Fantasy Baseball: Five sleeper hitters for 2019
Who are five sleeper hitters for fantasy baseball in 2019?
As of this posting, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado have yet to sign. That’s okay though. This post isn’t about them. It’s about the sleepers. Those late round breakout bats that help give your fantasy baseball team depth and help you win championships.
Earlier in this space, we looked at some pitchers who you can grab late to help your roster, but now, we are on to the hitters, those late round guys who can help you. Anyone can draft Macahdo, Harper and Paul Goldschmidt, but it’s adding guys late that help you win fantasy baseball championships.
Guys like Stephen Piscotty, David Peralta, Brandon Nimmo and Randal Grichuck may not have been drafted in your league, but I guarantee those guys were on teams that made playoffs or even made championships, especially if they replaced guys like Yoenis Cespedes and Odubel Herrera.
So who are five guys who can help you this year? Who are five guys you can find late or maybe even find as free agents right after the draft? Let’s take a look at five guys who could make an impact starting with a player who plays in the same city as Nimmo.
OF- Clint Frazier
Frazier it seems like has been a member of the New York Yankees forever. After the big trade of Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians, he was one of the main pieces that came back to the New York Yankees. 2019 may finally be his time, and he is someone that you should think about targeting late in fantasy baseball drafts this year.
Of course, the Yankees could always sign Machado and Harper and make Frazier trade bait or depth, but this could be a year that Frazier finally gets his shot.
2018 was a bad luck year for Frazier. He had multiple concussions at a time that the Yankees could have used his services with injuries to Aaron Judge and Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brett Gardner providing nothing offensively in the second half of the season (.209/.288/.316). It got so bad that they were regularly running out Shane Robinson and Neil Walker in the outfield for a time.
Gardner was re-signed and Ellsbury can’t be counted on to stay healthy, but barring an add in the outfield, Frazier has a real shot to be the New York Yankees left fielder opening day. If he does, maybe he can live up to his legendary bat speed.
Sometimes players just need to be more comfortable. Last season was not a fun one for Jonathan Schoop. The Baltimore Orioles were a mess, on their way to the worst record in baseball. Manny Machado got dealt and soon after, Jonathan Schoop went to Milwaukee. He played some shortstop, but it didn’t work out for him there either and he found himself non-tendered.
Schoop may have new life in Minnesota after signing a one year deal with the Twins, where he will find himself playing everyday in a lineup that added C.J. Cron and former Oriole Nelson Cruz. This move may help Schoop go back to his 2017 numbers and he could be a fantasy sleeper for your roster at second base next season.
Back in 2017, Schoop had the second most homers (32), had the most RBI (107), was fourth in slugging (.503) and fifth in WRC+ (122) of all second baseman in the game.
Because Schoop was so bad last season, and because he doesn’t play in a big market, Schoop may be there late if you don’t get guys like Jose Altuve or Jose Ramirez to fill second base. You could wait on Schoop late and find yourself getting some nice power production out of second in 2019.
Back at the end of the winter meetings, Edwin Encarnacion found himself in Seattle, Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers found themselves in Cleveland and Yandy Diaz found himself in Tampa Bay. Diaz is someone you may want to target late in your fantasy baseball drafts, the way Tampa Bay targeted him.
Diaz is slated to start at first for the Rays in 2019 after playing some first, third and a little bit of outfield for the Indians in 2018. So why would the Rays target Diaz after having Bauers, who was regarded as a top prospect and who basically plays the same positions minus third base?
Two words. Exit velocity.
Diaz had an average exit velocity of 92.5, and even though his launch angle was only 3.6, that can get improved upon. So you put together a better launch angle with pretty good exit velocity, and you may have found something. Diaz had a better exit velocity average than Manny Machado, Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Abreu, Marcell Ozuna and DJ LeMahieu. Those are some household names and not just in fantasy baseball.
Diaz is 27, which is just entering his prime. If the Rays improve his launch angle, they may have a really good bat on their hands at first, and you may have one on your fantasy baseball roster.
The Chicago Cubs have a ton of position players and not necessarily enough spots for all of them on a consistent basis. Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo won’t be finding themselves out of the lineup, if at all. One player who got his fair share of opportunities last season at different positions was Ian Happ, a former first round pick.
Happ got more opportunities last year, but saw his homer total cut in half and his RBI total drop by 24.
However, there is some home here and I would take a late round flier on him, besides the fact that he should be eligible at multiple positions.
His K rate spiked up 5%, but his walk rate spiked up 6% and his BABIP was .362, up from .315 in his rookie season. If Happ can cut down that K rate, even back to where it was in his rookie year, while keeping up that high walk rate on a team that should have a ton of offensive firepower and may just be missing that cog at the top of the lineup for now. A 20 homer bat, with that kind of walk rate is a nice piece to take a shot at late.
There is some question as to what the Houston Astros are going to do at first and DH. Michael Brantley was just added, but he has trouble staying healthy, and is going to need time at DH. They had interest in Nelson Cruz, but he signed with the Twins. Yuli Gurriel saw time at first, but with Marwin Gonzalez gone, he may need to be used as more of a utility player. This could open the door to Tyler White getting more opportunities at first or even at DH.
That may not be a bad thing.
In the second half of last season, White was in the top 15 of slugging and WRC+ and in the top 30 in RBI in all of baseball. If you miss out on the top tier of first baseman, White could be a nice option for you to turn to late in drafts, especially if that production over the second half of last year can be extrapolated over a full season.
Next. Top 10 catchers of all time. dark
So there you have it. Five hitters who could be sleepers in fantasy baseball in 2019. All five could provide value late in drafts for you as you get ready for the 2019 season.