NL fantasy baseball plays for All-Star Break push on Braves, Cubs and Phillies

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As the Gregorian calendar hurdles towards July, the MLB All-Star Break sits just around the corner. Before we know it, in a blink of an eye, we’ll be at the trade deadline then the dog days of August with teams vying for playoff berths. Those days ahead will come, but the key is being prepared for them with your fantasy baseball team.

As trade rumors begin to swirl, it’s a great time to get your fantasy baseball team in good shape before the Midsummer Classic. Whether you’re sitting pretty in first place with plans to remain or your team needs a bit of a jolt in the standings, I have some fantasy plays to jumpstart your team for the rest of the first half of the season. Let’s dive in!

3 fantasy baseball players to know as June begins to wind down

Orlando Arcia, Atlanta Braves

To no surprise (or at least to anyone who’s not a Mets fan), the Atlanta Braves are in first place in the NL East. The Braves, who also possess the best record in the entire National League, once again are marching towards a potential World Series appearance. Atlanta is riding a six-game winning streak having won eight of their last 10 games and possess a whopping +100 run differential. Shortstop Orlando Arcia is big reason for Atlanta’s success as he’s been a steady figure at the bottom of the Braves lineup.

The nine-year veteran, third with Atlanta, has had a batting average over .300 in all but three days of the season thus far. Currently Arcia is hitting .341 with six homers, 25 RBI and a .890 OPS. Braves fans were relieved to see that the wrist injury that sidelined him a few weeks into the season has not impeded Arcia’s performance at the plate. After returning from the IL a week into May and rocking steady all month with a .303 average, Arcia has stepped up his game in June. As he stays on pace to have the best offensive season of his career, so far this month Arcia is hitting at a .397 clip with a .988 OPS. Over the past two weeks he’s hitting .412 with 12 RBI.

Arcia is anchoring Atlanta’s bottom of the order and moving big hitters along the basepaths while giving top of the order hitters plenty of opportunities for RBI. Before the break, the Braves play in Philly, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Tampa Bay while they host the Twins and Marlins. Arcia’s splits are pretty solid, but the Venezuelan does have a little kryptonite to battle before the break. His average at Citizen’s Bank Park is just a hair over the Mendoza line at .204 in 61 at-bats and the number plummets down to .188 in Cleveland in just four games.

The Braves are a machine and Arcia is a key cog in it. I wouldn’t let a few road series stats scare me off. Arcia is a great total bases guy who will have plenty of opportunities to produce.

May 19, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Christopher Morel (5) reacts after reaching second base on a fielding error during the fifth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Christopher Morel, Chicago Cubs

As June begins its wind down, the Chicago Cubs are fighting hard to turn their season back to how it began before the upcoming All-Star break. What started out as a fun time in Wrigleyville quickly soured at the end of April and found the Cubs stumbling down the NL Central standings. Injuries and slumps contributed to the Cubs losing a lot from late April through early June. Over that time, Chicago had three three-game losing streaks, two four-game losing streaks and topped it off with a five-game losing streak on a road trip about a month ago. However, since experiencing an early June swoon, the Cubs are now winners of eight of their last 10, including a five-game winning streak against playoff contenders in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

One of the players helping to right the Cubs ship is second-year outfielder Christopher Morel. Morel started the season in Triple-A Iowa where he thrived with a .330 average and 11 homers. Morel was called up May 8 and hasn’t looked back since. With 13 home runs and a .281 average, the young Cub is well on his way to shattering his rookie season numbers all while matching a Sammy Sosa mark. Last Friday’s homer against the Orioles was Morel’s 12th in his first 30 games of the season, a feat not accomplished by a Cub since Sosa’s 2002 season.

Over the past week Morel is hitting .360 with three homers and 10 RBI while slugging it at an .840 clip. Like his team, Morel has put up these numbers against quality competition in the Orioles and Pirates. Morel has also been more disciplined at the plate this month. After striking out 29 times in May, Morel only has seven strikeouts so far this month.

The young Cub is a hot grab … but be careful of some of his splits when setting your daily lineups. Morel is a versatile outfielder who can also play second base but is frequently used as the DH in Chicago’s lineup. When playing in the field, Morel is a .322 hitter but hits just .214 as the DH where a majority of his at-bats have come from. Morel is listed in most fantasy leagues as both an OF and 2B, adding to his value on your roster.

Jun 15, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5) hits a solo home run in the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /

Bryson Stott, Philadelphia Phillies

After comedians and meme artists, the Philadelphia Phillies are the ones benefitting the most from another meltdown from the Mets. Having wrestled with New York for third place in the NL East much of the season, Philly now has sole possession of third, 8.0 games behind division leader Atlanta and 3.5 games behind the Marlins for second. Much like the aforementioned Cubs, the Phillies have been hot of late riding a six-game winning streak and wins in eight of their last 10, keeping pace with the equally hot teams ahead of them in the standings. Also much like the Cubs, Philadelphia has a young player helping the team stay on course.

Second baseman Bryson Stott is another young player on pace to shatter their rookie season numbers. With a .296 average, Stott is hitting 62 points higher than last season while vastly improving on most of his production numbers, even hit-by-pitch! Stott cooled off a bit in May to a .255 average after a strong April (.319), but much like his team he’s rebounding strong in June to the tune of a .321 batting average and a .889 OPS. Stott just had a seven-game hitting streak snapped, one where he raised his average .012 to go with two home runs and eight RBIs. Stott was strong in a recent series in Phoenix against the NL West leading Diamondbacks where he went 7-for-16 with those two homers, four RBI, four runs and just one strikeout.

Stott also has a very interesting statistical split. Given that most games are played at night, Stott is the Phillies version of the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Day Man. Stott has been a true champion of the sun, hitting .339 in day games with five of his seven home runs, 20 of his 29 RBI and a .863 OPS in 127 at-bats. At night, Stott’s average drops to a pedestrian .260 with a weak .347 slugging percentage in 150 at-bats. The Phillies have eight day games before the All-Star break so keep an eye on those Phillies start times.

Good luck out there!

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