make those changes if you have the opportunity to do so. Thank you for reading as always and we will see you next week for some First Base talk.
