Rolling In The Deep: Venturing Toward Medium Waters

Hello, deep league and deep league-adjacent friends! Last week we did something a little nutty and looked only at players who were owned in 1% of leagues, so this week we’ll veer into the middle of the pond and take a quick look at some guys who may be available in medium-deep leagues. Everyone on this list has either had a recent increase in ownership or has recently outperformed his small ownership percentage to the point that he may be worth roster consideration in slightly shallower leagues. We’ll still keep in deep-ish, at least, limiting our selection to players owned in no more than 25% of CBS leagues, but we’ll group everyone together rather than separating AL and NL, going from most-rostered to least.

Ty France. I drafted France in a couple deep draft and hold leagues and have had him on and off my RCLs all season. Should he be owned in more than the 24% of CBS leagues where he’s currently rostered though? He’s been pretty darn mediocre; after all, he’s on pace for only 10 homers for the season, and he doesn’t run. Still, I’d consider adding him if you just need a corner infielder who will get a lot of at bats and can help stabilize a roster, particularly in average, as we see how he fares as the heat of summer approaches. I was watching a game the other day where they showed a stat that France is currently 4th in baseball when it comes to hitting with runners in scoring position, which explains why he’s on pace for 86 RBI on the year, even with his lackluster homer output.

Jesus Sanchez. Sanchez has had the best last month of anyone on this list; over his last 28 games as I’m writing this, he’s hitting .306 with a .394 OBP, with 3 homers and 4 steals. That average may not be sustainable, but Sanchez did go 18/16 last year in 149 games, so in his age 27 season, there’s no reason to think he can’t continue to be a power/speed threat. Anything close to the numbers he’s been producing will play in more than the 24% of leagues in which he’s currently rostered. The negative note here is that the Marlins seem frustratingly committed to platooning even their best left handers. I suppose, though, that you could look at the positive in that situation, which is that most of Sanchez’s matchups favor him, and perhaps sitting against tough lefties is one of the reasons he’s been able to maintain that stellar average for this long.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa. I will admit that I didn’t realize IKF was A) owned in 23% of CBS leagues, as I thought the number was much lower, and B) playing almost every day for the Pirates (which helps explain note A. He continues to provide multi-positional eligibility this year, as he qualifies at second, short, and third in most leagues. If you need help with speed (he’s got 9 stolen bases) or average/OBP (though his current .304/.350 marks are more likely to go down than up), there are many formats where adding him could be sensible.

Ben Casparius. Casparius is the only pitcher on this week’s list, and is one of those rare pitchers who has basically been providing medium-league value even though he is neither starting nor closing. He’s pitched up to four innings as a reliever this year, and there’s every reason to think his value in that role might actually increase as the season goes on and the Dodgers continue to deal with injuries (in addition to limiting innings for their healthy starters). You may not be able to chase wins, but if you’re going to try, a guy like Casparius is a good place to start (he has 4 already this year). Meanwhile, his other numbers play in any size league, as he currently has a 2.54 ERA/0.90 WHIP and 44 Ks in 39 innings.

Andrew Benintendi. I wasn’t even going to include Benintendi because this feels like such a Groundhog Day/here we go again situation, thinking that he might possibly be a fantasy asset at this point. I changed my mind for couple reasons; first, I didn’t realize that he hit 20 homers last year (albeit with a disastrous .229 average), which is much better than I’d have guessed. Secondly, I heard a stat watching a few minutes of the White Sox game, that Benintendi is 5th in the league in terms of a positive jump in barrel rate this year. Is this just a super random number that doesn’t really mean anything? Quite possibly, but I never like to completely discard any potentially interesting analytical scraps without at least taking a moment of thought about them, so I figure it doesn’t hurt to at least keep an eye on him.

Otto Lopez. Lopez has inched up to 19% ownership of late, and personally, I’m having trouble deciding if he warrants more medium league consideration. He feels like one of those guys who gets a hit and steals a base every time I tune in to watch a few minutes of a Marlins game, and then I grab him for an RCL and he goes 0 for his next two games. He’s only hitting .227, but he’s providing just enough power (4 homers) and speed (5 steals) that I will probably continue to roster him in a league or two as I hope that he can continue to deliver the counting stats this summer, but with sunnier skies on the average front. Also, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there are three players on this list that qualify at second base (Lopez is 2B/SS eligible in most leagues) as we realize just how weak the position is this season, and how low the bar for a decent one might be in some leagues.

Thairo Estrada. More than one person has asked recently about picking up Estrada, and I basically just yawned, but I’m now realizing that he is likely worth at least a check-in in many leagues, especially given what I just wrote one blurb ago about how weak second base is this year. His 2024 season was such a disaster for him and several of my fantasy teams that I’m probably holding it against him now, which doesn’t make any sense of course. So, I’m taking a fresh look here in 2025, and that look tells me that Estrada may be worth considering in more than the 17% of the leagues rostering him. Also, the Rockies have been so disastrously bad this year that I’ve kind of starting tuning them out, so it may also be time to remember that they do play in the rarified air of Colorado, and if a few of them get hot at the same time this summer, there could be some major fantasy goodness to reap from it.

Okay, that’s all for this week; hope your teams are treating you well, whether they are ultra deep or more of the medium depth variety! And a special note to anyone reading this that happens to be in one of my RCL leagues: you all are way too good at this and once again re-defining the term “ultra-competitive fantasy baseball league” ; )