Happy Friday all, and we’ll open with a question: quick, without thinking, who’s leading the AL in RBI this month? Well, I’m not even looking it up in case things have changed by the time you read this, but according the Houston Astros announcers as of Wednesday evening, it’s Jose Abreu. This fact is not only a reminder of how quickly things can change in terms of a player’s fantasy value, but also a reminder of how it can occasionally actually be a benefit to be in a deeper league. In shallower leagues, those who drafted Abreu likely dropped him ages ago and did not reap the benefits of his so-far productive June. But in an ultra deep AL-only league, there’s likely no way you had an alternative promising enough to cause you to bench, let alone drop Abreu, so all those RBI likely went right into your active counting stats. Sometimes a lack of choice can be a good thing in the deep league world, but of course that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to search for production wherever we can get it. With that in mind, it’s time to take a quick look at this week’s players who might be of interest to those of us in AL-only, NL-only, and other particularly deep leagues.
NL
Coco Montes. I’ve picked Montes up in a very deep league or two with the expectation that I may be dropping him before he even sees my active lineup, but with the hope that there’s at least a chance he could be helpful in said leagues. He’s listed as a shortstop but will be playing second base for the Rockies now that he’s been recalled from triple A, albeit on the short side of a platoon, presumably. He’s 26 and doesn’t have a fancy prospect pedigree, but already has his first MLB home run and was hitting up a storm in the minors (.321 average, .401 OBP, 12 homers and 4 steals in 243 at bats). If you’ve got room, no reason not to take a flier I think, just in case he makes a sudden MLB impact.
Tommy Pham. With 9% ownership at CBS, Pham is likely rostered in very deep leagues, but for the moment has earned a look in slightly shallower leagues as well. He’s been starting in the Mets outfield regularly since Mark Canha was bumped over to first base to cover for the injured Pete Alonso, and Pham has been taking advantage of the opportunity. We all know who Pham is at this point, which in fantasy terms means we really don’t know anything, as he tends to be an utterly unpredictable and streaky hitter in my estimation. But he’s hitting .303 with 3 homers, 9 RBI, and a steal over the last two weeks, so if you need some outfield help and he’s available one would think he’ll continue to get regular at bats for the immediate future.
Connor Seabold. I feel like it’s continued to be one step forward, two steps back for my starting pitching in just about every league I’m in, so the bar is low at this point, which explains why we’re closing this post with a 3% owned Rockies pitcher. His numbers are pretty horrific on the year overall (4.70 ERA/1.38 WHIP, 42 Ks in 53.2 innings), but his numbers over the last two weeks are nothing short of spectacular (2.08 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, with two quality starts in two tries, one at home against the Giants and one in Boston). I didn’t realize he’s started 8 games this year, let alone that he’d been pitching so well lately – feels likely to come crashing down in a hurry, but definitely worth noticing.
AL
Yainer Diaz. Speaking of a little extra power, the Astros back-up catcher has been providing a tiny bit as well, with 2 homers in the last couple weeks. Diaz had a little sleeper heat on him heading into the season, but he’s been an afterthought up until this point in the year with few at bats and even less production. If I didn’t own him in my deepest AL-only league, I don’t think I would have noticed that Diaz has been one of the main playing time beneficiaries since Yordan Alvarez went down, as he’s started seven games over the last week and a half. I also hadn’t noticed that, in addition to the occasional start at catcher, Diaz has started three games at first base and has been at DH several times as well, all of which in my opinion adds up to a definite “keep an eye on.”
Ryan O’Hearn. O’Hearn has quietly provided solid AL-only value very recently, hitting .367 with a .406 OBP for the Orioles over the last two weeks, including 3 homers in just 30 at bats over that span. It should be noted that much of that production came against the Royals, the team that finally cast him aside earlier this year, probably much later than they should have. He qualifies at both OF and 1B in most leagues, though, and why not check in with him while he’s still in ‘fresh start’ mode. If he continues to get playing time at DH in Baltimore, there’s a halfway decent chance he’ll keep providing that occasional homer if you’re looking for a little extra power.
Ramon Urias. We’re heading right back to Baltimore with Urias, who I was high on for deep league purposes at the beginning of the season, only to be disappointed given the fact that Urias has been hurt for much of the year and not good when he’s been healthy. Things have been looking up for him lately though; he’s been starting fairly regularly and now has 31 games at 3B, 13 at 2B, plus 1 at 1B. He’s been quite productive of late and should continue to play if he keeps hitting and stays healthy. Urias is up to a .280 average on the year, with 19 runs, 2, homers, 20 RBI, and 3 SBs – nothing to see here in a standard mixed league maybe, but that’s a lovely albeit modest combination of 5-category production that could make a difference in deeper leagues.
