It’s been a big week of fantasy-league-affecting baseball news, what with high-profile promotions, injuries, demotions, and season-ending surgeries. If you rostered Elly de la Cruz, Aaron Judge, Alek Manoah, and Jacob deGrom, you’ve had a busy few days, and if you didn’t, congratulations on those last two dodged bullets. Each piece of big news has fantasy ramifications, often particularly impactful for those of us in deeper leagues. But while everyone is paying attention to the headline-grabbing moves, those of us in the deepest of leagues likely need to concentrate on less high-profile transactions, injuries, and potential changes in playing time as we continue the daily and weekly grind of keeping our rosters in the best shape possible. On that front, we delve into this week’s list of lesser-owned names who may be of enough interest to catch our attention in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
NL
Luken Baker. Who knows how long he’ll be up and how much playing time he’ll get while he is, but the Cardinals have produced yet another under-the-radar player from the farm who has suddenly been thrown right into the big league mix, though he’s only seen action in two games so far. Baker is 26 and was absolutely raking in triple A, with 18 homers in 198 at bats and .313 average/.434 OBP. He doesn’t run, should that matter to you, but I’m intrigued enough that I’ll be placing a bid this weekend in my NL-only keeper league where I really need a first baseman (Baker had only appeared at DH for the Cards but is a first baseman according to most fantasy leagues). I think it’s worth a stash, either for a little help this year or perhaps as a decent option in the future.
Will Benson. The Reds outfielder looked as lost at the plate as a hitter can look early in the season in his first stint with the big club, but so far things have improved somewhat in his latest call-up. He’s been a big power guy in the minors but didn’t hit his first MLB homer until Wednesday, a dramatic game-winner against the Dodgers. He’s now hitting over .300 in the last week or so and has picked up 3 steals as well. His horrible K rate in the majors gives him a definite quad-A vibe, but he’s still just 24. While another trip back to the farm may be in store as soon as the Red’s outfield is a bit healthier, at least we know he’s in line for looks when those regular outfielders are ailing, a situation that has been the norm in Cincinnati for most of the season so far.
Miguel Amaya. It doesn’t necessarily seem sensible that Amaya will keep getting starts, let alone hit well, but he’s been in the (usually confounding) Cubs lineup enough lately to warrant a mention. He hit his first MLB homer earlier this week, and the fact that he’s a catcher of course ramps up the appeal for us fantasy players. Yan Gomes, for those that haven’t noticed, has been sneaky good catching for the Cubs this year… but given that they are still also carrying Tucker Barnhart, it seems like there’s a path for Amaya to remain on the team and therefore remain a serviceable catcher in 2-C NL-only leagues.
Emmanuel Rivera. Rivera’s playing time in Arizona has increased of late (he’d started five games in a row before a day off on Wednesday), though he certainly so far in his career has profiled as a ‘more valuable in real life than fantasy’ type. That is likely still true, though in the deepest of leagues of course we need to search for any value we can. Steady playing time may help this pursuit in Rivera’s case, even if it’s only with a very light dusting of counting stats. He has all of one homer and one steal in 98 at bats, and his .362 average is certainly going to come down, but it’s a situation to watch for those who need a live body to fill out a deep-league roster.
AL
Isiah Kiner-Falefa. This week’s cast-aside veteran who may suddenly be worth a look in deeper leagues again is our old friend IKF. He’s kind of become the AL-version of Rougned Odor for me, in that he continues to appear at the top of the free agent pool as the player who’s been most valuable the last couple weeks, and yet as with Odor I just can’t pull the trigger. IKF is still sporting a pitiful .223 average/.263 OBP after 130 at bats, but he’s up to 15 runs scored, 3 homers, 15 RBI, and 5 steals. Not earth-shattering, but not useless in the deepest leagues as we see how playing time for the Yankees continues to shake out.
Will Brennan. I have Brennan rostered in one draft and hold league that I drafted way back in January or February, and when perusing my lineup choices last week have to admit I was a bit surprised to see that the Guardians outfielder has been more productive than several much higher profile options. Interestingly enough, well to me and perhaps only me, his line is almost identical to the aforementioned Kiner-Falefa, but with a higher average and in a handful more at bats (142 for Brennan). He’s hitting .261 (.298 OBP) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBI, and 5 stolen bases. This is incredibly meh so far compared to the breakout season that some of us hoped the 25 year old might have, but not horrible for a player who’s just 6% owned in CBS leagues.
Ryan Noda. I may have mentioned Noda fairly recently, but by my calculations, it takes approximately three times as many shout-outs for an A’s player as compared to a normal player to get anyone to notice. Perhaps it was just a hot streak that is already over, but Noda is a prime reason behind Oakland’s recent and fairly shocking offensive outbursts against the Pirates. As a refresher, Noda is a rule 5 player, and he’s now up to 7 homers and 2 steals on the year, with a not painful .255 average and an extremely impressive .415 OBP. Speaking of impressive, he’s also scored 32 runs and has 23 RBI in what I think we’d all agree has not been the easiest lineup to accrue counting stats. If he were to get traded, I don’t know if he’d be more valuable playing less for a better team or staying under-the-radar in Oakland and playing every day, but I suppose we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it. For now, I’m playing him in two deep leagues until further notice.