Stacking Coors Fielders Next Week
The year may have changed, but Coors Field remains the premier hitting venue in baseball. I have to go back to 2021 to find the first season it wasn’t the most offense-friendly park in baseball, and even that year it trailed by only two Park Factor points. With only a couple of weeks left in the regular season, taking advantage of scheduling could provide that boost that either gets you into a prize finish or keeps you there. So it’s worth knowing that next week, the Rockies play a six game homestand, which means it’s time to load up on players scheduled to play there!
I’ll focus on lesser owned names for this exercise, including only those who is owned in fewer than 50% of CBS leagues.
Rockies — 6 games @ Coors
Though Freeman is clearly an everyday guy, he has bounced around, starting at second base, right field, and DH over just the last six games. The additional positional flexibility makes it easier to get him into your lineup, which is nice. He missed about a month of the season earlier in the year due to injury, so his counting stats are down for the year.
However, if you extrapolate his current stats over a full season, let’s say 650 PAs, you’d end up with 30 steals to go along with that .284 batting average. Naturally, he has been even better at home, hitting .295 and stealing 12 of his 17 bases there. He has also recorded the majority of his runs scored and RBI at home, so although his current pace is underwhelming, it’s much more respectable if you used only his home performance.
Teams in most league formats could certainly use a .290+, 30+ steal guy for a week, particularly if you could gain steals points or are at risk of losing them.
Rostering Moniak for next week requires a bit more investigation as he sits against left-handed starters, so it’s possible that he won’t actually start all six games. He also might get pinch hit for later in a game if a left-handed reliever is on the mound when it’s his turn to bat. So it’s worth checking the opposing pitcher schedule before expecting him to join your active lineup next week.
Moniak has enjoyed a pretty respectable offensive campaign, rebounding nicely off a poor 2024 with the Angels. He is sporting a career best strikeout rate and ISO, making him a pretty decent NL-Only league contributor. He has produced even more stark home/away splits than Freeman, with significantly more power and a higher BABIP at Coors.
At home, he has hit .303, versus just .217 on the road, while hitting 12 of his 19 home runs there. He has swiped just six bases, three both home and away, so rostering him isn’t a bet on steals.
This is exactly the type of name you roster for Coors and is especially valuable in daily leagues when you can choose to start him only against right-handed starters as well. It’s a bit tougher in weekly leagues to keep him hanging around when his value fluctuates so significantly, depending on where he’s hitting and who’s starting against the team.
Eric’s son does not seem to have the power potential that his dad had, which is likely one of the reasons why he ranked just 17th among Rockies prospects. He debuted earlier this year and has recorded 99 MLB PAs so far, doing little to contribute to fantasy teams, with just one home run, zero steals, and a .250 batting average.
Interestingly, he’s batting just .196 at home, versus .310 on the road, so over a tiny sample, he’s showing a surprising reverse split! He has hit his one home run at home, but he has struck out significantly more at home, which you don’t typically see. Of course, it’s a tiny sample, so these splits are meaningless, but fun to share nonetheless.
His minor league history suggests a hitter with strong plate discipline and good batting average potential, with the occasional home run and steal. It’s not very exciting and without much counting stat upside, he’s down on the list of guys you want to roster at Coors. This is especially true considering the randomness of batting average on a weekly basis, which figures to be his best category right now.
Bernabel put fantasy owners into a frenzy after he smoked three homers over his first six games, while batting .500 if you count his seventh game. What he’s done since is a reminder to slow down and analyze before blindly picking up the hot player of the week. In 107 PAs since that hot week, he has hit a cool .198, with just one home run.
Like Karros, Bernabel isn’t a top prospect. He was last ranked just 12th in the organization, and that was back in 2023. He does have some worthy skills though, including a mid-teens strikeout rate and some decent stolen base totals in the past, though he’s swiped just one base this year.
Though Bernabel has cooled off, his home/road splits are dramatic, and that even includes his first five hot games being on the road. At home, he has hit .338, versus a .180 average on the road, while his home HR/FB rate is nearly double his away mark, though drastic FB% differences have resulted in two homers at both home and away.
