Monday night, Cleveland Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall drove in nine runs. Nobody else in Major League Baseball playing on Monday scored nine runs as a team.
Chisenhall did so on the strength of a five-for-five night that included three homer runs against the Texas Rangers. Now that is the kind of night that will help a player's fantasy value skyrocket.
What also helps is that last night was not his only great performance of the year - in fact, he is hitting .385, which would lead baseball if he qualified (he needs just eighteen more plate appearances to do so). With his three dingers on Monday night, Chisenhall increased his home run total to seven and his RBI total to 32.
He has been a hot commodity lately in fantasy baseball, and some owners have to be kicking themselves for not picking him up on waivers when his hot streak began about a month ago.
If you are lucky enough to have Chisenhall on your team, consider trading him. He was highly touted as a prospect, so his numbers may not be too fluky, but after a night like Monday night, you can get one hell of a return.
Expect Chisenhall to be an above-average option at the third base position (his availability at first base as well makes him that much more valuable), but his production should drop to a level much lower than what you could get in return if you trade him now.
This is not saying that Chisenhall will flounder and completely drop off. Yes, it is possible, but the fact is that even if he continues to hit around .300 with average power for the rest of the year, you can get your trade partner to hand over much more than he is worth the sooner you swap him.
Again, nothing against Chisenhall's ability or what one should expect of him for the rest of the season, but to someone, he will be too good to pass up. Trade him ASAP.