Fantasy baseball sizzlers, fizzlers: Gleyber Torres makes his MLB debut
Could warm, spring-like weather finally be on the way? It's possible. There may even be some minor league prospects about to bloom.
Here are the players who've seen their fantasy values increase or decrease most over the past week:
Sizzlers
SS Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees. Torres' arrival in the Bronx has been much anticipated — and delayed thanks to a torn rotator cuff in 2017. He hit .347 at Class AAA to start the year and also has a pair of 20-steal seasons under his belt in the minors. After making his MLB debut on Sunday, the 21-year old looks like the Yankees' everyday second baseman going forward.
3B Jeimer Candelario, Detroit Tigers. Acquired last trade deadline from the Cubs, Candelario grabbed the hot corner job to start the year and hit .429 with a pair of homers and seven RBI this past week.
OF Mark Canha, Oakland Athletics. Oakland has been road testing center fielders without much luck or production, at least until Canha got a shot. The outfielder — who could also qualify at first base soon — responded with a .381 average this past week, bringing his totals to .333 with a pair of homers and seven RBI over 10 games.
1B C.J. Cron, Tampa Bay Rays. With five multihit games in his last six starts, Cron wrapped up an impressive week with .385 average, four homers and eight RBI.
OF Mallex Smith, Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have had their struggles this year, especially reconciling their outfield, but Smith, who hit .333 last week over six games and scored four runs, is not part of the problem. Smith's season average actually dropped to .344, and the speedster can be expected to up his steal total (currently three) if he continues the solid .412 OBP.
Fizzlers
SP Matt Harvey, New York Mets. Evening has fallen upon the Dark Knight after allowing six runs and eight hits against the Braves in his last start. He is bound for the bullpen, and with Jason Vargas on the verge of returning from the disabled list, it will be tough for Harvey to get out.
RP Brad Brach, Baltimore Orioles. Brach hasn't recorded a save since April 11. He imploded in a non-save situation on Sunday (three runs, four hits in one inning), while Darren O'Day has been summoned for the past two save chances. It's hard to tell where manager Buck Showalter will turn next. Unfortunately, Zach Britton is still at least a month away from restoring order to the bullpen.
OF Dexter Fowler, St. Louis Cardinals. After hitting a meager .176 in his first 17 games, Fowler was removed from the leadoff role over the weekend. After spending a day on the bench, he returned with a home run on Saturday and walked four times on Sunday to lift his on-base percentage to .310. He'll need to show more of that to get back in fantasy owners' good graces.
OF Domingo Santana, Milwaukee Brewers. Coming off such a solid year, perhaps the influx of Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich has thrown Santana off his game. He has no homers and no steals in 73 at-bats and is coming off a scary 0-for-16 week.
SP Lance Lynn, Minnesota Twins. Free agent signings can be as ephemeral as fantasy picks, and thus far Lynn is a disappointment at both. He's had one decent start sandwiched by two poor ones, but the one constant has been his inability to find the strike zone -- with 15 walks in 15 innings.
Find Lawr’s work at Creativesports2.com and listen to The Tout Wars Hour with Lawr, Justin Mason, and Todd Zola every Sunday on FNTSY from 2-4 PM, ET. Follow him on Twitter @lawrmichaels.