Jackson Chourio went 0-2 on Wednesday, punching out in both trips to the plate. Chourio has not been great in his first month in the bigs. He's swinging at everything (34% Chase, 32% Whiff, both 17th Percentile) and pounding the ball into the ground (49%). Luckily, he's being recorded as an elite runner and defender, plus the Brewers handed him guarantee money, so they are likely to see this dry spell through. He's shown progress, but in redraft leagues, the early returns are not great. I'd shop him around or even drop him if your roster is tight.
Mitch Garver went 0-4 and is now batting .141 with a .507 OPS. Some regarded Garver as a sneaky upside pick at a thin catcher position, but that isn't really panning out. He is a big tie misser (31.5% Miss), but also a big time taker (38.5% Swing, 47.1% League Average), a combination I'm not very fond of. The quality of balls in play isn't enough to justify this approach (.292 xwOBACON). If you're still holding out hope, I'd consider other options.
Gleyber Torres went 1-4 with two strikeouts, and is now batting .189 with a .499 OPS. There is no good way to put this - it's ugly. Gleyber is having what is easily the worst season of his career, in a contract year no less. He's been a remarkably steady real life and fantasy asset for years, so it's odd to see him all of sudden struggle this greatly. That being said, it does look like there is an approach change. Gleyber is swinging at the lowest rate of his career (not including 2020), which has caused his Chase % to drop to 19.6%, a marked improvement from his 26.9% career line. Unfortunately, his Whiff% has simultaneously increased to 30.2%, the second highest mark of his career. With misses up and takes up, he's posted a career low Zone Contact % by a wide margin. Pitchers have also caught on to this as he's facing 3.7% more strikes compared to his career average. It's a perfect storm right now of a dip in contact skills with a more passive approach. He needs to get back to swinging in the zone.
Connor Wong went 4-4 with two homers, and is now slashing an astounding .370/.386/.667. Unfortunately, he is one of the most obvious sell highs in all of fantasy. For one, Wong is the worst blocker in the league and a slightly below average receiver. This means he will most likely be in a perpetual time share with Reese McGuire. There might be more DH opportunities with Triston Casas on the IL, but long-term, I struggle to see Wong get regular playing time. Moreover, he's an absolute free swinger (40% Chase, 30% Whiff) that lacks significant pop (88.8 Career EV) and refuses to walk (1.9%). Hard sell.
Tanner Scott came into a tie game in the bottom of the tenth against Atlanta and immediately gave up a walk-off single to Michael Harris after just two pitches. It's tough to knock a guy for two pitches, but it's on par with the theme of Scott not performing in big spots this year. Losses for closers are not indicative of future performances, but they're a dagger in points leagues. Scott now has four losses and only four saves. Under the hood, he's walking everyone who has ever been born (23.1%) and no longer punching guys out at premium clips (19.2%). That being said, the ball-in-play data is still excellent. His .159 xBA against and .254 xwOBACON against are premium marks. I don't think managers will continue to get haunted with these losses much longer, but if Scott doesn't at least start throwing strikes soon, we're in danger.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for tools that will help you win your fantasy championship. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.