The NL West is a good division, as they sent 15 players to Denver for the All-Star Game. Today, we take a look at three of them from a fantasy baseball perspective.
Jake Cronenworth- Last year's NL Rookie of the Year runner-up has only stepped up his game this year, making him an All-Star. The second baseman/first baseman/shortstop (he's very versatile, which is helpful in fantasy) is hitting .276 with 12 home runs, and a 127 OPS+ (27% better than league average. Another interesting thing about him is that Cronenworth leads the league in games played since he's played 91 out of the Padres' 93 games, which means he's durable. The advanced numbers are promising as well. His 14% strikeout rate and his 13% whiff rate are among the league's best, and he has good speed (although he's rarely used it this year for only four stolen bases).
Buy or Sell? Buy. Despite his good numbers, Cronenworth is perpetually underrated in the fantasy baseball world. Although he's solidly in the top-10 in points leagues at all three of his positions, there are still many players more frequently rostered than him due to name value rather than actual value. This is what fantasy managers can take advantage of. Players like Tim Anderson, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo are definitely worth trading away, especially if you can get Cronenworth and another player. I expect his batting average to end in the .270-.290 range with about 14 more home runs, so he still has a lot of value to provide for the rest of the season.
Eduardo Escobar- Honestly, Escobar is not a worthy All-Star, for he mainly made it just because his team (Arizona) is so bad that they didn't have anyone better to send. That's not to say that Escobar is bad, but he's just not on the same level as his counterparts. The third and second baseman is hitting .254, but he has good power with 20 home runs and his 60 RBI leave him just outside the top-10 in that category. However, his advanced statistics show that he's due for some negative regression. The main problem is that he's just not impressive in any category. His average exit velocity is in the bottom third of the league along with his walk rate, and his expected wOBA is below average. His expected batting average and wOBA are also about ten points lower than his current batting average and wOBA.
Buy or Sell? Sell. For trades, unlike Cronenworth, you want to advertise the fantasy point total (you can also say that he's an All-Star, which sounds really cool) instead of the name value in order to sell him to another team. He's probably going to end the season hitting closer to .230 than the .254 average he has now, but he'll probably also hit another 13 home runs and drive in well over 100 for the year. However, his peak performance has already happened, so sell him now.
Chris Taylor- Another utility player (OF/2B/SS), Taylor has had a career year this year. His .277 batting average is the second highest he's ever had, and he's very valuable in terms of OBP since his 43 walks are almost a career-high even though it's only July. He also has ten home runs and eight steals, so there's some value in power and speed as well. But, it's going to be hard for him to keep this up. His expected batting line is .254/.363/.438, which is significantly lower than his current line of .277/.382/.452, and his wOBA is also expected to lower by ten points.
Buy or Sell? Sell (only in points leagues). Like Escobar, Taylor's statistics (and All-Star coolness bonus) should make it so that you can get good value in return for him now. Also, I said only sell him in points leagues because Taylor's good batting average along with decent production for power and speed make him a valuable option in rotisserie formats, so roto fantasy managers should hold onto him. He's barely inside the top 50 hitters in points leagues, but he is 30th on the ESPN Player Rater, so do not sell him in roto leagues.
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