Rolling In The Deep: Jack(son) Up Your Lineup

As the final days of August slip away, things are feeling pretty stagnant in the world of deep league fantasy baseball, at least from my perspective. The real and pretend trade deadlines have come and gone, there hasn’t been a flurry of minor league call-ups, and the free agent pool is as dried up as I’ve seen it in a while. While I have a few mixed leagues where there is still some exciting standings movement happening, I don’t think any of my deeper leagues will end up with one of those exciting last weeks — or even more exiting last days — of the baseball season, where sometimes a single strikeout or run scored can make the difference between a money finish or missing out on a prize completely. As I wait to see if any of my leagues heat up over the final month of the season, it’s hard to not already be thinking about next year, but there’s still a little work to be done in 2025. That brings us to this week’s list of names that might be of interest to those of us in very deep leagues, and, not gonna lie, this group feels even less inspirational than normal. I’ve pulled some names trying to be objective, and am just including players whose CBS ownership has gone up noticeably over the last week (and since these numbers are so low to start with, “noticeably” is often just by one percentage point), but who are still under 10% owned, so we are most definitely rolling in the deep this week.

AL

Jeremiah Jackson. I admittedly don’t know a ton about Jackson, but he’s the most-added player on this week’s list, going from 1 to 7% owned in CBS leagues over the past week. He’s gone from being an outfield injury replacement on a banged-up Orioles team to being one of their hotter hitters recently. We’ll see if he can continue to earn and take advantage of at bats in what is his first cup of coffee at the major league level. In his first 74 of them, he’s hitting .324 with 9 RBI, and he’s now appeared in three games at third in addition to 17 in the outfield (meanwhile, he’s listed as a second baseman on his minor league page). He was a solid 5-category player in the minors this year, so even though he’s 25 and on the late side to get his first shot at the majors, there could be a little deep-league intrigue here.

Martin Perez. I wasn’t expecting to add Perez to this week’s post, especially since I don’t think I realized he was currently on a major league roster. He makes our cut of guys whose ownership has increased this week, though, as he’s gone from 4 to 7% owned. Turns out he’s made three starts for the White Sox over the last couple weeks, including a recent gem against the Royals where he pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up a single hit without a walk, and striking out 5. Picking him up now feels like the ultimate sucker move, but sometimes the deepest leagues do make you feel like a sucker, but we’ve got to take our shots and keep moving forward. With Perez, I’m just reporting his 2025 stats as I (am mildly shocked to) see them: he’s got a decent 32 Ks in 35.2 innings, with a 2.02 ERA and a WHIP under 1.

David Hamilton. Like most of the guys on this list, Hamilton’s ownership has increased slightly of late after a nice little run of good at bats. It’s the ultimate tiny sample size, but he did start three games in a row for the Red Sox, hitting a cool .400 in them and producing 3 RBI. When Wilyer Abreu returns Hamilton may once again be the odd man out, but stashing him in deep leagues ahead of any September fantasy stolen base panic hoarding may not be the worst idea in the world. He’s at 18 steals on the year now, and if you are desperate for steals over the coming weeks, there may not be many places to turn.

NL

Jared Triolo. I said Jeremiah Jackson was the most added player we’d talk about this week, but it’s a shared designation with Triolo, who also goes from 1 to 7% owned. Triolo’s rise in popularity is likely due to a productive month and a particularly huge week, as over his last five games he’s hitting a ludicrous .472. Even going back to the last four weeks, he’s hitting a sparkly .329 with a .424 OBP, so he’s been hot for a while. Of course, this reminds us that what goes up must come down, so we’ll have to temper our expectations, but if nothing else, Triolo should find himself in the Pirates starting lineup more often than not. He’s now up to 5 homers and a sneaky-helpful 9 steals in his 218 at bats this year, so it may be possible to squeeze a few useful counting stats out of him before 2025 is done.

Luis Matos. Matos jumps up from 2 to 5% owned, so let’s take a look to see what he’s been up to that warrants the increase. He’s been pretty far under the radar even in NL-only and ultra deep leagues, but has made a significant blip over the last week by going 9 for 22 (plus 2 walks, versus only 3 Ks), with 2 homers and 2 steals. That production would play in any league of course, and is made all the most impressive — not to mention surprising — given that before he was recalled from triple A just about a week ago, he was hitting .167 on the MLB year. One would assume he’ll continue to see regular playing time to close out the season; monitor accordingly if you’re looking for deeper league hitting help.

Nacho Alvarez Jr. Nacho’s ownership has cleanly doubled, from 2 to 4%. It was hard to even notice Alvarez was playing after he’d been up with the big club for a couple weeks without so much as an RBI, but he’s continued to get regular at bats for the Braves. Those ABs should continue with Austin Riley down for 2025, and he seems to be getting at least a bit more comfortable at the plate, and he’s now scored 14 runs in his 103 at bats. While we may be getting down to the bottom of the deep league fantasy barrel here, sometimes we need to take what we can get as we sift through the dregs. Also, Alvarez is still just 22, so at least there’s a slight air of potential future promise here.

Eric Wagaman. It seems like we’re talking about at least one Marlin each week around here, and it’s finally Wagaman’s turn in the spotlight, with his ownership ticking up from 6 to 7%. It’s a little difficult to spin why it would have gone up even that much recently, as Wagaman hasn’t exactly been on fire at the plate like a few of the other names on this list have. He’s been, I guess you could say… better than nothing, though, hitting .250 with 3 homers in 32 at bats over the last two weeks. Refer to that barrel reference in the blurb above as we remember just how difficult it can be trying to navigate a truly deep league late in the season.