Rolling In The Deep: Last Minute Risers

Happy Day After The Best Day Of The Year! As I write this, my house is literally shaking a little bit because of the opening day flyover that is zooming right over it, headed a few miles away to Dodger Stadium, and it’s hard not to get emotional as I settle in to see what the day holds. Let’s dive right into the latest as we take a look at some deep-league players whose value may have risen based on news from earlier this week and/or opening day lineups!

Geraldo Perdomo and Blaze Alexander. Wednesday’s news that Jordan Lawlar needs thumb surgery has lengthened Perdomo’s leash on the starting shortstop job in Arizona for the time being. He gains a little value in OBP leagues, and while I’m not saying he’s going to suddenly be a mixed-league fantasy stud, I think it’s worth monitoring him to see how he looks/where he’s batting/how often he’s running early in 2024. I’ll leave the detailed discourse on Alexander to our prospect guru and others, but it’s a must-mention that he’s in the D-Backs opening day lineup as their DH Thursday.

Jon Berti. Headed to the Yankees to presumably play at third regularly as D.J. LeMahieu begins the year on the IL. Wasn’t really expecting the Marlins infield depth to be stronger than the Yankees at this point in time, but that is how we began 2024. Even a short-term gig in New York makes Berti worth an AL-only/deep-ish league look for now in case Berti does that thing where he steals a bunch of bases in a short amount of time again.

Nick Martini. In the ultimate example of how quickly things can change in life and in baseball, say hello to Martini, the Cincinnati Reds opening day designated hitter. He’s a 33-year old with all of 141 major league games spread out over five seasons under his belt, but he looks to be on the strong side of a platoon to open the year, and let’s not forget about the surprisingly good little run he had at the end of last season, hitting 6 homers with 16 RBI in just 72 at bats. (Well look at that, Martini went and hit a homer right after I wrote this… he may even be more than 0% owned by Friday!) (Okay, this is getting ridiculous as Martini goes deep again. Methinks I may not be the only one mentioning him on Friday).

Jose Azocar. The 27-old Azocar hasn’t gotten much notice at all this spring with other more exciting prospect types competing for outfield playing time in San Diego, and probably rightfully so since Azocar has never made much of a blip on even the deep-league fantasy landscape. It might be worth noting that he had a great spring, though, hitting .324 with a couple homers, as we head into the season with the Padres rather lacking in outfield depth.

Miguel Sano. Hit a homer in the last Freeway Series game. Yes, he’s on the Angels and seems to have made the opening day roster as their DH. It’s hard to imagine that this is going to work out particularly well for anyone, but deep AL-only-ers desperate for power might actually want to put him on the radar. Oh, did I mention that he showed up to camp in the best shape of his life?

Michael Toglia. In a relatively surprising development, Toglia has made the Rockies while Sean Bouchard will open the year in the minors. I’ve actually had Toglia rostered in an NL-only keeper league for a couple years but am not sure I’m confident he’ll ever be able to make a splash on the fantasy radar, even with a MLB roster spot, and even after reading the note that he entered spring planning to be more aggressive at the plate. He’s at least worth keeping a deep league eye on, though, and one might also want to keep an eye on the demoted Bouchard since sometimes depth charts can change in a hurry.

Connor Joe and Andrew McCutchen. Joe and Cutch are hitting leadoff and cleanup, respectively, in the Pirates opening day lineup. At bats against tough left handers like Thursday’s opponent Jesus Luzardo aren’t always going to turn into fantasy stats, but it’s worth noting that these two, both afterthoughts even in many deep league drafts, are right in the mix in the top half of the lineup for the Bucs.

Ramon Urias and Jorge Mateo. Speaking of deep league draft afterthoughts, just a friendly reminder that Urias and Mateo both not only made the Orioles opening day roster (after a young fellow named Holliday was stashed in the minors for a few weeks, should you have understandably blocked that decision out of your mind), they also both find themselves in the opening day lineup. Probably not much to see here unless you’re chasing speed in the deepest leagues and want to give Mateo a look-see.

Tyler Freeman. Have to give another shout out to Freeman, who I’ve been drafting late for my bench in my 50-round draft and hold leagues since October. As I turn this in, I see he’s batting 6th and starting in center for the Guardians. Go Tyler! If he has any success early on, he could be a real-life utility guy who translates that opportunity into some fantasy-life deep league stats.

Hope everyone enjoyed opening day; thanks for reading and see you next week!