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Kyle Bishop takes a look at which MLB hitters and pitchers you should keep, drop, or trade for during week 7 of the 2016 MLB fantasy baseball season.
Really couldn’t have asked for a better showing from last week’s buys. David Price dominated the Astros. Adam Duvall had three multi-hit games, homered, drove in five runs, and even stole a base for good measure. On the sell side, Michael Brantley landed back on the disabled list, lending further credence to my theory that 2016 just isn’t his year. Jose Quintana kept right on truckin’, though, with his seventh straight quality start.
Without further ado, here are this week’s recommendations. You might be surprised at the sells this week, so let me offer this as a copout: I like both players and wouldn’t be surprised if they make me look stupid for doubting them. Especially the pitcher.
Editor’s Note: To read about waiver wire options, be sure to check out our famous waiver wire pickups list which is a running list that is updated daily. Prefer using your phone? Our free waiver wire app is available for download in the Apple & Android Stores.
Week 7 Buys
Miguel Sano, 3B/OF, Minnesota Twins
One of the buzzier players in the fantasy realm entering the season, Sano’s early returns left many owners with a severe case of buyer’s remorse. But he’s bounced back from that terrible start, hitting .263/.357/.515 with seven homers over the past month. Four of those bombs have come in the last eight days. Sano still strikes out too much to be anything but passable in the batting average department, but his power is the real reason why so many of us invested in him. It’s good to see that power finally show up.
Zack Greinke, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Fun fact: Greinke has already given up 32 runs this season after allowing only 41 all of last year. Well, fun if you’re not a Greinke owner, anyway. Because here we are, closing in on Memorial Day, and Greinke is still flashing pretty awful ratios (5.08 ERA, 1.39 WHIP). The thing is, though, he’s not really doing anything differently. His batted ball data hasn’t changed much. Neither has his pitch mix. His velocity is normal. He’s still running quality strikeout and walk rates. Mostly, he’s had some poor luck (the twin killing of a high BABIP and low strand rate) and is giving up homers twice as often as he did last season. We might reasonably have expected an increase from moving to Arizona, but that rate seems unlikely to persist. In fact, five of the seven big flies he’s surrendered came in two games, against the third and fourth highest scoring teams in baseball.
Week 7 Sells
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers
While Gonzalez’s production to this point has been passable, a glance at his profile reveals some potentially serious red flags. He’s making less hard contact than ever before, striking out at a career-worst rate, and hitting the ball on the ground a ton. A-Gon has a long and consistent track record on his side. From 2006-2015, he hit .292 with an average of 28 homers, 88 runs, and 103 RBI per year. It’s certainly possible that recommending a sell is jumping the gun a bit. But Gonzalez is now 34 and sitting outside the top 15 first basemen in runs, homers, and OPS. He’s in the top 10 in average and RBI, but only just.
Danny Salazar, SP, Cleveland Indians
I’ve been a big Salazar fan since he broke into the majors in 2013 and own him in all three of my keeper leagues, so his excellent start has been a lot of fun to watch. That said, it’s unlikely to continue. Homers have always been an issue for Salazar. In the absence of any compelling evidence of a significant change in repertoire or approach, it’s hard to believe he’ll continue to suppress them this well. He’s also running a .227 BABIP and 85% strand rate, both of which are likely to regress. And while the strikeouts are up, so are the walks. Salazar is really good, but this might be the apex of his value.
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