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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
I might be a little higher on Walsh than most so I couldn’t give him up here if I was you if that’s how I understand the trade. I think the Angels are post-season bound and the more the Angels are winning Walsh seems to have a good pulse in the clubhouse and will hit in the middle of the lineup and see good pitches. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he hits in the .290’s when all said and done. Schwarber is slumping at the moment but does have that pop still and is batting at the top of the lineup currently. I just don’t see the upside here with Pham and Cronenworth who is a great real life player but might be overrated as a fantasy player.
And thank you for the comment Joshua! Much appreciated my good man.
Love your stuff man. Appreciate all the time you put in!
I’m in a 12 team weekly categories league (batting cats – H, R, TB, RBI, BB, K, SB).
Just got offered Pham and Cronenworth for Jared Walsh and Schwarber. Thoughts?
Where would you place Moncada, fresh off the IL?
I would say temper your expectations with Moncada 5 On One. He hasn’t shown he wants to be the guy we thought he was when he came up and had that big year in 2019. I would rank him smack dab in the middle at the moment around 15. Players I mentioned here would be above him and I could see playing a veteran like Rendon above him as well. I would play him over some slumping veterans like Chapman and Donaldson to see what he does but I’m thinking we see a subpar year something like .260 15 HR 65-70 RBI’s from him this season similar to last year. I think that’s who he is unfortunately.
Not buying it with Bohm unfortunately. He strikes me as a perennial ‘if he could stop hitting so many grounders’ tease along the lines of Yandy or Maikel Franco. Sure, he’s broken out to being not a threat for demotion, and Yandy may be an extreme example but Bohm actually compares fairly well to Franco.
Now, since I’ve gone with Urias over him, watch Bohm smack 25 HRs…you all owe me.
What’s Up Oddball! Thanks for the comment. I think you are discounting Bohm quite a bit when you compare him to Franco and Yandy Diaz. We saw this from him back in the 2020 shortened season as well so it’s not as if this is some analomy. He has a very good approach at the plate and does not swing at many balls at all. His power stroke is not necessarily a 25-30 HR potential think more 20-22 but his ability to get on base as well as score runs really makes him an intriguing player. He is also batting 2nd in the order as well which provides more opportunties. Sounds like you have faith in Urias as I have also highlighted him here so you are in good shape it looks like going forward.