Baseball players have rough patches throughout a 162-game season. Often times slumps get magnified at the beginning of the season. I play in 5 fantasy baseball leagues so a number of these slumping players are on my teams. I plan to hold these players in the short term and not sell them low in trade. Actually I’ve acquired a few via trade. I’m also looking to see if any of these players go on waivers so I can pick them up.
Cubs SS/2B Addison Russell
Was expected to take step forward this season. Still lacks plate discipline. Put more stock in the.301/.377/.520 to minor league rate than the .244 batting avg. so far.
Royals DH Kendrys Morales
.227 avg. 3R 2 HR 7 RBI. Morales career 162 game avg. 24 HR 91 RBI.
White Sox 1B Jose Abreu
.217 avg. 2 HR 5 RBI. Abreu has 100 plus RBI and 30 bombs in each of his major league seasons. With Todd Frazier protecting Abreu in the lineup, number should be on the way soon.
White Sox 3B Todd Frazier
.154 avg. 2 HR 6 RBI. Toddfather’s slump in the 2nd half seems to have carried over into this season. Frazier has 162 game avg. of 28 HR and 83 RBI.
Jays SS Troy Tulowitzki
.140 avg. 3 R 2 HR 6 RBI. New leg kick could be throwing off Tulo a bit. Health has always been a problem for Tulowitzki. If your concerned on his health sell Tulowitzki when his numbers rebound.
Braves 1B Freddie Freeman
.167 avg. 5 R 1 HR 4 RBI. Freeman’s avg and power should get back to normal, but RBI’s are going to be a problem playing for the Braves.
A’s OF Khris Davis
.162 avg. 1 R 0 HR 1 RBI. Davis’ power numbers may drop moving from Milwaukee to Oakland. His OBP will come around soon.
Indians SP Corey Kluber
0-3, 6.46 ERA 1.42 WHIP. Put more stock into the 19:5 K:BB thru 19 innings than the ERA.
Mets SP Matt Harvey
0-3 5.71 ERA 1.56 WHIP only 9. Harvey hasn’t gotten out of the 6th inning in any game this season, but is too talented to sell low.
D-backs SP Zack Greinke
0-2 6.75 ERA 1.56 WHIP 15:5 K:BB. pitched much better in latest start. Flu at end of spring training may help to explain things a bit.
Rays SP Chris Archer
0-3 5.87 ERA 1.96 WHIP 23:8 K:BB. Archer throws too many pitches and struggles to pitch deep into games. Allowed only 2 ER in 2 of his 3 starts.
Pirates SP Gerrit Cole
0-2 4.22 ERA 1.22 WHIP 9:4 K:BB. Cole hasn’t been sharp in his 2 starts this season. In 30 starts a year a pitcher will have a few stinkers. Cole just happened to have them in his first 2 starts.
Cardinals SP Adam Wainwright
0-2 8.27 ERA 1.90 WHIP 7:9 K:BB. Owners should be alarmed with Wainwright’s numbers. Wainwright is the one pitcher on this list that I have the most concern on coming off the Achilles injury. Owners should keep Wainwright on the bench if they’re concerned about his numbers.