Stephen Gonslaves (MIN) - The Twins recalled starting pitcher Stephen Gonslaves from Triple-A on Monday. Gonslaves received a great matchup against the White Sox for his major league debut. Unfortunately, he was unable to deliver by lasting just 1.1 innings pitched, while allowing 6 hits, 4 earned runs and 2 walks. He did manage to strikeout 3. In Triple-A this season, the 24-year old left-hander had a nice 2.96 ERA with a 23% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate. The walk issues are a new development for this year, as he actually did a pretty good job limited his free passes while at the lower levels of the Twins organization from 2013-2017. He'll still likely be in line for a few more starts to show the Twins what he might be able to offer in 2019 and beyond, but is a questionable fantasy asset.
Byron Buxton (MIN) - Byron Buxton was activated from the 7-day disabled list last week at Triple-A Rochester and Buxton has now gone 8-for-20 with a HR, three doubles, and a walk over four games. Buxton has been simmering in Triple-A after dealing with injuries and ineffectiveness at the major league level for most of the season. Buxton's latest injury was a wrist injury, so his recent hitting is certainly a step in the right direction. Buxton was likely dropped in many leagues and could be a boon for fantasy owners who may want to speculate on him heading into the fantasy playoffs or rotisserie stretch runs.
Kendrys Morales (TOR) - Kendrys Morales hit two home runs on Monday night leading the Blue Jays to a victory over the Orioles. Morales now has 16 home runs, 45 RBIs, and 37 runs scored. First base is extremely deep, but Morales went undrafted in many 12 team and smaller leagues. At this point, Morales is merely a microcosm for the general trend in baseball where batters are sacrificing batting average to get higher power potential. This poses a potential problem for fantasy owners because as power grows and becomes less scarce, players like Morales (who re becoming more common) continue to lose value. Players with some power, but possess an overall better hit tool are far more valuable in fantasy leagues. Unfortunately, outside of speed, home runs remain one of the most predictable stats year over year, while a category like batting averaging has far less predictability.
Xander Bogaerts (BOS) - While Xander Bogaerts wasn't viewed as a top-tier shortstop heading into the season, he now arguably headlines the tier below stalwarts like Manny Machado and Francisco Lindor at the position. Bogaerts went 2-for-5 with 3 runs batted in against the Indians on Monday night despite a difficult matchup against Corey Kluber. On the season, he's now slashing .287/.357/.516 and trails just Trevor Story with 77 runs batted in on the season. Bogaerts' 17 home runs puts him on pace to exceed his previous career high of 21 established in 2016, but his 5 stolen bases is well below the double-digit level he has managed to post each of the last three seasons. Bogaerts likely projects as a 3rd round pick in most fantasy drafts in 2019, if no other reason than prime position eligibility.
Eddie Rosario (MIN) - Having hit safely in 7 straight games and 10 of his last 11, Eddie Rosario was held hitless on Monday, "dropping" his batting average to .291. Easily one of the most lucrative draft values of the year, Rosario is stuffing the stat sheet this season with 22 home runs, 71 runs batted in and 78 runs scored to go along with a slash line of .291/.331/.494. Rosario's approach at the plate is decent (6% walk rate and 18% strikeout rate), but it's not elite and his contact rate (77%), chase rate (42%) and swinging strike rate (13%) paint the story of a player who should be posting numbers substantially worse than what he actually is managing to do. I had a similar warning about Rosario in the spring, so I was obviously wrong, but caution should certainly be used when evaluating him heading into 2019.
Stephen Gonslaves (MIN) - The Twins recalled starting pitcher Stephen Gonslaves from Triple-A on Monday. Gonslaves received a great matchup against the White Sox for his major league debut. Unfortunately, he was unable to deliver by lasting just 1.1 innings pitched, while allowing 6 hits, 4 earned runs and 2 walks. He did manage to strikeout 3. In Triple-A this season, the 24-year old left-hander had a nice 2.96 ERA with a 23% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate. The walk issues are a new development for this year, as he actually did a pretty good job limited his free passes while at the lower levels of the Twins organization from 2013-2017. He'll still likely be in line for a few more starts to show the Twins what he might be able to offer in 2019 and beyond, but is a questionable fantasy asset.
Byron Buxton (MIN) - Byron Buxton was activated from the 7-day disabled list last week at Triple-A Rochester and Buxton has now gone 8-for-20 with a HR, three doubles, and a walk over four games. Buxton has been simmering in Triple-A after dealing with injuries and ineffectiveness at the major league level for most of the season. Buxton's latest injury was a wrist injury, so his recent hitting is certainly a step in the right direction. Buxton was likely dropped in many leagues and could be a boon for fantasy owners who may want to speculate on him heading into the fantasy playoffs or rotisserie stretch runs.
Matt Davidson (CWS) - Matt Davidson had an nice night for the White Sox going 2-for-5 with a 2-run home run. Davidson is slashing just .230/.330/.460, but his 39% hard hit rate remains very strong and is in line with his 2017 rates. Davidson remains a decent power bat, but given the depth at the 3rd base position and the poor depth of the White Sox lineup, it's unlikely he's going to be a significant contributor to fantasy teams, particularly if he continues to bat in the 6-8 spots in the White Sox lineups.
Kendrys Morales (TOR) - Kendrys Morales hit two home runs on Monday night leading the Blue Jays to a victory over the Orioles. Morales now has 16 home runs, 45 RBIs, and 37 runs scored. First base is extremely deep, but Morales went undrafted in many 12 team and smaller leagues. At this point, Morales is merely a microcosm for the general trend in baseball where batters are sacrificing batting average to get higher power potential. This poses a potential problem for fantasy owners because as power grows and becomes less scarce, players like Morales (who re becoming more common) continue to lose value. Players with some power, but possess an overall better hit tool are far more valuable in fantasy leagues. Unfortunately, outside of speed, home runs remain one of the most predictable stats year over year, while a category like batting averaging has far less predictability.
Xander Bogaerts (BOS) - While Xander Bogaerts wasn't viewed as a top-tier shortstop heading into the season, he now arguably headlines the tier below stalwarts like Manny Machado and Francisco Lindor at the position. Bogaerts went 2-for-5 with 3 runs batted in against the Indians on Monday night despite a difficult matchup against Corey Kluber. On the season, he's now slashing .287/.357/.516 and trails just Trevor Story with 77 runs batted in on the season. Bogaerts' 17 home runs puts him on pace to exceed his previous career high of 21 established in 2016, but his 5 stolen bases is well below the double-digit level he has managed to post each of the last three seasons. Bogaerts likely projects as a 3rd round pick in most fantasy drafts in 2019, if no other reason than prime position eligibility.
Eddie Rosario (MIN) - Having hit safely in 7 straight games and 10 of his last 11, Eddie Rosario was held hitless on Monday, "dropping" his batting average to .291. Easily one of the most lucrative draft values of the year, Rosario is stuffing the stat sheet this season with 22 home runs, 71 runs batted in and 78 runs scored to go along with a slash line of .291/.331/.494. Rosario's approach at the plate is decent (6% walk rate and 18% strikeout rate), but it's not elite and his contact rate (77%), chase rate (42%) and swinging strike rate (13%) paint the story of a player who should be posting numbers substantially worse than what he actually is managing to do. I had a similar warning about Rosario in the spring, so I was obviously wrong, but caution should certainly be used when evaluating him heading into 2019.
