Hello again friends, and welcome back to the place within Razzball where we discuss baseball players that are completely off the radar of “normal” fantasy baseball owners, interesting only to those of us in the deepest of leagues. Let’s get right to it and take a look at a handful of players that may be on the radar for those in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
Robel Garcia. One of the only things I really know about Garcia is that he played pro ball in Italy over the last few years, though I must admit that I didn’t really know there even was pro ball in Italy. I also know that he was hitting very, very well in the minors before being recalled by the Cubs, he can play many different positions (he’s only been playing second base for the Cubs so far), and that in his first nine games as a major leaguer, he’s hitting .348 with 3 homers and 6 RBI. What I don’t know is how much he’ll keep playing and/or how much he’ll keep hitting, but he merits at least a deep-league checking out given what he’s done so far.
Victor Caratini. Even though the Cubs traded for Martin Maldonado, and even though it sounds like Wilson Contreras may not miss much more time with his foot injury, Caratini may still have enough value to be worth a catcher roster spot in deeper leagues. If nothing else, he won’t hurt you, which is more than I can say for many catchers these days — he’s hitting .286 on the year, with 4 homers and 17 RBI in 98 at bats.
Nick Anderson. Usually when I start to get a little excited about Anderson possibly being a valuable fantasy resource for the remainder of 2019, he goes out and has a horrible relief outing for the Marlins and I come crashing back to reality. But I’m not quite ready to give up yet… even though his season numbers are not, well, good (4.46 ERA/1.33 WHIP), his 59 strikeouts in 38.1 innings will keep me paying attention. That K rate combined with the chance at some saves if the Marlins ever get around to trading Sergio Romo translates into me not being quite ready to give up on him, in NL-only at least.
Yairo Munoz. I’m not quite as hopeful about Munoz turning into a legit fantasy option as I was heading into the All Star Break as he’s not getting as much playing time as I’d hoped he would, but I still think he is a 2%-owned player worth monitoring in the deepest of leagues for the moment. He qualifies at 2B, SS, 3B, and OF in many leagues, and is hitting .295 with a homer and (most interesting to me) 4 steals. I’ve picked him up in an NL-only league where a few extra SBs could make a huge difference, hoping Munoz can find a way to play enough to throw a few extra counting stats my way, especially now that Matt Carpenter is on the IL.
AL
Mark Canha. Canha literally has hit two homers since I started writing this post, so while his CBS ownership is at just 5% for the moment, that number may go up before long. He now has 15 bombs on the season in 64 games, so if you’re in need of some power he could be your guy. If he can keep hitting the way he has been lately, he should find his way into the Oakland lineup more often than not even if and when the rest of the team is fully healthy.
Harold Castro. Castro is a 1%-owned utility man for the Tigers, who like Munoz above, qualifies at four positions: 2B, SS, 3B, and OF, in many leagues. In his first 39 games this year, he’s hitting well over .300 with 2 homers, 2 steals, 12 runs scored, and 15 RBI. He’s been playing fairly regularly for Detroit lately, often hitting near the top of the lineup, and could be helpful in extra deep leagues if you need to plug a hole in your lineup.
Brandon Drury. I’ve been waiting for Drury to be deep-league fantasy relevant for about a year and a half now, and over the last few weeks he’s been coming pretty darn close to doing so. In the last two weeks, he’s hitting .381 with 2 homers, and he’s now played second, third, short, and outfield for the Blue Jays this season. I guess he’s not quite regular deep-league fantasy relevant yet, but I’m gonna say that, for the moment, he’s at least ultra-deep-league fantasy relevant.
Daniel Hudson. If you’ve not been paying attention to the closer situation in Toronto, Hudson seems to be the clear favorite for saves behind Ken Giles if and when Giles is traded. Hudson’s numbers on the year aren’t exactly spectacular (2.79 ERA/1.31 WHIP, though at least he’s maintained a strikeout-per-inning pace with 42 Ks in 42 innings), but if you are scouring for anyone who is next in line for saves, he fits that category. At 8% owned in CBS leagues, he may be long gone in deep leagues where saves are at a premium, but if he gets the closer job and pitches halfway decently, he should have some value in slightly shallower formats as well.
