Taylor Walls DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls finished off a big comeback effort on Thursday, as the Rays scored three in the bottom of the ninth to steal a win from the Texas Rangers in a 4-3 victory. Walls' hit actually didn't leave the infield, but some sloppy defense from the Rangers allowed Junior Caminero to score from second and end the game. The 28-year-old finished the game 2-for-4, giving him his first multi-hit game since May 8. Walls is definitely not known for his bat, and that has been evident this season. He now has a .193 AVG, .507 OPS, 17 runs, one homer, 12 RBI, and seven swipes in 135 at-bats this year. There is no need to roster Walls in any fantasy format.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (groin) is back in the starting nine on Sunday when the Rays face the Toronto Blue Jays. Walls has been held out of the starting nine over the past three contests due to groin soreness. Prior to his injury, Walls had posted a modest .206/.300/.235 slash line with just one extra-base hit over his last 11 games. This afternoon, he will cover shortstop and is slated to bat in the seven-hole. Under the hood, the Florida State product has generated a .260 xwOBA, .208 xBA, and a .280 xSLG, which place him in the third, fourth, and first percentile, respectively. Fantasy managers should expect Walls to continue to see most of the starts at shortstop. This afternoon, he is best to fade in DFS given his slow start to the campaign.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (groin) is out of Wednesday's lineup for their home matchup against the Houston Astros. Ryan Bass of the team reported the news. The Florida State product has been much more productive since the calendar flipped to May, batting nearly 100 points higher than the .145 average he posted in April (.234). Fortunately, manager Kevin Cash noted that he doesn't expect the injury to be serious, and hopes that the day of rest today and their off day tomorrow will be enough to help it subside. Teammate Jose Caballero is in at shortstop -- batting fifth -- in his stead. We'll see if a few days of lazing are enough to get him back on the field.