Wow, how did it get to be the end of April? It seems like yesterday that we were counting the weeks until opening day, but here we are with almost a full month of baseball under our collective belt. In some of my leagues, it feels like just as I’m getting my rosters settled for the long, difficult season, the rug is being pulled out from under me again and again, whether it be another injury, surprise demotion, or soul-crushing shelling to one of my pitchers*. But the weeks will keep going by and the injuries, demotions, and disappointing performances will continue — hopefully along with some rebounds, breakouts, and other good stuff. Let’s get to business and check in on some names that could be available and/or of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, or other deep leagues. *cut to (multi-rostered by me) A.J. Minter epic implosion minutes after I wrote this. Thanks, buddy!
NL
Paul DeJong. I’m quite surprised to be discussing DeJong here at the end of April, but I suppose he deserves a mention given that he’s not only playing for the Cardinals but playing well so far. He’s 4 for his first 9 off the IL with a homer, as we see if he can take advantage of yet another opportunity to cement himself as the regular shortstop in St. Louis. I’m not as irate at the Jordan Walker demotion as many of my peers because I am holding out hope that the Cards really just want him to work on a few things for a little bit before getting into bad habits at the MLB level… but that being said, there does seem to be a weird set of priorities guiding the club right now. If those priorities include DeJong it may not make a lot of sense, but sometimes we just have to take what the fantasy baseball gods/questionable organizational and managerial decisions give us. He’s owned in all of my NL-only leagues, but if he’s available in yours he could be worth a look. (Well, since I wrote this DeJong has had two hits including a 2-run homer on Thursday, so maybe those Cards folks do know what they’re doing… for one day at least!)
Nick Senzel. Speaking of an oft-injured player who is getting yet another chance to prove himself as a major league regular, Senzel is theoretically healthy and right back in the mix for the Reds. I’m not holding my breath for a giant breakout, but after a walk off homer on Wednesday, Senzel is making blips on the deep league radar at least. Senzel has already played 4 games each at 2B and 3B in addition to 11 in the outfield, so he may have multi-position eligibility in your league soon as well.
Henry Ramos. Staying in Cincinnati: just like we all predicted when it comes to the Reds farm system, 31-year old Henry Ramos (brother of Heliot) has been promoted to the Reds and thrown right into the starting lineup fire. He was off to an early .886 OPS monster start at Triple A Reno, so perhaps we’ve found the 2023 version of Joey Meneses? Probably not, but he may be a sensible choice to fill out a very deep league roster for the time being.
Garrett Hampson. This feels like a barrel-scraper as I’m typing it up, but the fact that Hampson has started 5 games in a row gets him at least a cursory look in the deepest leagues. Also, most of that playing time came from Luis Arraez being tweaked, so we won’t likely see Hampson start 5 in a row again any time soon. He does, however, seem to be a go-to fill-in/utility guy (he’s played multiple games at SS, 2B, and OF) for Miami right now at least. His one walk vs. 14 strikeouts so far this year remind us why we most of us, including the Rockies organization, gave up on him a year or three ago, but if you desperately need a deep league stolen base threat…
AL
Ezequiel Duran. We’ve seen hot stretches from Duran that have basically amounted to nothing, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least take note of a hot stretch from him that could amount to something. That hot stretch includes a .400 average/.429 OBP and 5 RBI over his last 5 games for the Rangers, and Duran has already appeared at second, short, and the outfield, as well as qualifying at third in most leagues coming into the season. If he can stick as a part-time starter/utility guy for the Rangers, he may stick as a not entirely useless piece of a deep-league roster.
Jesus Aguilar. Aguilar is playing basically every day for the A’s, probably won’t kill you in average (.262 for the moment), and already has 4 homers, so one would think he might be more than 7% owned in CBS leagues. The fact that with those 4 homers he somehow only has 5 runs scored and 7 RBI reminds us what a liability the whole ‘playing for the A’s’ thing is right now, but Aguilar has still been outproducing some of the lackluster corner infield options I’ve had in active lineups in some of my shallower leagues.
Chad Wallach. Somehow in 3 games since Logan O’Hoppe hit the IL, Wallach has been better than three quarters of the catchers I have in my mixed leagues, going 3 for 10 with 2 homers and 4 RBI. A pace that won’t continue, obviously, but seemed like something worth pointing out to my deep-league friends.
Ramon Urias. Urias is likely owned in deeper leagues and should be owned in AL-only, and I still think there’s a chance he produces enough this year to make him relevant in more than his current 8% ownership in CBS leagues. Granted, he doesn’t have a homer or a steal yet, but after a 4-hit game on Tuesday he’s looking healthy (after being slowed since he was hit in the head about a week and a half ago) and right back in the thick of things for the Orioles. There may be some untapped power here, so hopefully he can continue trending in the right direction.
