Happy Summer, friends! Even though the season may have just officially arrived, that means we’re suddenly very, very close to the halfway point of the MLB season. While the upcoming All Star break is obviously a convenient time to take a step back and regroup as a fantasy owner, why not get a jump on mid-season team management while we still have an entire half season to go? I’m going to try to do as much number crunching as possible this weekend and pay extra close attention in my leagues that have weekly waivers so that I can bolster my teams as much as possible now before we head into July, August, and September. As always, the free agent choices are likely to be limited at best in the deep league world, but that’s even more reason why it’s so important to try to flesh out rosters now as we head into the dog days of summer. The pickings may currently be slim, but that won’t stop us from doing our best to find a few players that may be available to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other particularly deep leagues.
NL
Raimel Tapia. Tapia was let go by the Red Sox rather unceremoniously a few weeks ago after he’d been playing quite well (albeit sporadically) for them, and when he emerged with the Brewers it was so under the radar that I didn’t even notice at first even though I have him rostered on one of my AL-only teams. He’s never going to be a major source of fantasy production even if he’s able to carve out some playing time in Milwaukee — his best season, after all, was 2019 when he played in 138 games for the Rockies and didn’t crack double digits in either HRs or ABs (he went 9/9). He doesn’t walk much, but even with all that he could still emerge as a viable NL-only or very deep league option this season, as he’s always managed to hit for average (a solid .275 for his career), and let’s not forget he stole 20 pre-pizza-box-sized bags in 2021.
Mike Tauchman. Tauchman isn’t going to blow you away with fantasy stats, but he’s been playing against righties quite regularly for the Cubs for a while now, and most interestingly has been leading off of late. (He’s hitting eighth as I write this on Wednesday, but interesting that he’s in the lineup at all lefty vs. lefty). He’s provided a little help in every category so far, with a .297 average/.407 OBP with 2 HR, 14 RBI, 16 runs, and 3 SBs in 29 games. I’ve even been playing him as an occasional fill-in in an RCL or two, and as long as he’s getting this kind of opportunity he should be owned in all NL-only leagues.
Osvaldo Bido. I’ll admit Bido wasn’t on my radar until another owner in one of my NL-only leagues picked him up; he’s made two starts for the Pirates now and so far has pitched quite well. He’s allowed 4 runs in 10 innings and has struck out 13, and it appears he’ll stick in the rotation for at least another start or two. He’s also walked 5 in that time, and even without that red flag, I tend to be a little terrified of 27-year old rookie pitchers (and this may be the appropriate time to mention that his career minor league numbers up until this point are not just mediocre, they are actually pretty bad). Times are tough when it comes to starting pitching, however, so he’s at least on the radar to monitor, I suppose.
Andrew Nardi. There’s nothing exciting about adding a middle reliever to your fantasy team no matter the league depth but Nardi has been pitching well enough for the Marlins this year to earn a shout out. He got his second save this week when A.J. Puk was unavailable, and has been valuable even in a setup role as he’s been consistently striking guys out (39 Ks in 31 innings) while pitching to a 2.27 ERA/1.01 WHIP this season. You may not be able to chase wins, but if you want to try, he’s a reliever who has 4 on the year already and could well pick up a few more since he’s regularly being brought into close or tie games late.
AL
Matt Vierling. Vierling recently missed a few games due to back spasms but is apparently healthy now and should be in the lineup for the Tigers most days. He’d been playing extremely well recently before his back flared up, going 9 for 17 over a 4-game stretch while hitting 3 homers. He’s up to 7 home runs and 4 steals on the season now, with a not-hurtful .262 average (.313 OBP), which is just enough production to keep him in the deep-ish league outfield conversation as the season progresses.
David Hamilton. It’s not often that the lede for Grey’s morning post is a 3%-owned, true deep league type, but that’s exactly what happened Thursday. I’ll let you read Mr. Albright’s take, but let’s just say this fellow is a fast runner, and I’m also guessing that by the time you read this, he’ll be more than 3% owned in CBS leagues as folks wonder if that speed will translate to fantasy SB gold.
Tony Kemp. After one of the coldest, and maybe flat-out worst stretches at the plate in recent memory, Kemp suddenly is piling up hit after hit, as he is 8 for his last 15. The fact that he’s still hitting .181 on the year tells you just how horrible he’s been, and the fact that he hasn’t stolen a base over that stretch (and only has 3 on the year) reminds us quite starkly that we are in a deep-league column discussing a 1%-owned player. Trying to find some positives, Kemp has walked almost as many times (22) as he’s struck out (23) this year, he qualifies at both 2B and OF in most leagues, and he should keep seeing playing time with the A’s if he’s hitting at all. Plus, he may actually be available in many deeper leagues, given the fact that he’s really been unrosterable up until this point.
Billy McKinney. Keeping with the beggars can’t be choosers theme here, oh how I wish I’d chosen McKinney two weeks ago from the literally 3 or 4 active MLB hitters who were available in my AL-only league, where I’ve gotten hit hard with injuries of late. Instead, I’ve had a completely wasted roster spot, and if I’d filled it with McKinney I’d at least have had 2 extra homers (he has 3 on the year) and a decent average boost, as McKinney is now hitting .317 on the year in his admittedly small 12-game sample size. He’s not going to hit 2 homers while batting over .300 every week for the rest of the year, but since there doesn’t even seem to be a definitive timetable for the return of Aaron Judge, we may continue to see more of McKinney — and he’s looking a lot better to me right now that the big zero I’m currently taking at my utility spot in that AL-only league.
