Photo by Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire
Over the years, Rougned Odor has been a difficult player to own in fantasy. Last year, he had 30 home runs and 15 steals, which sounds awesome, but also a .204 batting average and a .252 OBP. So far this year, his average has been better, sitting at .259, but the power and steals haven’t really been there. That being said, he’s having a nice month, slashing .325/.394/.542, including yesterday’s 3-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB performance, and it’s fair to wonder if, after a slow start to the year, Odor is coming back. The short answer is no, Odor’s not going to sustain this level of production. He’s a streaky player, he always has been, and right now he’s on a nice hot streak. While he’s been hitting .364 in July, that’s come with a .472 BABIP, as well as an increase in groundball rate and a decrease in hard-hit rate. In short, this is a hot streak that will end, but for now, you should pick him up and ride it out. He’s available in 56% of leagues.
Let’s take a look at some of the other performances from yesterday’s games:
Rhys Hoskins (1B/OF, Philadelphia Phillies) – 3-9, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI. Hoskins is back to slumping a little bit, slashing .242/.327/.465 over the past month, but just hang on, because don’t forget that at any moment he can turn around and do what he did in June—when he slashed .312/.400/.688—all over again.
Jonathan Schoop (2B, Baltimore Orioles) – 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI. Schoop’s finally been heating up lately, slashing .333/.327/.529 over his last 15 games. I think he’s finally fully healthy and should get back to putting up the numbers you’d expect from Schoop. He got dropped in a few leagues while he was struggling (he’s available in 32% of leagues) so see if he’s out there.
Yangervis Solarte (SS/2B/3B, Toronto Blue Jays) – 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI. Solarte has been bad lately, slashing .196/.253/.293 over the past month. He’s a streaky player, so you’ll probably have to bench him until he gets on a hot streak again.
Randal Grichuk (OF, Toronto Blue Jays) – 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI. Grichuk’s average hasn’t been much lately, but he’s been hitting with some power, logging a .250 ISO over the past month. Not saying you should pick him up, but he’s worth paying attention to to see if he starts heating up.
Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF, Boston Red Sox) – 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI. JBJ’s on a trademark JBJ hot streak, slashing .301/.350/.534 over the past month. This is what he does, he gets hot, hits really well, and then slumps hard. He’s available in 82% of leagues, so if you want to pick him up and ride the streak, go for it, just be prepared to dump him as soon as he starts struggling.
Corey Dickerson (OF, Pittsburgh Pirates) – 4-5, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI. Dickerson has had himself a month, slashing .354/.384/.683 over the past 30 days. While the runs and RBI haven’t been amazing, it’s hard to argue with the rest of his production so far. And for what it’s worth, that’s now four straight games with a home run, including his two home run performance on Saturday.
Gregory Polanco (OF, Pittsburgh Pirates) – 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI. Speaking of Pirates outfielders having a good month, Polanco’s been slashing .296/.363/.691 over the past month. The steals aren’t there, unfortunately, but everything else has been good lately—check to see if he got dropped in your league, he’s available in 25% of leagues.
Bryce Harper (OF, Washington Nationals) – 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB. I still believe that Harper is in for a big second half. Yes, I know he’s got a .218 average, but that comes with a .232 BABIP and a .262 xAVG. Plus, the guy is crushing the ball this year, with a career-best 41.3% hard-hit rate and a 13.7% barrel rate, also a career-best and good for top 6% in the league. He’ll get better, just keep the faith, and if you can buy low, do it.
Matt Kemp (OF, Los Angeles Dodgers) – 3-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI. Not much to say here other than it’s been quite an amazing comeback season for Kemp.
Ian Happ (2B/3B/OF, Chicago Cubs) – 1-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB. Don’t look now, but Ian Happ has bee hitting .348/.483/.536 over the past month. Now, it’s worth noting that this is more than likely a hot streak, as he’s got a pretty elevated BABIP over that timespan, but still, he’s available in 55% of leagues—even if it’s a hot streak it’s worth riding out.
Kole Calhoun (OF, Los Angeles Angels) – 2-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI. Calhoun’s been seriously heating up, slashing .273/.337/.597 over the past month. They lowered that right field wall in the Angels’ ballpark, and if there’s any player on the team that helps, it’s Kole Calhoun. He looks like he’s shaking off that awful start to the season and warrants a look, even if this is just a hot streak. He’s available in 88% of leagues.
Mike Trout (OF, Los Angeles Angels) – 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB. Normally I don’t mention players like Trout here because there isn’t much analysis to give other than “this dude’s pretty good” but this was quite the stat sheet stuffing game so I had to mention it.
Ian Kinsler (2B, Los Angeles Angels) – 3-4, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI. Kinsler has been very frustrating to own this year, with some great hot streaks and some bitter cold streaks. He’s picked it up lately, slashing .316/.366/.447 over his last 15 games, and I have to believe that he’s not going to have a .221 BABIP all year, but as of now, he’s not worth owning unless you’re desperate at second base or in a deeper league. Keep an eye out for a hot streak though.
Khris Davis (OF, Oakland Athletics) – 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI. Khris Davis doing what he does best—khrushing home runs. That’s now a .209 ISO for him over the past month.
Matt Olson (1B, Oakland Athletics) – 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI. Even though the average might not be much, Matt Olson is still probably going to end the year with 35 home runs or so, and for that, you can deal with a .230s/.240s batting average.
Ryon Healy (3B/1B, Seattle Mariners) – 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI. Healy will always have games like this, he hits the ball hard and can crush home runs, but when you see a game like this one, take a look at what he’s done recently and you’ll remember why you don’t own him. He’s got a .209/.223/.418 slashline over the past month, and while that does mean he’s got a .209 ISO—which is great and all—that batting average is almost unberable.
You mentioned both Odor and Happ being on hot streaks. If you had to pick one for the ROS, who do you like better?
(12 Team H2H CAT – R,HR,RBI,TB,SB,OBP)
In an OBP league, definitely Happ. The guy has upped his walk rate to over 16% this year and Odor is allergic to them. I think Happ should be owned regardless of the hot streak in OBP leagues—the walk rate is going to keep his OBP afloat even if his average starts coming down.