Hello friends! It’s a weird time of year when we’re fresh off the All Star Break and it feels like the season is almost over, but then we do the math and realize it’s actually about two-thirds over. That could be a good or bad thing for you depending on where you sit in your league, but for the teams that will need help from here on out, we’ll try to look on the bright side. Just over a third of the way through the season there can be plenty of time to build some space, and with both the real-life MLB trade deadline and the fantasy trade deadline awaiting many of us, there should be plenty of movement when it comes to players and depth charts.
In deep leagues, of course, without bidding for crossover players in mono leagues, all the roster moves in the world may not lead to anything resembling a free agent pool. But after taking a bit of a break from our deep league searches a few weeks ago to do some regular fantasy baseball searches, this week we’ll be back to regular deep league mode. Let’s take a look at a few players who have been playing (relatively) well or had some nice value changes over the past few weeks, but still only own 15% or less of Fantrax leagues. We have a few familiar faces here this week, as well as a few new ones.
NL
Tim Tawa. Tawa is only 13% owned, but somehow manages to come in as the 11th most important fantasy hitter in the 5×5 numbers over the past two weeks. During that time, he is hitting .343 with 3 homers, a steal, and a ridiculous 10 RBI. Much of that production came at an inopportune time in a game or two lost, but it’s worth noting that Tawa has 35 healthy at-bats in that stretch. He fits the most exciting fantasy combinations of first, second, and outfield in most leagues. If he can stay hot enough to continue penciling in the Diamondbacks’ lineup more often than not, he may find himself valuable even in slightly shallower waters.
Luis Rengifo. I thought Rengifo had a great late season game when the fantasy season came, but it turns out I was wrong. After a disastrous and short-lived tenure with the Brewers, which culminated in his mid-June DFA, Rengifo found a new home in San Diego. He only has 17 ABs in the past few weeks, but is hitting a ridiculous .471 with a homer and 5 RBI. He hits second and third in most leagues, and is a changeup hitter who has also featured at first, outfield, and DH this season. His versatility alone could keep him in the deep league as he continues to establish himself as a Padre.
Jim Jarvis. I can’t really say I know much about Jarvis, other than he’s been impressive out of the spots for the Braves lately. Over the past two weeks, he has hit .304 in 23 at-bats. I should probably mention that he doesn’t have a homer or a steal, but we digress. We all knew Dom Smith was going to cool down, and now that he’s cool, the roster has shifted some to make room for new faces like Jarvis, who has played 17 games in Atlanta. His ownership has skyrocketed and now stands at 11%, so it’s worth a deep league test if he can find a way to continue getting playing time this season and/or beyond. (Note: After I wrote this blurb on Thursday, Dom hit a 3-run homer and Jarvis went 0-3… so starting to think that Jarvis will have to pick it up again soon to keep his roster spot when Acuna comes off the IL).
Luis Torrens. If you’re looking to grab a deep league player that won’t hurt, I thought I’d give Torrens a shout out as he has 4 of the last 9 as I write this, and most importantly, pitching more than I noticed. Speaking of desperation, the Mets have actually played him a few games recently, and he has DHed once or twice. You’ve been thrown again, but you probably already know that when that happens it’s a phase in your fantasy league.
AL
Victor Mesa Jr. Mesa Jr. he hasn’t reached our ownership at 15% ownership, and I didn’t know how hot he has been lately. He’s had 22 legal at-bats in the past two weeks but has been in full swing, hitting .364 with 4 homers and 2 stolen bases. It’s a striking illustration of how well some Rays are hitting this is not the case hitting when you see that even with those 4 homers, Mesa only scored 4 runs and only drove in 6. In Tampa Bay, even hot weather doesn’t always lead to daily playing time, but if Mesa Jr. located in your deep league, you should look at the moment. While we’re at it, I’ll throw out a reminder that you’re only 24, and – at least on Thursday – you’re going to start vomiting.
Hao-Yu Lee. Lee is eligible at second and third base in most leagues, and has been getting good playing time in the Tigers infield. He’s never blown the cover off the ball, but in his 19 at-bats over the past few weeks he’s hit .263 with a homer (his fifth homer of the season) and 5 RBI. He’s played the game briefly over his time at 2B and 3B, so if nothing else he seems to be settling into a serviceable guy in real life for now. Unfortunately, that’s often the type of player we might need to consider in order to think about dreams in the deep leagues.
Lucas Spence. Spence’s 4% strikeout rate isn’t the highest in player averages over the past two weeks, but he has the most AL hitter at-bats (20) in that span. He gets a chance to play center field in Houston’s outfield, so while there isn’t much, if anything, to see here from a fantasy perspective, sometimes we deep leaguers need to consider opportunity over little things like skill and performance. Spence is a lefty with 6 homers and 44 RBIs, not to mention 13 steals in 236 ABs in the minors this year. We’ll see if he can carry any of that production into the program if he has continued opportunities in the starting lineup.
Petey Halpin. I usually like to include the hitter in each league who has had the most production in the last two weeks but is still below 5%. Halpin gets that distinction this week with the AL, and it’s not even close, so he becomes our leader again. He’s registered in only 4% of Fantrax teams but is hitting .333 with 2 homers and 3 steals over the past two weeks, in just 24 at-bats. Granted, this is all probably a blip on the radar that we’ll never see again, especially since Halpin might not even be a major leaguer for long with Angel Martínez soon to return from IL. Still, he could be worth an in-depth league look or a sneak peek while we see how the Guardian’s playing time on the field continues to shake out in the final months of the season.