I wouldn’t expect him to ever be as hot as he was to begin his MLB career, but given the low strikeout rate, league average power and former willingness to steal a base, he’s a good add for a week at Coors.
Marlins — 3 games @ Coors
Heriberto Hernandez
A former top prospect, Hernandez ranked just 31st among Marlins prospects this year, despite possessing fantasy potential thanks to 55/55 Game and 60/60 Raw Power grades, along with 55/55 Speed. Not initially an everyday guy when he was recalled, he has played himself into a regular role, rotating between DH and left field.
The 25-year-old has walked at a double digit clip everywhere he has played previously, though that rate has dipped to 8% during his first taste of the Majors. If he were to regain that double digit walk skill, his value would get a boost in OBP leagues.
His power is his calling card, as he has posted HR/FB rates over 20% numerous times, along with consistent ISO marks over .200. His HardHit% over 40% validates the power and although his previous maxEV marks were a bit less impressive, he has recorded a higher mark this year than he had at Triple-A previously as 112.8 MPH, which is excellent. His Barrel% has also crept into double digits.
Oddly, his HR/FB rate sits at just 12.1%, which doesn’t match at all with the Statcast metrics. It hasn’t been a pulled fly ball issue, so I would expect his power and HR/FB rate to improve, though perhaps not by season end as we don’t have many games left.
Surprisingly, he hasn’t even attempted a stolen base, despite stealing six in just 163 PAs at Triple-A this year. A sprinkling of steals would have nicely boosted his value, so it’s anyone’s guess if he’s given those up.
Given his power and Coors’ strikeout reduction powers, he’s a perfect guy to roster for three games at the park.
Recalled at the end of July, Johnston has been starting most games recently between left field, first base, and DH, against right-handed starters, though he snuck in a start against the last lefty the team faced. Since he could be serving on the strong side of a traditional platoon, make sure to check who the Marlins are projected to start against before rostering Johnston. It serves him no good if he only starts one game there! The 28-year-old isn’t a prospect and failed to even make the team’s top prospects article.
His recent minor league history suggests some fantasy intrigue, as he has showcased some power in past years, while also stealing 31 bases at Triple-A over just 354 PAs this season. He was on like a 20+ home run and 60+ steal pace over a full season!
Johnston likely isn’t someone you’d expect to hold a starting job all season. But he holds one now and given the little power/speed combo platter, is worth speculating on for potential three Coors games if you’re alternatives are underwhelming.
The team’s 26th best prospect was first recalled in mid-August, sent back down nearly two weeks later, then recalled again last week and has started every game since, between third and second base.
Acosta’s minor league record looks very similar to Johnston’s, as he hit 13 home runs and stole 31 bases over about two-thirds of a Triple-A season. The difference being that Acosta is just 22 years old, so there’s seemingly more upside here.
The Statcast metrics at Triple-A were fine, probably pointing to slightly below average power, but that means he won’t be a complete zero in home runs. That said, you’re really just hoping for some swipes. He has attempted one so far, but has been caught. At Triple-A, he was successful about 82% of the time, so he should pick up the running game, though that will require getting on base more than 27% of the time, of course.
Victor Mesa Jr.
Mesa Jr. is another name I had no idea was starting regularly. He was briefly recalled back in late May before being demoted, and then recalled again at the end of August where it appears he’s also on the strong side of a platoon, switching between right and left fields.
Mesa joins the rest of the list of non-prospects, as he ranked just 18th in the updated 2024 list. Like the others, speed is supposed to be his greatest fantasy asset, as he was slapped with a 60/60 Speed grade. But also like the other names, there’s a bit of power here too.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been willing to actually use his speed to steal bases. He was on pace for just low teens steals in the minors this year, stole just five bases last year over a partial season and 16 steals is his career high in a season. So perhaps we can’t count on him to contribute there.
