The home-stretch for fantasy baseball is always a tough time. Those in head-to-head leagues are now sifting through the vast array of pitchers and trying to line up their fantasy rotations so they can make it through the first round of the playoffs while roto league owners are just grasping at anyone who can help them in as many categories as possible. The pitching is a lot tougher to deal with as you’re being forced to rely on names you never would have thought you’d be turning to at this time. The DL is loaded with big names ranging from Clayton Kershaw to Lance McCullers to Jon Lester and is also littered with the likes of Jacob Faria, Robbie Ray and James Paxton. While you’d like to rely on a finite number of guys, the fact of the matter is you’re going to have to continue shuffling pitchers in and out of your lineup based on match-ups.
Making sure you have the right hitters in your lineup is a little bit easier, but still requires some match-up investigation. You could have a guy like Jesus Aguilar crushing the ball for three or four games, but if the Brewers are facing all right-handed pitching in the upcoming week, he’s probably going to take a back seat to Eric Thames. You also need to make sure you are checking the weekly leaderboards as it is very easy to overlook players who may be producing well but don’t get a whole lot of media attention. The list below contains hitters who may be overlooked in your league depending on the size, format and how many teams are still in contention and are active on the waiver wire.
Delino DeShields Jr., OF TEX – He’s been seeing regular at-bats and is slashing .370/.452/.741 over his last seven games. Even better is the four stolen bases he’s provided in that span. He’s been so in-and-out of the lineup throughout the season that many people simply dismiss him as a result. If you’re looking to supplement your regular burners, DeShields can certainly be of some serious help.
Nicky Delmonico, 3B CHW – Who? Exactly. I grabbed some exposure to Delmonico last week in DFS when he jacked a pair of homers Friday against the Rangers and it was actually his second multi-homer game in a span of three. For the week, he’s batting .353 with a .476 OBP and has four home runs, five RBI, six runs scored and he’s even kicked in a stolen base. A look at his minor league totals show you that the average isn’t going to hold, but the White Sox are going to give him the opportunity to show the power is real. If you’re looking to add a little power to your infield, at least for the short-term here, then you may want to give him a look.
Keon Broxton, OF MIL – People continue to avoid him due to his excessively high strikeout rate and dismal batting average, but when it comes to augmenting your production in the counting stats, you have to give him a look. Over the past week he’s plugged four home runs with six RBI in five games and while he’s still fanning more than a third of the time, he’s still making up for it with the power. Granted, he’s no longer an every-day guy, but you can afford to give up a start once or twice a week if the rest is more helpful than what some full-timers are bringing to the table.
Ian Kinsler, 2B DET – Yes, this has been a horrible season for Kinsler and he’s killed a number of fantasy owners who took him in the early-to-mid rounds of their drafts this year. But we’re not looking for what he’s done to his owners over the first five months. We’re looking at what he’s doing now and what he could bring to the table over the next five weeks. He’s batting .300 over the past week with one home run and just one RBI, but he’s added four runs scored and has stolen four bases as well.
Cory Spangenberg, 2B SD – He’s cooled off over the last four games, going just 2-for-13 in that span, but with the multi-position eligibility and the hot streaks he’s gone on here in the second half of the season where he’s batting .315 with seven homers and two stolen bases, he’s definitely worth a look in deeper formats. If your waiver wire is barren, you’ve got to help wherever you can and Spangenberg can offer a little bit of a pop with a splash of speed while not killing you with the batting average. He’s obviously not an ideal candidate, but desperate times call for desperate methods.