Closing Time: Rhys Hoskins providing fantasy value down stretch
Rhys Hoskins is a relatively unknown rookie playing for a last place team, but he’s hitting cleanup for the Phillies, and the kid can flat-out hit. He produced a 167 wRC+ in Triple-A over 475 plate appearances this season, and he’s clubbed three homers with six RBI over his last four games in Philadelphia. He currently sports a 1.026 OPS in the big leagues, walking as often as he’s struck out. Hoskins plays in a park that’s increased home runs for right-handed batters by 23 percent over the past three seasons, which is the third-most in major league baseball over that span. It’s fair to expect his HR/FB% (35.3) to regress, but the same could be said about his .167 BABIP. Hoskins is owned in just 38 percent of Yahoo leagues right now, and that number should be nearly 100.
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Quick Hits: After driving in at least 130 runs each of the past two seasons, Nolan Arenado is on pace to finish with a career high 139 RBI. He also made this crazy good defensive play Tuesday…Aaron Judge ended his MLB-record setting streak of striking out in 37 straight games. But he’s hitting .176/.346/.360 over 125 at bats since the All-Star break (he’s still tied with Jose Altuve among all hitters in WAR)…Byron Buxton is becoming better at baseball…Gary Sanchez went deep twice, including this 493-foot blast that was the second-longest home run of the season. Sanchez and Buster Posey have identical OPSs (.884), yet the former has more than twice as many homers and 16 more RBI despite seeing 50 fewer at bats.
Kelvin Herrera left with forearm tightness, so there’s a good chance Brandon Maurer racks up saves down the stretch. He’s available in nearly 60 percent of leagues (Scott Alexander would be the other option). Herrera’s status doesn’t sound good…This hit by Nick Castellanos was somehow ruled a homer…Here’s one of the weirder plays you’ll see all year…Josh Bell entered June with a .222/.303/.443 line, but the sophomore is quietly on pace to finish with 27 homers and 94 RBI. He’s owned in just 58 percent of leagues…Eduardo Nunez already has more homers with the Red Sox than he did with the Giants in 205 fewer at bats since getting traded to Boston…Scooter Gennett is 2B eligible and has a .943 OPS against right-handed pitchers this season with 19 homers over 263 ABs. He’s available in more than 30 percent of leagues…Aaron Hicks homered with three RBI on Tuesday batting second for the Yankees. The former top-15 pick now owns a .267-47-13-45-8 line over just 251 ABs and is available in 60 percent of leagues.