Surprisingly, he has hit nearly as many home runs throughout his minor league career (48) and he has stolen bases (53). The optimist thinks he’s a nice little power/speed mix, while the pessimist is disappointing by that steal total. I would say that he would do juuuuuuust enough to be on fantasy radars, except for the fact that his BABIP marks have been unimpressive, resulting in low projected batting averages from the forecasting systems. Oh, and he bats at the bottom of the lineup, which hurts his counting stats. He’s an NL-Only leaguers only.
Angels — 3 games @ Coors
It’s really weird to see Moncada sporting the highest wRC+ among the hitters in the Angels current start lineup! As usual, the oft-injured former top prospect has missed his share of time due to injury, which has limited him to just 248 PAs this year. But, he’s been batting in the middle of the lineup when he starts, which isn’t every day as he looks to be on the strong side of a platoon. So he’s another name you’ll need to check the opposing pitcher before trying to take advantage of Coors.
This year, Moncada has posted the highest FB% of his career. He has combined that with another mid-teens HR/FB rate, backed by some strong Statcast metrics. He has posted a mid-40% HardHit%, 112.8 MPH maxEV, and 14.4% Barrel, which is a career best. That’s pretty darn good. All that has led to 11 home runs already, a nearly 27 home run pace over 650 PAs. With the second highest ISO of his career, it’s cool to see his offense back and not hampered by his slew of injuries he’s dealt with historically.
Unfortunately, the days of chipping in some steals are over, as he hasn’t even attempted one this year. That’s fine though, as the lack of steals is likely why he is so widely available in fantasy leagues despite enjoying a nice little renaissance. With a double digit walk rate again, he also gets a value boost in OBP leagues.
After surprisingly swiping 24 bases in just 304 PAs last year, Rengifo has stolen a disappointing eight so far this year. And those 17 homers in 2022 and 16 homers in 2023 ain’t coming back, as he has hist just eight this year, as his HR/FB rate slipped to single digits for the first time over a reasonable sample since his 2019 debut.
The good news is that his xwOBA is meaningfully higher than his actual wOBA, so there’s been an element of bad luck at play. Statcast’s .270 xBA suggests more balls should be falling for hits, which would increase his OBP and give him more stolen base opportunities. Perhaps he ends up being undervalued next year and a potentially good source of profit.
For the three games at Coors, there’s still a tiny power/speed mix, but he’s obviously not the greatest potential beneficiary of Coors. He also gets random days off, so you’ll need to make sure you check the lineup if you’re in a daily league or cross your fingers if weekly.
I had no idea that Teodosio had become the Angels starting center fielder until I placed my FAAB bids on Sunday night in AL Tout Wars. He has limited power and strikes out way too much for a hitter without power. He also rarely walks. If you’re wondering how he made it to the Majors, let alone a team’s starting lineup, I don’t know. But he’s here and is starting, so it’s worth considering his fantasy contributions.
It’s absolutely all about the speed here. He stole 40 bases in 2024, while getting caught just four times, and had swiped 10 in 12 tries in the minors this year, but that came in just 97 PAs. With the Angels, he has stolen five bases in six tries over the same 97 PAs. That’s a pace of around 30 steals, putting him in line with a number of other names on this list.
Since he can’t be expected to contribute anywhere else besides steals and hits at the bottom of the lineup, his value is strictly limited to AL-Only leagues. Even in such formats, he’s only worth rostering if you need steals. That’s exactly where I find myself, as even though i have no chance of winning the league, I still want to finish as best as I could. There’s a team one steal ahead of me, and two more teams within two and four of my steals total. So a handful of steals from Teodosio could gain me a point, while ensuring that the worst case of losing two points doesn’t happen.
If that situation is similar to yours, give him a try.
Mike Podhorzer is the 2015 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Baseball Writer of the Year and three-time Tout Wars champion. He is the author of the eBook Projecting X 2.0: How to Forecast Baseball Player Performance, which teaches you how to project players yourself. Follow Mike on X@MikePodhorzer and contact him via email.