Fantasy Baseball Rankings Update: Andrew Vaughn, Andres Gimenez, Corey Kluber headline early fallers
These players are tumbling down the rankings for a reason
By
Chris Towers
•
5 min read
There's not a lot a player can move down my rankings at this point in the year. Poor performance won't do it -- I didn't move Max Scherzer down following his four-homer debut, and I haven't moved Keston Hiura down (yet!) despite his 50% strikeout rate through five games. It's too early to overreact to those kind of things.
But when I did my first big rankings update of the season earlier this week, I did actually move guys up and down for a variety of reasons. Declining velocity, nagging injuries, lack of playing time, or disappointing usage were the primary factors in causing players to drop. There aren't a ton of players who moved either way, and I didn't make any big non-injury related changes, but there were some moves that were noteworthy.
Here's one player at every position (plus a bonus pitcher) who I've moved down since the end of spring training:
Catcher
Sean Murphy, Athletics
Murphy might just be a better-in-real-life-than-Fantasy player at this point, especially since the Athletics have been splitting time behind the plate pretty evenly between him and the more defensive-minded Aramis Garcia in the early going, so Murphy has just 14 plate appearances in seven games. Even at catcher, that kind of playing time isn't going to cut it.
First base
Andrew Vaughn, White Sox
I assumed that the White Sox were going to call Vaughn up to play him everyday -- why start his service time clock if you weren't going to use him? Instead, he's started just four of eight games as of Thursday and it doesn't sound like Tony La Russa is in any rush to make him an everyday player. Maybe we shouldn't have assumed he was going to just play a brand new position full time upon first making the majors, but this has been a very discouraging start. I want to hang on to Vaughn, because I think eventually he's going to hit enough to force the issue, but you can't start him right now.
Second base
Tommy La Stella, Giants
I liked La Stella quite a bit coming into the season, given the changes he made over the last two seasons and the fact that he looked like he might be the Giants everyday leadoff hitter. Instead, he's started just one of six games so far, which is pretty disastrous for his value. He was scratched with a back injury Tuesday and was dealing with a bruised knee last week, so maybe this is just a result of him being a little banged up, but it's definitely not what I wanted to see from a guy I drafted in a lot of places.
Third base
Hayes is sort of the default option here because he's hurt. It's not clear how long his wrist injury is going to keep him sidelined, but he hasn't been swinging a bat or catching since suffering the injury, so it may not just be a minimum stay on the IL like we hoped. It shouldn't be too long, of course, but there's always the risk of a setback or some lingering impact on his swing when he does return, so I cautiously moved him down a spot for the time being.
Shortstop
I'm pretty skeptical about Gimenez's bat, but I started moving him up in spring training because it looked like he would be playing everyday for Cleveland and might even end up batting near the top of the lineup. So far, he's started just three of five games and has hit ninth in all three. Some managers like to make sure every gets a start or two in the first week, so maybe that explains Gimenez's time off so far, but it's hard to be excited about his role so far. Especially since he's been splitting time with Amed Rosario, and there's no guarantee Gimenez is better at this point. This one could be frustrating for a while.
Outfield
Myles Straw, Astros
Straw is playing everyday, as hoped, but he's been relegated to the bottom of the order, batting either seventh or eighth in every game so far. He's been getting on base at a decent clip, but if he's hitting at the bottom of the order, he'll really have to run at a high clip to be Fantasy relevant, and that hasn't happened yet. Straw is going to have trouble being more than a one-category contributor unless he really heats up and forces the Astros to move him up.
Starting pitcher
Sanchez is dealing with shoulder inflammation, and while it doesn't sound serious right now, it's definitely a concern given his injury history and lack of innings. You've got to move him down at this point, especially since there's no guarantee he's going to be throwing a ton of innings even when he is healthy.
I didn't move Kluber down my ranks much, because I wasn't particularly high on him coming into the season, but I did drop him a few spots to No. 55 after watching his first start. Kluber has never had a great fastball, but with his velocity dipping further, it might just be a plain bad pitch now. What might be more concerning is the 10 walks and four hit batters in 17 innings going back to spring training. His margin for error is extremely slim at this point, and I'm not sure there's a ton of upside left if he's throwing in the high-80s now.
Relief pitcher
James Karinchak, Indians
I don't know who the closer in Cleveland is, but I'm pretty confident it isn't Karinchak, who has only faced one batter in the ninth inning, in a game the Mets were losing 0-3. Emmanuel Clase is still my pick to be the closer here, but I've moved Karinchak down into the 30s at relief pitcher, he'll get the occasional save and should have very good ratios and an elite strikeout rate, but with saves so hard to find, I'm prioritizing guys with the opportunity to earn saves.
