Well deep-league friends, we’ve made it to July, and I for one am finally feeling like things are starting to stabilize a bit, at least when it comes to starting pitching in several of my fantasy leagues. Finally, a couple of gems turned in by the likes of Aaron Nola and Joe Musgrove, and on top of that, there’s been some serious streaming value to be had lately. Domingo German’s perfecto a couple weeks ago was obviously the crown jewel on that front, but all of a sudden I have guys like Dane Dunning and J.P. Sears not only helping me stay afloat but actually improving my ratios. Now unfortunately a lot of that progress was derailed with a bunch of middle reliever and closer blowups, but we can’t have everything I suppose. And while I’m sure more bumps in the road are in store in 2023, we’ll just need to keep driving and hope to avoid as many of them as possible. Of course, we’ll all have a forced extended pit stop over the All Star break whether we want it or not, but before we get to that let’s take one more look at a handful of names that could be of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
NL
Dane Myers/Garrett Hampson. In reverse order of upside, we’ll start with Hampson… with Jazz Chisholm hitting the IL again followed by his Marlins’ centerfield replacement, Jonathan Davis, getting hurt as well. Hampson should see a smattering of playing time in his latest stint with the big club. Who knows, maybe he’ll actually steal a few bases here and there like we all thought he would on a regular basis during his time with the Rockies. I’m not particularly optimistic, but at least he qualifies at 2B, SS, and OF in many leagues if you’re desperately seeking a replacement. Moving on to the much more interesting Myers, if the Cubs basically hand him center while Jazz is out, there could be some legit deep-league appeal here. He’s got some power, he’s got some speed, and he was raking in triple A. He’s 27, but see below for my thoughts on oldish-for-their level guys that lost development time due to the missed Covid year.
Jared Young. I debated whether or not to mention Young last week since I wasn’t full of hope for a 27 year old who had all of 19 MLB at bats coming into the season. Since then his ownership has gone from 1% to 6% and he’s still up and holding his own in the Cubs lineup (against righties at least) so he gets a shout-out heading into the break. He qualifies only at Utility in some leagues which obviously depresses his value substantially, but I keep forgetting that maybe we should all be a little more open-minded when it comes to slow-developing players these days. There may still be some late bloomers out there that took a huge hit when they missed what should have been a huge year in their development in 2020. So far with the Cubs, Young has made more of a few ripples than a huge splash, but he did have a 1.031 OPS in triple A when he was recalled. If he’s given a relatively long leash by his real-life team maybe the fantasy community should have some patience while we see how the rest of the year goes for him. That, or he might be in the minors by the time you read this.
Andruw Monasterio. Speaking of young players who lost a year of progress in 2020 (and who might be in the minors by the time you read this), we come to Monasterio, who’s had a couple cups of coffee with the Brewers this year. I’ve grabbed him in a keeper league and one very deep re-draft league where I am scouring for speed, as we see what his future holds. He’s 26 now and even with that lost season, he’s amassed 2394 minor league at bats, in which he’s hitting .264 (.348 OBP) with just 28 homers but 86 steals. He’s filled in for the Brewers at 2B, 3B, and SS so far, and may get a longer look with Luis Urias demoted after looking a bit off upon returning from injury.
AL
Travis Jankowski. I wasn’t expecting the term “one of the hottest hitters on one of the best offensive teams in baseball over the last week” to apply to Jankowski this week, or ever, but that is exactly what he’s been of late. He’s 8 for his last 16, with a homer, 7 RBI, and 2 steals in that time. He may not play every day, but in deep leagues, we don’t necessarily need him to in order to help us. Even in slightly shallower leagues, it’s worth noting that Jankowski has been performing much more than the pinch runner duties he’d basically been relegated to the last couple of seasons, as he’s been quietly playing pretty regularly and extremely well versus righties. Even though he can’t possibly keep up his pace of the last week or so, he’s always hit for a solid average and already has a sneaky 10 stolen bases on the season.
Zach Remillard. Another guy I almost mentioned two weeks ago, and then a week ago, and then didn’t, figuring his starts would be very few and far between. But Remillard (who qualifies at 2B and 3B in many leagues and has played both those positions as well as a few in the OF this year) continues to play regularly, so it feels time to bring his name up as he’s still just 2% owned in CBS leagues. Remillard has a couple of steals and ran quite a bit in the minors; he doesn’t have an MLB homer yet but just keeps hitting and getting on base, as he’s up to .366 on the year with a ridiculous .458 OBP. That particular wave feels destined to come crashing down sooner rather than later (he’s a relatively-ancient-in-baseball 29 years old, by the way), but if you need a hitter on a deep-league roster why not ride it before it does?
Trevor May. I toyed with the idea of adding May in a 15-teamer a few weeks ago but couldn’t pull the trigger, and then another week went by where I was falling further behind in saves so I picked him up but didn’t play him, and then another week went by where I was falling further behind in saves so I put him in my lineup. I’m happy to report that things are working out pretty well so far between Trevor and me, pending any ratio carnage this weekend (and I’d be naive to not be expecting at least a little damage on that front). Anyhow, May is still only 8% owned in CBS leagues so he makes the deep league column this week, and he’s been pitching very well of late while closing for the A’s on the relatively rare occasions they have a close late-inning lead to protect. His numbers on the year are still horrible, but over his last 3 appearances, he’s only allowed one run and has 4 strikeouts and 2 saves. While any fantasy value he has will plummet if he keeps pitching well and is therefore traded to set up for a contender at the deadline, I think he’s worth a look for closer-needy owners like myself in the right league if he’s one of the only potential options for saves sitting on your waiver wire.