Rolling In The Deep: There’s No (C)Ryan In Fantasy Baseball

Hello friends! May is drawing to a close, which is a not-so-subtle reminder to all of us fantasy types that the first two months of the sixth month baseball season are in the books. A third of a season becomes more than a tiny sample size, and there’s no more pretending that the weaknesses in our teams are just going to magically fix themselves. Unless, of course, you want to just take a masochistic look at the year, give up on the team where you started with Fernando Tatis at the end of the first round, and actually start rooting for a homerless season from him just because it would be so bizarre and wacky.

Anyhow, whether you’re short on power, speed, or just any counting stat, you can get in any category, there’s still a lot of time for improvements to be made and standings to move. That leads us to our weekly deep league look at a handful of players who might never catch the attention of standard fantasy leaguers, but may need to be on the radar for those of us in NL-only AL-only, and other deeper leagues. All of these fellows are 15% owned or less in Fantrax leagues, so here’s to hoping you can find something in your league’s bargain bin if you are in need of a roster reinforcement or two.

NL

Ryan Ward. I drafted Ward in several draft and hold leagues over the winter, as he seemed like the type the Dodgers would give a shot to if and when they needed reinforcements from the farm. Well, here we are at the end of May, and as I was writing this post, we learned that Teoscar Hernandez will be hitting the IL after he suffered a hamstring strain. Ward should officially be a member of the big league squad by the time you read this. His current ownership is at 5% in Fantrax leagues, so that too will no doubt go up sooner rather than later. That being said, it remains to be seen how playing time will work out, how long Teo will be down, and who will step up. That means the first two blurbs of the week will both involve Dodger outfielders, who may wind up platooning in left field. Ward was up earlier this year to cover for Freddie Freeman when he was on paternity leave, and qualifies at both 1B and OF in many leagues, so this could end up being an interesting cup of coffee, at least.

Alex Call. I started writing Call’s blurb before news broke that Ryan Ward was on his way back to the show, but we’ll still touch on him this week, as well as we wait to see how this situation develops. You’ll definitely be reminded that this is a deep league column when we note that Call is 31 years old, and has nary a homer nor a steal yet this year. He’s hitting .294 with a gaudy .413 OBP, though. As you may have heard, the Dodgers have a pretty good offensive lineup these days, so anyone thrown into it is likely to score a few runs or knock in a couple guys just by being in the right place at the right time.

Drew Gilbert. Man, times are tough in NL-only. I feel like for weeks now, as weak as the overall pool of available players has been, it’s been about ten times harder to find a decent NL hitter to pick up. The AL group, meanwhile, has had at least a handful of guys each week to take a flier on. Gilbert is the highest ranked NL hitter over the last two weeks in terms of 5×5 value who still (just barely) makes the 15% owned or less ownership threshold. That’s not to say he’s been particularly productive over those two weeks; he’s hitting .242 with a single run scored and 2 RBI. The fact that he’s owned in even 15% of leagues really points out how dire things have gotten in some leagues. Are AL teams just platooning way more and getting more guys opportunities, and/or just mixing up their rosters and lineups more? I don’t know, but it’s ugly out there.

Sam Moll and Edgardo Henriquez. This week’s final NL spot goes to the two NL pitchers who’ve scored the most fantasy points over the last two weeks based on Fantrax’s calculations, but are still less than 15% owned. That, my friends, is why we are talking about Moll and Henriquez. Moll has been a bright spot in a Reds bullpen that has been very sketchy lately, and his overall numbers this season are impressive as well: 2.55 ERA, 1.054 WHIP, with 25 Ks in 24.2 innings plus a win. Henriquez, meanwhile, is now at 3.26 ERA/1.034 WHIP with 18 Ks in 19.1 innings, and 2 wins, for the Dodgers. All this really is, I suppose, is a PSA that when pitcher times get tough in deeper leagues, sometimes it makes sense to grab a middle reliever. You just have to hope you get enough production to move the needle a little, rather than taking the chance that a suspect starter blows up your ratios. And yes, relievers are plenty capable of blowing up your ratios, too, as many of us can attest to.

AL

Wade Meckler. This one flew under my nose even as a west coaster, but Meckler is indeed up with the Angels. Josh Lowe’s demotion led to Meckler’s promotion, and he’s already made an impact. He’s off to a fiery hot start, going 6 for 14 with a homer and 3 RBI. It looks like he’ll be in a platoon, but it’s the strong side, which can be plenty useful in the deep league world. Like many others we discuss here at RITD, Meckler isn’t a young kid anymore; he’s 26, and his last MLB experience came in 2023 with the Giants. He played in a total of 20 games, and it didn’t really go so well. Opportunity is opportunity, though, so if he can continue to do anything at all with his current chance, it could lead to some deep league value as we head into summer.

Blaze Alexander. Alexander is owned in 13% of Fantrax leagues, and it feels like more than that to me based on how many of my leagues he’s rostered in. He’s been playing just enough for the Orioles to perhaps warrant a look in some slightly shallower leagues, especially after a huge game earlier this week. Sure, it’s unlikely he’ll see another game in his career with that much production, given that he not only had three hits, including a homer, but a whopping 6 RBI. He seems to be earning continued opportunities at least, though, plus he qualifies at 2B, 3B, and OF in many leagues. That’s a valuable triple punch of positional eligibility.

Victor Mesa Jr. Well, it seems like we started hearing about the Victors Mesa about two decades ago. Nothing much ever came of it, but this Victor Mesa is currently up in the majors with the Rays. He played in the outfield three games in a row this week, going a clean 3 for 10, with a homer and 2 RBI. Playing time in Tampa Bay is always murky, of course, but for the moment, he should probably be on the deep league radar as we see how things develop. On top of perhaps still carrying a touch of post-hype prospect intrigue, Mesa Jr. is still somehow only 24.

Yoendrys Gomez. I don’t talk about relievers a ton since there are entire departments here at the Razzball Empire dedicated to such topics. But, I’m so fascinated/appalled by so many of this year’s closer situations (I’ll politely leave the “h” out for now), that I considered writing a whole post about it. I may still do that, but for now, we check in with Gomez. His ownership has increased 3% of late (up to 12%), which isn’t a surprise when you look at how well he’s been pitching. Should it have gone under your radar, Gomez nailed down his third save of the season (in three chances) for the Twins earlier this week. Gomez had pitched horribly for the Rays before arriving in Minnesota less than a month ago, but his numbers with the Twins have been pristine. It’s just 8.2 innings, and he’s probably as good a candidate for regression as there is, but it’s still worth pointing out his 1.04 ERA and 0,.08 WHIP with his current team.