It’s crunch time kids, only two weeks to go. Many of you probably gave up on your fantasy baseball teams weeks or months ago (as I have with a couple of mine), and are now concentrating your free time on fantasy football, enjoying what is technically the last week of summer, or, craziest of all, focusing on real-life work or family issues. But if you’re in a deep fantasy league and still fighting for a championship, let’s get right to what we came for: a few names that may be of interest to those in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
NL
Todd Frazier. I was going to stick to guys who are 10% owned or less in CBS leagues this week but am cheating a little bit here, as Frazier’s ownership is up to 11% now. I still feel like that may be too low, though, if only for the off chance that he keeps up his recent hot streak. If you need some power, he’s as good a bet as anyone lately; he’s been on fire at the plate (5 for his last 9 with 3 homers as I write this), as the Mets scrappily try to stay both in the wildcard race and in the general discussion of relevant major league baseball teams.
Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman’s blurb could be almost the same as Frazier’s, including the fact that he’s just hit 11% owned in CBS leagues. He’s hitting .292 with 3 homers and 10 RBI over the last two weeks – who knew? It’s probably been five or ten years since Zimmerman gave you any meaningful fantasy baseball help; maybe it’s finally time to call on him again. I would love it if I’d grabbed Frazier and Zimmerman a few weeks ago in one of my NL-only leagues when they were available… it would have been kind of glorious to see two guys who I thought I’d permanently tossed to the fantasy baseball scrap heap ages ago help lead me to a money finish in 2019.
Ty France. Dropping way down on the radar, we come to France, who has very quietly been accumulating a smidge of production for the Padres. Considering France for your team is definitely a deep-league notion – so far in his major league career he’s a .220 hitter who is lucky to be getting any playing time at all. But, he does have 4 homers in September, so he could theoretically be a cheap, long-shot power source in very deep leagues.
Jairo Diaz. I don’t usually like to mention the same guy a couple weeks in a row, but I feel the need to talk about Diaz (who remains just 6% owned in CBS leagues) again in a public service announcement kind of way, just in case anyone needs a save or two and has been too checked out to know where to find it. Obviously you have to be prepared for a blow-up at any time with relief pitchers in Colorado, but Diaz is on a pretty impressive run and has clearly been handed the closer’s role for the Rockies to close out 2019. He has five straight scoreless appearances over which he’s earned three saves, and when he has gotten in to some trouble he’s looked pretty cool and confident on the mound.
AL
Kyle Lewis. I was more than a little surprised to see that Lewis still fits in the 10% owned category — obviously he’s not going to be sitting around on the waiver wire in keeper type leagues, but there’s no reason to think he couldn’t be a useful last-minute chip in re-draft leagues as well. A .455 average with 3 homers in his first 3 games? Yes, please. No, he’s not going to continue on a pace to homer in every major league game he plays for the Mariners, but I don’t know why folks wouldn’t take a chance to try to squeeze a few more power stats out of him as 2019 concludes.
Aledmys Diaz. Diaz qualifies at every infield position in most leagues, and one would have to think his playing time will be more plentiful than usual over the next two weeks as the Astros rest their regulars in preparation for the playoffs. Diaz hasn’t done much since returning from the IL a couple of weeks ago, but one would think he’ll find a way to at least rack up a few counting stats before season’s end.
Rowdy Tellez. Earlier in this post I typed the phrase, “he could theoretically be a cheap, long-shot power source in very deep leagues,” and I will cut and paste that phrase into Tellez’s blurb. You have to give him some points for consistency: since returning from the IL about a month ago, he’s kept his average right about at the .220 mark. Wait, that’s really bad. The good news is that when he does connect, it’s usually a homer, as he now has 19 on the year (99 games/331 at bats) and 4 over the last week and a half or so.
