Fantasy Baseball: 5 Names Still Flying Under Radars in July
As the season hits its midpoint, fantasy baseball owners still have plenty of options to improve their rosters. Here are 5 useful players who haven’t generated much fanfare.
You would be hard pressed to find a hotter hitter in fantasy baseball right now than Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales. Since June 11, he’s hitting .444 with nine home runs and 24 RBI.
But can he really count as someone “flying under the radar”?
Morales was a staple last season in the World Series champion Kansas City Royals’ lineup. He placed sixth in the American League with 106 RBI while hitting a cool .290. He’s a 10-year veteran who first debuted in 2006 and has over 3,400 big league at-bats on his resume, having appeared on two MVP ballots before.
Sure, he’s only owned in 72 percent of Yahoo leagues right now, but he was drafted in 100 percent of those same leagues to begin the season and was given a similar auction value to superstars eligible at his 1B position like Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols.
This list digs a little deeper and looks at some forgotten about and lesser known players who have slipped through the cracks in 2016. If managers haven’t been paying attention thus far, now is the time to clue in.
The following rankings, ownership rates and draft percentages are derived from Yahoo fantasy sports platform.
Next: Catcher - 70% owned
J.T. Realmuto – 39% drafted
He’s not a household name like Buster Posey or a flashy top prospect like Willson Contreras, but what J.T. Realmuto is right now is baseball’s purest hitter at the position.
No backstop has more hits in 2016 than Realmuto’s 87. If his modest power numbers are a problem (five home runs in 268 ABs), consider the fact he is hitting right-handed pitching at a .346/.373/.454 clip, he ranks sixth in runs scored and leads all catchers with seven stolen bases.
Why players like Stephen Vogt (73 percent) and Brian McCann (89 percent) are still rostered on more teams right now is beyond comprehension. Vogt has fewer RBI and his .267 BA pales in comparison to Realmuto’s .325. McCann, who does have 13 home runs, still has a lower OPS than Miami’s backstop and he hasn’t hit better than .270 since 2009 with Atlanta.
As sad as it must be for Giancarlo Stanton owners to come to terms with, Realmuto’s 1.4 WAR is well above their “franchise” player’s 1.0 as the halfway mark of the season approaches. While players like Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and Ichiro Suzuki are Marlins worth rostering in a number of leagues, Realmuto is playing at a high enough level where quality hitting is scarce to come by at the position of catcher.
Next: Second Baseman - 42% owned
Devon Travis – 15% drafted
With Ryan Goins headed to the disabled list, that opens the door to even more playing time for Devon Travis in Toronto’s infield, or possibly even at designated hitter while Jose Bautista is out on days Darwin Barney plays second and Josh Donaldson is in the lineup at third.
An impressive though injury-shortened 2015 is in the rearview and after a slow start coming off the DL in late May, Travis has hit .364/.395/.597 over his last 18 games to raise his average some 100-plus points from .150 to .269.
The power is not absent either, despite a surgically repaired shoulder. He’s gone deep five times in only 134 at-bats and has 20 runs scored and 20 RBI in only 34 games played. While second base has some decent depth in 2016, Travis has added value in a Blue Jays lineup that is starting to catch fire.
Travis is the 41st-ranked second baseman overall in 2016. However, across the last 30 days on the calendar, that ranking jumps up to 12th. Based off his start to the 2015 season and how quickly Travis has acclimated himself back to MLB level of play after nearly eight months away from the game.
Next: Third Baseman - 79% owned
Jake Lamb – 2% drafted
I drafted Jake Lamb in three of four fantasy leagues I participate in because I sensed a breakout season from the 25-year-old from Seattle. To my dismay, I didn’t hold onto him long enough in any to reap the rewards. Mainly because I had Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado on one squad, Josh Donaldson on another, Todd Frazier on the third and Arenado again on the fourth.
Even still, Lamb would have been a valuable guy to use at utility on any of those rosters. It’s not Paul Goldschmidt who leads the D-backs in home runs or RBI, but Lamb, who has 19 and 59, respectively.
To top it all off, he’s slashing a healthy .290/.365/.609, with an OPS that ranks third at his position across MLB behind only Matt Carpenter and Donaldson. Unless you’re in a keeper league, Miguel Sano (86 percent) should not be rostered over Lamb. Even in a keeper league, it’s tough to entertain that thought right now.
The hot corner is one of the deepest positions in fantasy baseball. That said, to be where he is in some statistical categories, Lamb deserves a little more respect from the masses. Oh and by the way — Pablo Sandoval was drafted in 76 percent more leagues this preseason. Shame…
Next: Outfielder - 66% owned
Melvin Upton Jr. – 1% drafted
Call it a comeback, because Melvin Upton Jr.‘s bat has been mostly dormant since the 2012 season. But not now, not anymore. You could make a case in this spot as well for Michael Saunders in Toronto (65 percent), but his line of .290-43-15-38-0 looks a lot less tempting when juxtaposed to Upton’s .262-40-13-39-19, primarily because of the stolen bases.
Upton is having a better season than his brother Justin, who plays in the American League at a more hitter-friendly park. Yet Melvin, along with Matt Kemp and Wil Myers, has made the heart of the Padres’ batting order a viable threat in 2016.
His 19 swiped bases is tied for the third-most among all outfielders, making Upton a strong candidate for a 20-20 season once again, something he last accomplished in 2012.
For the time being, Upton’s positional rank is 27 spots higher than Jacoby Ellsbury, yet he’s owned in 19 percent fewer leagues and he is beating Ellsbury in every major statistical category in a standard 5×5 league, except for batting average. Upton is hitting 11 points lower than Ellsbury, though he has five more hits than the Yankees’ center fielder on the year.
Next: Starting Pitcher - 80% owned
Trevor Bauer – 36% drafted
The Cleveland Indians have a ridiculously talented starting rotation, and Trevor Bauer is no exception. His improved command in 2016 is having a noticeable difference on his results.
A 2.64 K:BB mark is the best of his career and 3.1 BB/9 is also the lowest it has ever been since Bauer debuted in 2012.
A top-25 ranked starting pitcher to be un-owned in 20 percent of leagues is a strange thing. Aside from Colby Lewis, who just hit the 60-day disabled list, Bauer is the only top-25 SP with 80 percent or less ownership despite 87 strikeouts in only 95.1 IP.
Every single start he logged in June was a quality one. His only appearance in July thus far came in a 19-inning marathon versus the Blue Jays, where he hurled five innings of two-hit, zero-run ball and picked up the win in a relief effort.
Next: Reds' Iglesias wants closer's job
The 25-year-old former top prospect is starting to live up to his promising billing. His K/9 of 7.97 ranks 17th in the league for starting pitchers aged 25 or younger and his 2.96 ERA ranks eighth. Bauer will get the Yankees at home next time out on July 7.