Fantasy Baseball Players Trending Up: Maikel Garcia, Reese Olson, Brent Rooker, Cole Ragans, Luis Arraez and More
Discussing some of the top-performing MLB players over the past month.
It’s easy for fantasy owners to look at season-long stats to form an opinion on players. While it gives the whole picture, looking at the entire season can force you to miss out on players trending up of late.
So today, I decided to look at some stats over the past 30 days and see what players make the cut.
Top Hitters
In the past 30 days, San Diego Padres’ Luis Arraez leads the league with 39 hits. Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm, Kansas City Royals’ Maikel Garcia and San Diego’s Jurickson Profar are tied for second with 36 hits each.
Arraez doesn’t hit for a lot of power (recently hitting his first home run), but racks up hits with the best of them. He’s in a better lineup now that he’s in San Diego and should be in fantasy lineups every time he’s starting. He might be a player who is a bit more obtainable in a trade than you think, with his lack of power being a big part of the reason.
Bohm has been fantastic pretty much all season and is one of the best fantasy options in the game right now. He’s got more pop than Arraez, but still only has five homers on the season. Bohm is an intriguing trade asset and could land you a big bopper (with a much weaker average) if that’s what your fantasy team is missing.
Profar continues to have a career season for the Padres. He’s got a sub-.250 average for his season and you have to think some regression is coming at some point. Profar was a waiver wire pickup in most leagues, but could probably be swapped for a pretty solid fantasy asset right now if you’d like to sell high with him.
Garcia was a surprise name to me among the hit leaders. He’s got an 87% own percentage, so a few of you can likely pick him up for free today. Garcia had a poor start to the season, but is creeping back closer to his marks from a season ago. He’s already hit more homers and is on pace for a fantastic season overall - pick him up on the waiver wire or make a trade for him before his fantasy value rises any more.
In the past 30 days, Houston Astros’ Kyle Tucker leads the league with 12 home runs. New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge is second at 11 bombs, while Baltimore Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson is third at nine homers.
All three guys are among the best fantasy hitters in the game, which FantasySP’s Trade Value Chart shows. It would take a haul to land any of them, but they are certainly worth it if you can make something happen (without overpaying too much). Check out the FSP Trade Analyzer to come up with a good offer.
Bohm leads the league with 27 RBIs over the past 30 days. Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez is second with 26 RBIs, while Oakland Athletics’ Brent Rooker is third with 25 RBIs.
Ramirez is another one of the game’s top fantasy options, sitting 12th currently on the trade value chart. He’s actually been having a bit of a down season compared to his standard seasons, so he might be a bit more obtainable in a trade than you think. See if you can maybe get one of the best fantasy hitters for a bargain.
Rooker should be another surprising name to many up here. He’s owned in 93% of leagues, so it’s not like he’s going unnoticed - he’s just not the household name some of these other guys are. Rooker is having a career year so far, and I’d expect some regression at some point, so he’s a player I’d be trying to sell high on instead of hoping to acquire.
Top Pitchers
Over the past 30 days, Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale owns the league’s best earned run average at a minuscule 0.56. Chicago Cubs’ Shota Imanaga is at 0.84, while Detroit Tigers’ Reese Olson is at 0.94.
A lot of fantasy owners are nervous when it comes to Sale given his injury history, but he’s been one of the top fantasy pitchers this season. His trade value is about as high as it’s been all season, so he won’t be cheap in a trade. You can’t argue with his numbers so far though, and I’d do my best to ignore his injury history and get him on my fantasy team.
Imanaga has been fantastic all season for Chicago. He was kind of the afterthought to Yoshinobu Yamamoto as a free agent signing, but Imanaga has an argument to be the best fantasy pitcher so far. There will be some regression in his game over the course of the season, but it also looks like he could retain a spot amongst the best fantasy pitchers. He also won’t be easy to acquire in a trade, but if you can make it happen, your fantasy team will definitely get a big boost.
Olson is definitely not getting much fantasy love for as strong as he’s been on the hill over the past month. For the season, Olson is 0-5, but with a 2.16 ERA. He’s owned in about 51% of leagues right now, even though not many pitchers have pitched better over the last 30 days. Olson should not be a streaming option right now, even at his winless record - add him until he gives you a reason not to be rostered.
Kansas City has two of the top four strikeout leaders over the past month. Seth Lugo is first with 44 punchouts, while Ragans is tied for second with Sale and Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow at 43 strikeouts each.
Lugo is 7-1 with a 1.93 ERA this season, so he’s owned in nearly every league. Regression should come at some point, so he’s on my sell high list.
Ragans is a solid 4-3 with a 3.34 ERA this season, but a whopping 11 strikeouts per nine innings. He too is owned in just about every league. He hasn’t turned in a full season in his MLB career yet, so he’s a player I’m trying to hold if I own - if I didn’t roster him, he might be a fairly affordable piece who could help power a fantasy team the rest of the season.
Glasnow is one of the top fantasy pitchers in the game and is 6-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s a top-20 player on our trade chart, so it’ll cost quite a bit to add him, but much like in the case with Imanaga, Glasnow should only do great things for your team.
Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase, St. Louis Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley and Seattle Mariners’ Andres Munoz are tied over the last 30 days with eight saves.
All three closers are owned in 95% of leagues or more. All three have sub-2.00 ERAs, with Clase at a ridiculous 0.36 mark. I’m not one that would suggest trading for a closer, but if you wanted to, Clase is the guy you’d want, followed by Helsley and Munoz. In terms of their price tag in a trade, it’s the opposite of how I have them listed, so also keep that in mind.
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