Rolling In The Deep: Post Deadline Lowe-Down

Hello friends! It’s the middle of the summer, if not the middle of the baseball season anymore, and the trade deadline has come and gone. It truly feels like we are entering the fantasy baseball home stretch. The stretch still consists of close to two months of baseball, though, so it’s not quite time to panic. If you’re still in the thick of it in your league or leagues, I hope you were able to make some roster improvements of your own over the last week, though that, of course, is always much easier said than done for us deep leaguers. This week we’ll take our usual look at lesser-owned players as we search for deep league help. This week we’ll go with a 25% and under ownership threshold, with players listed in order of ownership starting with the highest, so some of these names will be more of your medium-deep types.

AL

Nathaniel Lowe. I have Lowe on one of my rosters, and still managed to forget that he’s no longer a Red, and now on the Guardians. His batting line over the last two weeks is very peak Lowe-ian, with a .372 average but nary a homer nor a stolen base. If nothing else, he seems to be far removed from whatever was going on with him and his inability to hit at all last year. I never like to underestimate the change of scenery/desire to impress a new team boost that can really make a difference with these guys. Lowe is in the Cleveland starting lineup batting cleanup as I type this on Thursday, so if there’s ever a time to buy in and hope for a little run of production, this may be it. (Note: well, forget that thing about no homers, as Lowe hit a three-run bomb after I wrote this… so he is indeed hot, as they say).

Tyler O’Neill. I didn’t realize O’Neill has fallen all the way down to 20% owned, which is plenty low enough for him to make this week’s roster threshold. He’s been pretty productive over the last two weeks, hitting a not-awful .263 for the Orioles and, more importantly, going deep three times. If he can stay hot or have a couple solid runs at the plate between now and the end of the year, he could provide a helpful power boost even in somewhat shallower leagues.

Ryan Kreidler. Yes, I’m mentioning Kreidler again, which I know I did recently, but I just feel he warrants more than a 7% ownership rate right now. Over the last two weeks he has four stolen bases, which ties him with Chandler Simpson and Jose Caballero for the most in the AL over that time. It may not continue, and he may not help you in a single other category, but there’s gotta be more folks out there that need that speed and have room to take a flier on Kreidler in case he keeps running.

John Rave. Rave has 18 at-bats for the Royals over the last two weeks, starting semi-regularly in the outfield, including starting six games in a row. He’s got six hits in those ABs, including a homer, so things are looking pretty good since he was called up, especially for a 4% owned player. He should continue to get chances for now, at least as long as Vinnie Pasquantino is on the IL and Jac Caglianone continues to play first. Rave even has a game at DH under his belt in addition to 15 in the outfield, so we’ll see if he can continue to take advantage of his opportunity and establish himself as a legit MLB regular.

NL

Nathan Church. Church is sitting at 17% owned in Fantrax leagues, but has been outperforming a lot of more-rostered players lately. Over the last two weeks, his hitting .294 with a homer and a steal (okay, I never said they were MVP-level numbers). He should continue to get plenty of playing time in a post-Lars Nootbaar Cardinals outfield, and could be the epitome of a player who doesn’t move the needle even a tick in standard leagues but could put you over the top in a category or two in deep ones.

Bryan De La Cruz. With all of the splashy outfield moves happening over the last week, it may be under the radar that De La Cruz is even a member of the Philadelphia Phillies these days, let alone that he’s been hitting quite well. In the last two weeks, his average is a video game-like .421, and he has a homer and five RBI. He’s just 6% owned in Fantrax, but is probably worth at least a look in NL-only and similar formats while we see if he plays, how he plays, or even just to back up your own rostered Phillies outfielders as the season continues.

James McCann. Deep league catcher who’s hot now and probably will have cooled off by the time you read this alert! McCann actually wins our “most 5×5 production from a 5% owned or less player over the last two weeks” award this week, as he’s been on a solid run for the Diamondbacks. This is partly due to the extra at-bats he got while Gabriel Moreno was on paternity leave, but he did manage to deliver when given some additional opportunities. His value is fueled mostly by his .440 batting average during that time, but he also has a homer and seven RBI, so he’s a guy that may not help a ton going forward. He should manage not to hurt you, though, which you can’t really say that about some of those backup backstops.

Gerardo Carrillo. We’ll stay in the Arizona desert as we get to this week’s out-of-the-blue, valuable middle reliever. Over the last two weeks, Carrillo has pitched seven innings without giving up a run, and has 9 strikeouts over that time (should probably also mention he’s got a mildly concerning four walks as well, but I digress). As is often the case with our suddenly helpful relievers, Carrillo has two wins, which are driving most of his value. Still a noteworthy performance for a guy with all of five major league appearances under his belt, especially since Carrillo pitches in a bullpen that has a recently demoted closer. Overall, it’s another reminder that if anyone out there can find a way to successfully chase wins in fantasy, it’ll be a million-dollar discovery. Well, you might not actually make any money, but you’ll get a million thanks from those of us who are still trying to crack the infuriating wins code.