It’s always interesting to look at the ownership charts in the first couple of weeks of a season to see who fantasy owners are clamoring for and those who they are dumping on the waiver wires. At some point, someone will discuss the panic issue among fantasy owners, but it is still interesting to see who is climbing up or down the ownership charts on the major fantasy sites, including the leagues here at Fantrax. Here are some of the names that are showing up on these lists.
RISING STARS
Mark Reynolds, 1b, Colorado Rockies
[the_ad id=”384″]The Rockies corner man may be the biggest rising star in fantasy baseball so far, with a nearly 60% average ownership increase. He had a decent spring training, batting .273 and helping the USA capture the WBC title. He has even been better to start the season, posting a .323 batting average with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs through the first 10 games. The veteran has been one of the Rockies more consistent bats in the early going and he should still find playing time even when Ian Desmond returns from injury.
Kendall Graveman, SP, Oakland A’s
Graveman was consistent but not overwhelming in 186 innings last season but is off to an excellent start this season. His improved sinker has led to a 2-0 start with a 2.08 ERA and 12 strikeouts in indicative of why he has seen an almost 40% increase in ownership. The 26-year-old righty began the season with a career record of 17-20 in the majors, but if even comes close to what he has produced so far this season, he should continue to be a rising star in fantasy leagues.
Sandy Leon, C, Boston Red Sox
Leon is off to a good start at the plate, batting .368 with a home run in his first seven games played. Leon started the season owned in less than 10% of fantasy leagues but is now owned in almost half. He started this season in the same strong fashion that he did when called up last June, but is hoping to prevent a repeat of last summer when his production fell off from mid-August through September, into the playoffs and into the first half of this spring training. It was during the last two weeks to 10 days before the end of spring training before Leon began to settle into a rhythm at the plate, and he has carried that rhythm over to the beginning of the season.
Ryan Zimmerman, 1b, Washington Nationals
Zimmerman spent much of spring training working on his swing and that work has paid off so in the beginning of this season. Zimmerman focused on the exit velocity, launch angle and other mathematical parameters around hitting, gathering guidance from teammate Daniel Murphy. Through the first nine games of the season, he has amassed a .367 batting average along with 3 HRs and 6 RBI’s. This has led to an average ownership increase of about 30%. A welcome change for a player who has been on a three-season slide, as is average has dropped from .280 in 2014 (when he played just 61 games), to .249 and .218 last season. Zimmerman and the Nationals hoped that his new swing continues and his star continues to rise for them and for his fantasy owners.
FALLING STARS
Greg Bird, 1b, New York Yankees
[the_ad id=”693″]Bird’s falling may only be a temporary one, as some of his early season struggles may be due to an ankle injury and from the effects of having the flu. He had tied the Nationals’ Bryce Harper for the league lead for spring training home runs with eight but started the season with just one hit in 16 at-bats and has struck out seven times. Bird is due to return to full-time playing status soon and returning to full health may help him return to the form that was seen during spring training, reversing the trend of a 20% ownership decline.
Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins
He hit 0.283/0.365/0.543 in the spring, following a September of 2016 when Buxton put up this slash line: .287/.357/.653. This started the Mike Trout comparisons and led Twins manager Paul Molitor to move him to the #3 spot in the order. The season then started and this slash line appeared: .069/.100/.103 (through 4/12). Fantasy owners jumped off the bandwagon to the tune of about 30%. Even though this is a small sample size, Buxton’s entire body of work from 2015 and 2016 indicates that he has some major issues making contact.
Jeanmar Gomez, RP, Philadelphia Phillies
Gomez lost his job of closer recently, after being the Phillies top closer for most of the last season. He stepped in and recorded 37 saves without the power stuff and high-strikeout octane that most closers possess, but had a dismal September and was replaced. When spring training started, Gomez was given the first shot at the job and he did nothing to lose it in Florida. However, he gave up a two-run home run in the ninth inning on opening day followed by giving up a three-run homer in a recent game against Washington. Gomez will likely return to the sixth- and seventh-inning setup role.
Sam Dyson, RP, Texas Rangers
In 2016, Shawn Tolleson struggled early as a closer, went through many ups and downs in the Rangers bullpen, then landed on the disabled list, with Sam Dyson taking over as the closer. In 2017, Dyson started this season as the closer where he has faced 22 batters and allowed 11 hits (including 2 home runs) and 3 walks. His sinker has been a stinker. When a sinker stays up, bad things happen for its pitcher and things for Dyson are no different. Fortunately for Dyson, the Rangers bullpen is not that solid, and he may end up with a second chance at the closer’s job if he can fix the issues that are leading to his poor performances and the associated drop in ownership.