Who figured Adeiny Hechavarria would factor prominently into the fantasy season?
After beginning the year 1-for-22 with two runs and four strikeouts, the former Toronto Blue Jays infielder has caught fire batting out of the eighth spot with the Miami Marlins.
The surprising spike in production has been a large part of the Marlins’ current five-game win streak after the highly-touted club won only three of its first 14 games.
Here’s how Hechavarria factors into this week’s edition of Three Up, Three Down:
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THREE UP
Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees The 35-year-old Yankees slugger ranks in the top-20 in Yahoo! leagues after his most productive week in quite some time. Teixeira mashed five home runs with 10 RBI, a .333 average and a 1.429 OPS in the last seven days. His inconsistent average will be an issue, but with power being a scarce commodity, fantasy owners should ride this streak.
Adeiny Hechavarria, Miami Marlins Hechavarria has been a fantasy monster over the last seven days, recording eight runs, one home run, one stolen base, 10 RBI with a .500 average and 1.270 OPS. Since April 13, he’s 23-for-50 (.460) with three doubles, a triple, two homers and 15 RBI. The Marlins shortstop, who is now 47 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues, was the top-rated player over the last seven days. If your team needs a shortstop, you need to join in on the party.
Alfredo Simon, Detroit Tigers There wasn’t much noise when the Detroit Tigers acquired the 33-year-old starter, but he has been a huge surprise to fantasy owners. Simon has won four consecutive starts with a 1.65 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 15-to-4 over 27.1 innings. The below-average strikeout rate doesn’t appeal to everyone, but there’s no doubt he has been an absolute steal so far.
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THREE DOWN
Shin-Soo Choo, Texas Rangers After years of reliable fantasy production, the Rangers outfielder is in the midst of a major slump. He has not recorded a hit over the last seven days, and his batting average on the season has dropped far below the Mendoza line at .114. In response, the Rangers moved Choo to the seventh spot in the order Saturday. At this point, he is droppable in fantasy leagues.
Brandon McCarthy, Los Angeles Dodgers Generally, a move to the National League helps fantasy pitchers, but McCarthy hasn’t followed the trend. The Dodgers starter has allowed at least four earned runs in three of his four starts and he left Saturday’s start with elbow tightness. Initial tests showed no ligament damage, which is good news, but it looks like the veteran right-hander will at least need a stint on the 15-day DL. Not good for his fantasy stock.
Danny Santana, Minnesota Twins After posting an .824 OPS in 101 games last season, Santana entered the year as a popular fantasy sleeper. So far he has not lived up to the hype with just five hits in his last 21 at-bats. He has only one stolen base after stealing 20 last season and his average (.210) and on-base percentage (.222) have been concerning. Santana was one of the most dropped players in both Yahoo! and ESPN leagues this past weekend and for good reason.