Last week here at RITD, we talked a bit about a few low-ownership National League hitters who’d had a great month or so in terms of fantasy stats, and how that might impact their value for what’s left of this season as well as 2022. This week we’ll do the same with a few AL hitters, though as I peruse the numbers it’s immediately clear that there are not as many hidden gems at the top of the leaderboards in the Junior Circuit, as least when it comes to the last four weeks of production. Most of the top names are just that — top names — as the three most valuable AL players over that time period in terms of 5×5 fantasy production are Salvador Perez, Vlad Guerrero, and Jose Ramirez. There is no one in the top 20 who isn’t at the 50% owned threshold or higher; the first ‘deep league’ type player is D.J. Peters, who’s just 9% owned in CBS leagues, at #21 (and whom we just talked about a few weeks ago). Since I’m looking for guys at the 10% owned level or less for the purposes of this exercise, we’ll drop down a little further, and see if we find anyone that might be of interest to those of us in deep or deep-ish leagues, either to close out the last two weeks of the season or as someone to keep an eye on heading into next year. Spoiler alert: don’t get your hopes up too high.
Leury Garcia. Garcia comes in at #33 on this list of all AL hitters in terms of 5×5 fantasy value over the last 28 days, and at 10% owned he just meets our cut-off on that front. I rolled with him for a few multi-day stretches over that time in the Perts League, so I actually didn’t realize his ownership was that low overall since I’ve basically been using him as a mixed-league option over the last month or so. Anyway, he hasn’t exactly been a force of nature when it comes to power or speed, but he’s producing at least a little in all five categories over that time in just 73 total at bats: .356 average (.395 OBP), 13 runs scored, 2 homers, 12 RBI, and 3 steals. His eligibility definitely adds to his value; at least it did for me in a daily change league like the RCLs, as he qualifies there at 2B, 3B, SS, and OF. Does all this add up to Garcia being anything more than a relatively hot-hitting player on a great offensive team who’s been a capable fantasy fill in late in 2021? I don’t think we have to crunch a ton of numbers on the 30 year old to tell us no. When he’s in the White Sox starting lineup, I’ll happily employ his services over the next two weeks in a league or two, but the most I can see him being to open 2022 is an end-of-draft/$1 player to fill out a very deep league roster.
Yu Chang. Chang is 2% owned, and comes in at #42 on our list of AL hitting value in the last month or so. He’s the 8th best AL middle infielder over that time, if that makes things sound any more promising. Like Garcia, Chang is functioning as a true utility man (for Cleveland, in this case) and his multi-position eligibility might add to his value in certain leagues; he now qualifies at 1B, 2B, 3B, and SS in most leagues. He’s only had 57 at bats in that period, but most of his value is coming from a power surge, as he has 5 homers and 14 RBI. He’s also hitting .316, but I’ll consider it a huge red flag that even during this hot streak he’s barely taking any walks, as his OBP is just 12 points higher. I drafted Chang several years ago (he’s 26 now) in an AL-only keeper league but didn’t hold him for long as I wasn’t getting the vibe that he’d ever be an offensive force in the major leagues, or in fantasy. His recent power surge aside, I’m still basically feeling that way, but with a tiny glimmer of hope. When you pair the MLB homers he’s hit late in 2021 with the plate discipline he showed in the minors this season (he had a .394 OBP to go along with a .322 average), I’m just a touch more intrigued for 2022. Depending on his situation next year, I’m willing to at least consider in the back of my mind that he could turn into an AL-only option. As for the rest of 2021, he might be able to help with some late-season counting stats at just about any position you might need them in deeper leagues.
Jose Siri. I wanted to keep this post to guys who were in the top 50 on this “under 10% owned, last-month AL hitting value” list, but alas, needed to drop down to spot #56 to find Siri, who is currently 6% owned. Unlike our first two entries, who have produced their value from a steady-if-not-everyday stream of at bats all over the diamond, Siri has just 20 at bats as end-of season outfield depth for the Astros over this period. He’s done a lot with them, though, with 9 hits including 3 homers, 7 runs, 7 RBI, and 3 steals. Sure, we could spend the rest of the day coming up with puns involving his last name, but instead let’s try talk about what we can learn from this impressive but tiny sample of his work. For now, I’m going with “not much.” As much as I love to have a guy in my deep league lineups who could pop a homer and steal a base on any given day, I’m too worried about Siri’s plate discipline (and by plate discipline, I of course mean lack of plate discipline) to see him as anything more than someone who might stay just hot enough to be of some deep league help as the year dwindles down. He’s 26 and while he put up impressive numbers in triple A this year, I’m not going to hold my breath for a guy who’s spent this much time striking out too much and not walking enough to suddenly turn both of those stats around long-term now that he’s hit the majors.
