Happy Fourth of July! It’s Independence Day, summer is really here, and most of you and your families may have World Cup fever. All in all, our fantasy baseball teams may be relegated to the bottom of the priority list this time of year, and in the deeper leagues, there may not be much to do yet. But this could still be one of the best times to pay attention to baseball, as new faces can suddenly appear in lineups and on the waiver wire. We’re going to do our usual thing again this week, taking a look at a handful of names who might not be on the radar in your garden-variety league, but could be of interest to us in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues.
(A side note to Fantrax if anyone is paying attention: please stop sending me “injured player” alerts when a guy takes paternity leave? Can’t you just let me know when we’re talking about something like a broken hammy, compared to someone who’s healthy and just headed home for a few days to meet his new baby!!)?.
AL
Spencer Miles. Gray talked about him the other day, and who wouldn’t be when you watch him against the Mets on Wednesday. He threw three more scoreless innings, with 5 strikeouts, and got his fourth win. He probably looks more impressive against Freddy Peralta, who played for the Mets, but Miles’ ERA/WHIP now sits at 2.83/1.037 on the season. He’s 25 years old when the Blue Jays took the Giants in the Rule 5 draft while still recovering from TJ, and he looked like a really smart pick. Even as a middle reliever, he provides deep value to the league, and if he can keep this up to a certain level, one can imagine that he will be a replacement piece for the future in Toronto.
Randal Grichuk. This week’s “old is new again” player is Grichuk, who has 6% ownership but has been playing better than most hitters with ten times the ownership. In 21 at-bats for the White Sox over the past two weeks, he hit .286 with three homers. Grichuk is 34 years old now, which is actually younger than I would have thought. Although his best days are behind him, it looks like there’s still something in the tank for now, as he’s clicking with an incredibly exciting White Sox team.
James Outman. I’ve noticed that Outman has been playing a lot for the Tigers lately without really being tempted to get a legitimate look, but since he’s only 5%, it might be time to get into the deep leagues if you’re desperate for an outfielder. He’s only hitting .200 over the past two weeks, but has two homers and a steal in 30 at bats in that span. I think many of us who are riding the wave of the good production Outman offered in 2023 want to make sure that it is time to retire him completely. Maybe so, but with yet another MLB opportunity, there’s a non-zero chance he still has something to offer.
Nicky Lopez. I’ve been doing something every week where I find the most productive player in the last two weeks in each league who is also 5% or less in Fantrax, and Lopez is the American League “winner” this week. Most of his value is driven by his batting average, .375 in 40 at bats for the Rangers during that span. So even if he doesn’t continue to hit at that pace, it’s an interesting reminder of how much a good average run can increase a player’s value. Lopez didn’t have a homer in those two weeks, but he did score 5 runs and have 3 RBI and a steal. Also, he’s eligible at second, shortstop, and third in most leagues, so there’s that.
NL
France. I’m sure I’ve talked about France recently, and he may not be available in the deep NL leagues alone (he owns 14% in Fantrax), but he’s getting some blurbs this week as he’s been pleading his way into the shallow league conversation. He’s hitting .394 with four homers over the past two weeks, and has been sneakily valuable to his real MLB team, as well as fantasy teams, especially given how other Padres hitters have disappointed this season. No player with less than 50% ownership, let alone less than 15%, is likely to be anywhere near that production at that point, so we’ll see if this is just a fluke or if France can find a way back into the mixed league discussion this summer.
Derek Hill. Only in the deep leagues can we talk about a 4% owned player on the wrong side of the outfield, which defines Hill’s role with the Phillies these days. He was quite good after coming over in a very low-key trade with the White Sox, however, hitting .333 in his ten games with Philadelphia. He had back-to-back homers against the Nats about a week ago, and now has six on the year to go along with seven steals. As we say in the deep league business, beggars can’t be choosers.
Ivan Johnson. Who is Ivan Johnson? That’s a legitimate question, because I hadn’t seen this guy’s name until I glanced at the Reds’ box score from Wednesday. It turns out that he was called earlier this week after a serious run-in with the kids when he had nine and eleven crew members. I don’t know if he’ll last long, and he doesn’t hold my breath so much that he plays a lot, but the 1% power/speed threat is worth a little investigation just in case. Johnson is eligible out in most leagues but played all over the place in the minors, so this could be an audition to be a current or future reliever in Cincinnati, if nothing else.
Jorbit Vivas. Vivas is this week’s NL version of Nicky Lopez, a 5% or less player who has gotten the most production in the past two weeks. I only had him on a NL deep roster earlier this year, and I think he hurt me more than he helped me, so I guess I should wait, as he had a decent couple of weeks. He hit .286 with 2 homers and 5 RBI in 28 at-bats during that time, which beats most players on most of my teams. Vivas falls into the second and third tiers in most leagues, and as anyone who owns Luis Garcia knows, the Nats love to mix up their team and matchup and benching, so Vivas should continue to find his way into at least the regular AB crack.
