Rolling In The Deep: Are We Gavin Fun Yet?

Greetings friends, hope all is well in your worlds and that your season is off to a rollicking start.

I for one have been rather overwhelmed trying to manage my mixed league teams — it’s really making me remember how much I appreciate the deep league format. I think I let go of Michael Busch too soon in one league, and am already wondering if I’m keeping Luis Garcia too long in another. It can be difficult to navigate when you’re used to not having options. Is Mark Vientos going to be droppable at some point, or will he start hitting homers the moment I cut him? Ditto, Michael Toglia. How much longer am I going to hold on to Otto Lopez than I should? Aaargh, headache upon headache! 

In my deepest leagues, even my fringy players have to stay in my lineup for better or worse… it doesn’t always work out, but at least there aren’t the endless impossible-to-make decisions where I’m trying to figure out who to be patient with, and who to cut (and when to cut them). Not that it isn’t nice to have options… so on that note, now that we have a week of games under our belt, let’s take a look at some deep and deepish league players who we may want on our radars – if not our teams – as we settle into the 2025 season. (All are 20% owned or less in CBS leagues, listed from highest to lowest ownership percentage).

NL

Gavin Sheets. I drafted Sheets in one league but didn’t put him in my active lineup last week. I certainly should have, as he’s hitting .444 with a homer, 5 RBI, and a steal. He’s on the correct side of a platoon for the Padres, and he qualifies at both first and outfield in most leagues. While this may end up being his best week of his season, if he’s available in your medium-deep league he may be worth a try.

Wilmer Flores. Speaking of guys who likely just had their biggest week of the season. I didn’t even consider drafting Wilmer in even my deepest leagues, but man it would be nice to have the 4 homers and 10 RBI he’s already accrued on the fantasy ledger. There obviously won’t be this kind of value all year, but there may be some, and I do think the Giants as a team could go on some absolutely huge offensive tears this summer if everyone gets hot at the same time.

Alek Thomas. Playing time in Arizona is still shaking out, but Thomas (who is a lefty) has played three four games and has looked good doing it so far. He was horrible last year and the average has always been a huge drag, but he did go 9 HR/9 SB in 374 ABs back in 2023. Feels like the perfect example of a guy who will never be standard-league relevant but could be a sneaky help in deep leagues or some daily change formats if deployed correctly.

Kyle Stowers. He’s off to a pretty great start for a 5% owned guy — he has a homer and 4 RBI, plus a steal… he’s hitting .263 but also has 6 walks, for an .883 OPS. (I would list every “good” player I drafted that has less production than that so far here, but then we’d be here ’til next week! Sigh.) He’s a left-handed batter who’s been hitting second against righties to start the year, and he’s even made one start against a lefty where he hit seventh. Worth a pick up or monitor as we see how long the Marlins can continue their solid beginning to 2025.

Pedro Pages. Ivan Herrera’s monster game on Wednesday likely made us all forget that there’s another catcher in St. Louis, but Pages has gotten off to nice start himself with 4 hits including a homer in his first 10 at bats (minuscule sample size alert!) I think he’ll continue to get at least a little more playing time than some expected, and might be worth rostering in NL-only and very deep 2-catcher formats for the time being.

AL

Jake Mangum. This entire post could practically have been just about the Rays little-owned outfielders, as Tampa Bay continues to be a team producing at least borderline-playable-for-fantasy, mix and match hitters, that would never sniff a standard league fantasy team. And with Josh Lowe out a while, you may find a few of these fellows to turn to when perusing the Rays lineup. Mangum is off to the most productive start, with 8 hits in 15 at bats, 4 RBI, and 3 steals. Johnny DeLuca, meanwhile, is 7 for 16 with 3 steals. And then we have Kameron Misner, who’s off to an impressive start as well, going 5 for 14 with a walk off homer.

Harrison Bader. Bader doesn’t have a steal yet, but you may be surprised to hear that he already has 3 homers in 16 at bats for the Twins. A boring pick up, but a part-timer who should at least be on the radar as someone who can help with counting stats in deeper leagues, especially if you can manage to have him in your lineup at the right time.

Max Muncy. The other Max Muncy has gotten a chance with the A’s with Zach Gelof down, but I’m tempering my expectations here. He does already have his first homer, but he profiles more of a contact guy than a power or speed threat, so even in a small home ballpark I’m not sure there will be much to see here from a fantasy perspective. That being said, at bats are at bats in the deepest leagues, so no reason not to keep an eye on him or take a flier if you’re desperate.

Kyren Paris. He only has 9 at bats for the Angels, but he’s made the most of them, as they have somehow produced 5 runs, a homer, 3 RBI, and 3 (!) stolen bases. He had a great spring that included showing off some new hitting adjustments, so seeing him take a step forward this year after a couple disappointing cups of coffee wouldn’t be the biggest of surprises. If he can keep it up and the rest of the Angels squad continues to be hit with injuries and/or poor performance as has been a bit of a tendency the last couple seasons, there could and should be playing time for Paris going forward.

Dillon Dingler. It’s the AL version of Pages to close this post; a part-time catcher who should be owned in AL-only formats and may be worth a look in slightly shallower leagues as well. He’s off to a good start to say the least, going a clean 6 for 12 with a homer and 5 RBI. This is a player who was taken in the second round of the 2020 first year player draft, and showed impressive power in the minors last year. I’m not saying we’re going to have an in-season ascension along the lines of William Contreras or Yanier Diaz in recent years, but I’m also not saying we won’t.