Fantasy baseball: 2 third basemen to buy low and 1 to sell high

Josh Jung could be the AL Rookie of the Year

Texas Rangers rookie Josh Jung has been one of the most anticipated prospects to come up through Arlington. He has delivered on the expectations and is the top contender for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

If you are in a keeper league, odds are you’re jumping for joy and harvesting the fruit of the long hours pouring over prospect analysis. However, for the seasonal fantasy managers, Josh Jung must be in your daily lineup. It’s only mid-May, and Jung is just heating up. He’s getting better. Watch this ball in all of its 418 feet of Texas gold leave the park in Cincinnati.

So far this season, his stat line is .250/.292/.730 with eight home runs, 26 runs, 25 RBI, and a stolen base. Right now, he is fantasy viable, but if you look at these last 14 games, a big stat pops out. His strikeout-to-at-bats ratio is going down.

This is the rookie growth you look for as he has the hitting ability but is getting better with quality at-bats. Soon we will see his strikeouts go down and walks go up. When that happens, he will be a perennial first-round pick in fantasy baseball.

Ranking in the mid-to-late 110s in all the big three sites, Jung is available to pick up off the waiver wire in 30 percent of leagues. In recent trades, fantasy managers acquired Jung for players like Jake Cronenworth, Nolan Arenaldo, and even Kris Bryant.

Make a move on Jung before he is out of reach as he will be a roster staple by the All-Star break. So that’s a buy order on Rangers third baseman Josh Jung.

Fantasy baseball sell alert: Max Muncy

Lastly, we get to the Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy. Muncy is having a career year. He is second in all of Major League Baseball in home runs. So if he is on your fantasy team right now, you are loving life.

Muncy is on pace for 57 home runs, 129 RBI, and 113 runs, and that should be enough to have him in the NL MVP conversations. That is amazing for fantasy owners as Max Muncy could be the fantasy baseball MVP.

Watch his 13th dinger of the season fly here in this video.

Taking a closer look at his numbers, however, I’m not a believer. For starters, he recently had a collision with the left-field wall and has some swelling in his knee. While the Dodgers have him day to day as it’s not severe, he was back in the lineup Thursday. It’s probably nothing, but I get weary of swelling knees in power hitters at 32 years old.

Secondly, Muncy’s May has been unexceptional. While his appeal is his home runs, he only has four in May and is batting .196. Those aren’t fantasy baseball MVP numbers. As a matter of fact, his .220 average is suspect.

With a .220 batting average, sitting out every three days, and this knee swelling, it’s a good idea to see what you can get for Muncy on the trade market. He currently is ranked in the 30s across the major fantasy sites and is the third-ranked third baseman. Recent trades for Muncy have yielded Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Justin Steele. I like the Justin Steele option the best, but more on that in another post.

The reality is Muncy will not keep up this production, and I believe the 15 home runs are a fluke. Muncy’s best year was when he hit 36 and had to hit .249 to do it. I would be surprised if Muncy hits 20 more the rest of the year. So sell Muncy now while the market for him is still hot.