Rolling In The Deep: In The Nick Of Time

Happy Friday, everyone, and hope you all enjoyed the first week of the season. I have a few, let’s say, issues in some of my leagues. The slow starts are one thing (I think Josh Naylor still hasn’t gotten a hit as I’m typing this?), but there are too many guys who are a little further down their team depth charts than I expected. And don’t get me started on the injuries, and I know many of you can relate. This may just have to be the year I just spend dreaming about the bounce back season that could have been for Zach Eflin, and how, in an alternate universe, he could have been the unlikely hero stepping up for the Hunter Greenes and Spencer Schwellenbachs of my rosters, leading several of my teams to victory. I know we’re only 3 or 4% of the way through the season, which makes me feel better. But overreacting takes on a new meaning in deep leagues, since there is often nowhere to turn to replace the guys who are hurt or may not have quite the grip on their jobs that we thought they did. Things change in a hurry; guys who were barely owned a week ago when we mentioned them (Joey Wiemer, please raise your hand if you’re reading this) can enter the mixed league conversation overnight. That leads us right into our first look at some players who may not be on the radar of our standard league friends, but could be of interest to those of us in mono leagues or other deeper formats.

NL

Nick Gonzales. Gonzales, as expected, has been one of the playing time beneficiaries of Konnor Griffin’s demotion to open the season. He’s basically the Pirates starting third baseman for now, and he’s been taking advantage of the opportunity, at least as much as a guy with Gonzales’s hitting profile can. He’s hitting .318 with 3 runs and 3 RBI and has even chipped in a steal. He’d literally be the week one MVP of about four of my teams, just saying. We’ll see how the Pirates lineups continue to develop as we also remain on Griffin-watch. Okay, so the Pirates announced Griffin’s call up a few hours after I wrote this. I have to think it’s Jared Triolo whose value takes the biggest hit here, and I’m actually kinda intrigued by Gonzales in even ever-so-slightly shallower leagues for now as we see how things shake out for the Bucs.

Jose Fernandez. It’s only one game, but Fernandez has more production than some entire fantasy hitting lineups. After joining the Diamondbacks when Pavin Smith hit the IL, Fernandez started at third and had three hits, two of which left the yard, and four RBI. He qualifies only at short in Fantrax leagues, the D-Backs clearly don’t have much need at either position on the left side of the infield, and Fernandez profiles as a utility player at best while he’s on the major league roster. But, the Arizona roster might be a little shakier than it looks at first glance, unless Nolan Arenado and Carlos Santana learned how to age backwards during the offseason. Things like two-homer games often lead to more playing time, and the first week of the season is a fine time to be making a statement.

Aaron Ashby. I can’t remember if it was three years ago or ten years ago that I had Ashby in the minors section of one of my NL-only keeper rosters, convinced he was the next big thing. (He wasn’t.) He is, however, pitching very well in middle relief for the Brewers to open the season. The control has been shaky in the past, but Ashby’s always been a strikeout guy, and he already has nine of them (in addition to a vulture win two vulture wins!) this season. A good middle reliever is so often more valuable in the long run than a bad starter in deep leagues; obviously depends on your format and categories, but they can be sneaky helpful. Or at least not hurtful. 2025’s gold standard was Adrian Morejon, who somehow nabbed 13 wins last year, which still looks like a typo to me when I see it.

Gary Sanchez. This is likely a case of mentioning a guy after what will probably be the most productive four games of his season and perhaps career from here on out, but Sanchez has earned a blurb in week one. He’s gone three for six with two walks to start his season for the Brewers, and two of those hits were homers. The perhaps even more interesting thing going on here is that in those four games Sanchez has played, only one has been at catcher in his role backing up William Contreras. He’s also played two games at first, and one at DH, and a back-up catcher, who’s doing more than just back up catching, can be a sight for sore eyes in a deep two-catcher league.

AL

A.J. Blubaugh. Blubaugh didn’t make even the 6-man version of the Astros rotation, but he seems to have emerged early as a go-to middle relief guy. Let’s call him the Aaron Ashby of the AL for the purposes of this post. He gave up a homer in his first appearance, but already has positive value on the young season. He’s gone two innings in each of his two appearances, has 5 Ks, and picked up a win in the second one. To quote myself from about three minutes ago, “a good middle reliever is so often more valuable in the long run than a bad starter in deep leagues.”

Oswald Peraza. For those who have checked out for the evening by the time the Angels start playing, know that Peraza started the first three games of the season at second base. He also has performed quite admirably at the plate; as I type this, he’s 6 for 17 on the year, with a homer and a steal. I know it’s irrelevant in the long run that he has more counting stats than Julio Rodriguez, Manny Machado, Austin Riley, and Rafael Devers combined, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.

Yoan Moncada. Wow, the Angels infield truly is looking like a deep league bargain bin (and that’s without me even officially mentioning Jeimer Candelario). Not necessarily one with anything good in it, but still. Moncada is only hitting .118 on the year, but he has a home run and is in the starting lineup at third more often than not so far. Yes, Peraza, Moncada, and Candelario are all on the Angels, in case you thought they’d all retired. This is one of those sort of gloomy reminders of a guy’s existence that those of us in deep leagues may need to have on our radars.

Ezequiel Duran. Duran didn’t have a home run in his 303 plate appearances in 2025, but he’s got one after his first eleven PAs of 2026. I’m certainly not suggesting that this is anything more than a rare blip, but nothing wrong with taking a look at a guy who’s gotten off to a solid start. It’s his speed that could provide deep league value, assuming he’s able to settle into the role of the Rangers go-to utility guy. He qualifies at first and short in most leagues coming into the season, and has already appeared at second and third this year. So, the current and potential future multi-position eligibility is awfully appealing from a deep league standpoint, even if he’s just playing against lefties or coming in to games late.

That’s our first official roll in the deep of 2026 with stats in the books! Thanks for reading, drop a comment or question if you’re in the mood, and best of luck with your teams!