While I’ll always stand by my Fantasy Shark Tank winners, one of today’s contestants, Joey from Brooklyn, threw down a very helpful nugget of strategy for season-long fantasy baseball owners. If you didn’t hear the show, today’s player pitch was for someone who is a “must trade for” in seasonal and Joey threw down Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks. Now as a Yankees fan, this, of course, piqued my curiosity, but Joey’s only real argument in favor of Hicks was that Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday are no spring chickens and have been regulars at Club DL over the last few years.

Joey did not win as I opted not to invest in Hicks, but after Ellsbury left today’s game following a collision with the outfield wall, a light suddenly went on. We continuously say not to draft injury-prone players, but given the heavy load of DL stints we are seeing here, why wouldn’t we at least exploit the injury-prone and use their shortcomings for better waiver wire selections? If I’m in need of an outfielder, why not stash a guy like Hicks? He may not be seeing regular at-bats right now, but given the health concerns of those ahead of him on the depth chart, it would seem prudent to use him in his part-time role for now with the expectation of more at-bats as the season rolls on.

For the record, Jimmy from Ohio was today’s winner with his Matt Adams pitch and the two are obviously connected as Adams is filling in for Freddie Freeman and looks to be in the opposite situation as Hicks. Adams will play first base for the Braves for the next 10-12 weeks, but is faced with uncertainty once Freeman returns. So while he’s a better play than Hicks right now (assuming Ellsbury is just day-to-day), the roles could be reversed by mid-August. Joey, if you’re reading this, hit me up via email (howard@fantasyalarm.com) and we’ll hook you up with a kick-ass consolation prize.

That being said, I’ve taken a look around the MLB depth charts and might just have a few interesting stashes here, based on the criteria Joey laid out during the show.

Sam Travis, 1B BOS – Kind of a deep dive here, but the 23-year old right-handed hitter is already getting an opportunity to work his way into a platoon with Mitch Moreland at first base. He was destroying left-handed pitching in the minors – a .414/.485/.724 slash line over limited at-bats – and is expected to stay up for a little while so long as he’s hitting, but let’s face it…Hanley Ramirez isn’t exactly a bastion of health. Should Hanley go down, Travis could see some extended at-bats at the DH spot.

Jorge Bonifacio, OF KC – Would it be a surprise to hear that Lorenzo Cain has never played more than 140 games in a regular season? Probably not. In fact, save for that two year stretch where Cain average 136 games played, he’s spent a considerable amount of time on the disabled list and hasn’t played more than 115 games in any other big-league season. Bonifacio showed some real nice power between Double and Triple-A over the past two years and has done a respectable job with a .267 average, six home runs and 13 RBI over just 95 plate appearances. Once Cain hits the DL, he should be in-line for regular at-bats.

Ben Revere, OF LAA – It doesn’t matter how the playing time is being distributed right now, does anyone out there expect Cameron Maybin to stay healthy? Over the last four years, Maybin has appeared in 141 games just once and never cleared the 100-games played plateau in the other three. He’s as brittle as you can get and given the way he runs in the outfield and slides on the bases, it’s really just a matter of when, not if, he hits the disabled list. Revere could have some nice stolen base juice if he can get himself some additional playing time, so keep a close watch as Maybin is just about due for his annual visit to fantasy baseball triage.

Chris Taylor, IF/OF – We might be a little late on this one, but he could still be available in a 12-team league. After shoving Chase Utley aside during Logan Forsythe’s absence, Taylor proved himself more than capable to manager Dave Roberts with regard to filling in and was even told he could see some work in the outfield. Forsythe has an injury history, Justin Turner just landed on the DL and Joc Pederson is still dealing with a neck issue. The Dodgers are loaded with outfielders, but should Taylor really shine while Turner is out, he could certainly push Franklin Gutierrez and Kiki Hernandez for work as a fourth outfielder. If he is available, you may want to think about adding him now actually.

Derek Dietrich, 3B MIA – Martin Prado is not only old as dirt, but he’s super-brittle as well. Dietrich is filling in for him right now and could see some additional time should Prado and Adeiny Hechavarria remain sidelined for an extended period of time. The Marlins could also use him in the outfield should they not want to go with Ichiro Suzuki all the time if/when Giancarlo Stanton gets hurt. Ichiro is seeing some playing time right now with Christian Yelich dealing with a strained hip flexor, so he actually warrants an honorable mention here.

Hernan Perez, 3B/OF MIL – He’s probably already been added and dropped a few times in your league, but keep tabs on Perez who serves as the fourth outfielder behind Ryan Braun, Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana. Braun is a regular visitor to the disabled list which means Perez could see significant at-bats at some point during the year. He was getting a ton of fill-in work earlier and he’s definitely got the trust of manager Craig Counsell. Perez offers a little bit of pop and a little bit of speed, so an increase in at-bats will certainly prove beneficial to those who own him.

Wilmer Flores, 2B NYM – He’s currently seeing playing time at third base and shortstop while Asdrubal Cabrera is on the disabled list and he should continue to see some regular work given the Mets health situations. Reyes is obviously no stranger to the DL and neither are Cabrera or Neil Walker. In fact, Walker missed a bunch of time last year dealing with a back problem and it’s not like that back is getting any better given his age and the amount of big-league mileage he’s accrued. Cabrera should come off the DL soon, but how quickly will either Reyes or Walker follow?

Chris Carter, 1B NYY – Well, if we’re going to sing Aaron Hicks’ praises for this, we may as well give Carter an honorable mention. Greg Bird is coming off the DL soon, but again, Holliday may not last all season without a trip to the hospital at some point. Carter is pur power, heavy strikeouts and a low average, but if he does land even more regular work, he could give you a little boost in the power categories.

Adam Rosales, 2B OAK – While Rosales is seeing semi-regular playing time with Marcus Semien out with a wrist injury, he could find himself a permanent home at the keystone with Jed Lowrie’s track record in play. Lowrie is one of the most oft-injured players in the game right now and while Rosales doesn’t offer much in the way of power or speed, he definitely has his moments.

Jose Osuna, OF PIT – He’s seeing some part-time work right now as Starling Marte is gone for a while and Gregory Polanco is sitting on the DL, but that work could continue in the future as David Freese is a notoriously injury-prone fella as well. Adam Frazier is getting the bulk of the time, but if Freese gets hurt, Frazier will likely move to third and open up left field more for Osuna. John Jaso could poach some at-bats, but how done is this guy? Those stinky dreads seemed to have sapped any remaining baseball talent he may have had.

Gorkys Hernandez/Mac Williamson, OF SF – With Hunter Pence already hurt and Denard Span always two steps away from a groin or hamstring injury, Hernandez and/or Williamson could work themselves into some additional playing time. Neither is anything to write home about, but if one should start to accrue regular plate appearances, it might not be so bad in a competitive NL-only league.  

Honorble mentions to all things Blue Jays – Ryan Goins, Darwin Barney, Chris Coghlan and Ezequiel Carrera. Between Troy Tulowitzki, Steve Pearce, Jose Bautista and, to a certain extent, Josh Donaldson, these guys could be active participants for your fantasy team throughout the rest of the season.

Stay healthy, people. As best you can. We’ve got a long-ass season ahead of us.