Royce Lewis and Christian Encarnacion-Strand Among Fantasy Baseball Hitters On the Rise Over the Past Week

It's again time to check out MLB stats from the past week to identify the fantasy hitters trending up and down.

We'll begin with the hitters trending up today. These stats cover June 3-9. Check back soon for the story on hitters trending down. 

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Most Hits

San Diego's Manny Machado and Kansas City's Vinnie Pasquantino have 13 hits each over the past week.

Machado is one of the better fantasy hitters most seasons, and he's in a groove now at the plate. He's unlikely to keep performing this well all season, so now would be a time to sell high on the Padres' slugger.

Pasquantino is rostered in 89% of leagues right now - that's up from 82% back on June 6, so he's been added steadily during his hot streak. He's also outperforming past seasons, so he's another sell-high trade candidate. Because he's not a universally-owned fantasy asset though, he's more just a player to take advantage of while he's hot at the plate.

LA Dodgers' Mookie Betts, New York Mets' Pete Alonso and Athletics Jacob Wilson all had 12 hits over the timeframe we are using.

Betts and Alonso are two of the better fantasy hitters in the league. Betts is gaining back value after a bit of a slow start at the plate, and I'd keep rostering him now that he's hot at the plate. Alonso is having a career season, so he's a sell-high trade candidate if you don't expect him to keep performing at this high level.

Wilson is nearly owned in all fantasy leagues finally - it took far too long for him to get there. A dropoff should be coming at some point, but at this point, I'm more inclined to keep enjoying Wilson's success than I would be trying to capitalize on it and selling him high.

Atlanta's Austin Riley finished the last week with 11 hits. Riley is starting to look like the hitter we expected him to be before the season began. If you aren't sold on him moving forward, now is the time to sell high, but I believe in Riley and would want to roster him going forward.

Most Runs Scored

Alonso and Athletics' Lawrence Butler scored nine runs each last week.

Alonso also being on the runs scored list just shows how well-rounded a fantasy asset he's been, not just of late, but for the whole season.

Butler is trending up and is nearly owned in all fantasy leagues now. He's on pace to match or slightly improve most of his numbers from last season, which should be expected as he matures and gets more big league at-bats under his belt. I personally like Butler as a fantasy asset, but now would be a time to potentially sell high on him.

New York Mets' Juan Soto scored eight runs last week. Soto is one of the top fantasy hitters in the game, but has struggled this season. He's gaining back some fantasy value now, and should continue to improve his numbers, so I'm more inclined to utilize him now.

Most RBIs

Alonso drove in a ridiculous 15 runs last week. What else do you want me to say? Alonso was on fire last week and has been great all season. Either keep enjoying his success or sell him for a king's ransom.

Arizona's Ketel Marte and Miami's Jesus Sanchez each drove in nine runs last week.

Marte is one of the top fantasy hitters in the MLB, and he's gaining back value after missing a long stretch with an injury. The fantasy owners who stuck with Marte through that injury should just enjoy his success instead of looking to sell him high.

Sanchez is a surprise name on this list. He's been on the rise as a fantasy asset over the past week and he's still only rostered in 23% of leagues overall. Deep-league owners should heavily consider adding Sanchez until his bat cools off a bit.

Most Walks

Soto led the league with 10 walks last week, which is a ridiculous amount for playing in just six games. Soto is at the top of his game when he's drawing walks at a rapid pace, so brighter days should be ahead for the fantasy star.

Atlanta's Matt Olson had eight walks last week. He also had five hits, so he got on base plenty over his seven games. Olson is one of the better fantasy hitters in the league, so seeing him get on base that much is a good sign. He's working his way up the first base fantasy leaderboard and starting to look like the hitter fantasy owners were expecting him to be.

Marte walked seven times last week. He's heating up at the plate and getting on base a ton. Enjoy his success now that he's healthy instead of selling him in a trade.

Most Stolen Bases

Cleveland's Jose Ramirez was the only player over three stolen bases last week, and he finished with five. 

He's obviously one of the top hitters in the game, and he showed why last week while collecting 10 hits and four walks. Enjoy his success instead of looking to capitalize on his best weeks of production.

Other Notable Hitters Trending Up

Colorado's Tyler Freeman had a .500 average over 18 plate appearances last week. He had eight hits and two walks. Freeman is owned in just 4% of leagues, but could be a deep-league fantasy option as he's hot at the plate.

Cincinnati's Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a .471 average over four games and 19 plate appearances. He had eight hits and a walk in that span. Encarnacion-Strand has been one of the bigger waiver pickups over the past couple days and is now rostered in 46% of leagues.

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge had a .450 average over six games and 26 plate appearances. He had nine hits and five walks. Judge continues to lead all fantasy hitters, and it'd take a king's ransom, then some, to get him off my team.

Minnesota's Royce Lewis had a nice week, finishing with a .438 average. He posted seven hits and walked five times over six games and 21 plate appearances. Lewis is rostered in 45% of leagues right now, but can be one of the best fantasy hitters when he's hot at the plate - that time might be here soon, so don't wait to add him for too long.

Toronto's Alejandro Kirk had a .417 average, as did Baltimore's Adley Rutschman.

Kirk had 10 hits and a walk over six games and 25 plate appearances. He's on the rise as a fantasy asset and is rostered in 33% of leagues. That seems way too long looking at his season-long numbers.

Rutschman was a top-end fantasy catcher coming into the season, and he's starting to heat up finally. He had 10 hits and three walks last week. If you aren't sold on Rutschman being a top-end fantasy catcher the rest of the season, selling him high during a hot stretch makes some sense.

Tampa Bay's Yandy Diaz had a .409 average across 27 plate appearances in the past week. He had nine hits and five walks. Diaz is available in about 22% of leagues, and is worth streaming while he's hot at the plate, and if you are looking for first base help.

Boston's Abraham Toro had a .400 average across 29 plate appearances last week. He collected 10 hits and walked twice. Toro is gaining fantasy traction, and is at 23% rostered now. He was under 4% on June 8, so he's rapidly growing.