Every Friday, I am going to discuss a handful of players who are rising in value (be it re-draft or dynasty) and a handful that are falling. Kicking off my inaugural piece will be multiple Orioles hitters, both in the minors and in the bigs, Anthony Volpe’s much improved sophomore season, William Contreras, #1 fantasy catcher?, and a pair of Red Sox starting pitchers, all on the rising side. On the fallers’ side, we’ll discuss Corbin Carroll’s dwindling power numbers, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.’s continued power decline, what to do with struggling closers and Bo Bichette and the three-year 20/20 decline.

Risers

The Orioles are churning out some very productive hitters, both in Baltimore and in Norfolk (their AAA squad). At the big league level, we all knew that Gunnar Henderson was going to be a very good bat, and he was drafted on average 30th overall, but he’s currently out-producing his ADP. Through 18 games, he already has 6 home runs and 4 stolen bases, putting him on pace for nearly a 40/30 season. I trust him to get 35 or more homers more than I trust him to steal more than 20 bases, but I do believe he is going to give his drafters a huge profit. Elsewhere, Cedric Mullins has started out hot, with 5 home runs and 3 stolen bases himself, and he is hitting the ball with more authority than he did last year, raising both his barrel and hard-hit rates. Jackson Holliday was expected to lead the Orioles rookie charge this season, but starting the year in AAA and a cold start to his MLB debut has been overshadowed by fellow rookie Colton Cowser and sophomore Jordan Westburg.

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