What's up RotoBallers. After a brief hiatus, my weekly buy/sell column has returned – just in time to help you with trade deadline decisions.

In this piece, I'll be taking a look at a few players that I recommend you target in trades, or try to get rid of for the fantasy home stretch. Now let’s get down to business.

Editor's Note: RotoBaller offers the best Premium MLB Subscription - only $1.99 per week. All the tools you need to help win your seasonal and daily leagues: Hitter & Pitcher Streamers, Matchup Ratings for every player, Under-the-Radar Surgers for AVG, HR, Ks, plus daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Lineup Picks, Expert Lineups, Stacks and Avoids. 

Week 18 Buys

Max Kepler, OF, Minnesota Twins

Kepler’s ownership rate exploded this week. That tends to happen when you blast three home runs in one game. The German rookie has been walloping baseballs for a while now, though. He’s hit .280/.376/.700 with 12 bombs and 57 R+RBI over the last month. It remains to be seen if he can maintain the elite HR/FB% he’s currently running, but he deserves a spot on your roster in pretty much any format right now. Even with the collective rush to add him, he’s still available on the wire in nearly half of leagues on both Yahoo and ESPN.

Marcus Stroman, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

It’s been a tough year for Stroman, but he’s shown encouraging improvement lately. The 25 year old has turned in quality starts in four of his last six outings, and boasts an impressive 8.6 K/BB during that time. That ratio got a boost from his last start, where he fanned 13 batters, obliterating his previous single-game best of 9. Stroman’s fantasy value has thus far been limited by his pedestrian strikeout numbers, so if he’s turned a corner there, he could be unlocking serious potential.

Jon Gray, SP, Colorado Rockies

Since a disastrous outing against the Cardinals on May 19, Jon Gray has started 13 games to the tune of a 2.61 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 8.8 K/9. Of those 13 games, 1o were quality starts. One of the three that wasn't came at home against the Blue Jays, and he still provided some fantasy value in that contest - despite giving up four runs in seven innings, Gray struck out eight, walked none, and allowed only five hits. That was also the only time in the last two months that Gray has allowed more than two runs at Coors Field. It's tough to trust any pitcher there, but Gray is earning his way into the circle.

Week 18 Sells

Eduardo Nunez, 3B/SS, San Francisco Giants

Nunez played in his first All Star Game this year, and make no mistake: The former utility man deserved it on the strength of his first half performance. Lately, though, he’s looked more like the middling hitter of old. Nunez is hitting just .155/.208/.169 since the break, and while a .208 BABIP suggests a bit of bad luck, he’s also striking out twice as often as he did in the first half of the season. Couple that with having to adjust to a new league and an even more pitcher-friendly home park, and Nunez feels like a rapidly depreciating asset.

Michael Fulmer, SP, Detroit Tigers

Beyond the impending innings cap – which admittedly might make it difficult to deal him – Fulmer simply hasn’t shown the level of dominance he did earlier this year. In his last 10 starts, the rookie has posted a middling 6.35 K/9 and 10.6 K-BB%. He has sparkling ratios over that span (1.88 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) but those are attributable in part to our old friend, the low BABIP/high strand rate combo. Fulmer is a groundball pitcher who doesn’t have exceptional contact quality metrics, so it’s tough not to look at the BABIP and expect regression.

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