by Nate Springfield No comments
Each week Baseball Press will be providing some Under the Radar fantasy players for NL-Only Leagues, AL-Only Leagues and Mixed Leagues. These articles will be dedicated to finding those diamonds in the rough on the waiver wire that will either be a short term or long term replacement to an injury or struggling player on your fantasy team.
In the past week I have heard Ronny Paulino and Aubrey Huff dubbed "professional hitters"- most players in the Majors are from my understanding. In seriousness though, they are getting the job done, going a combined 6-15 with a home run and 5 RBI so far in Fantasy Week 6. Pretty good production for a waiver wire pick-up. This week we have more gems for you to go out and grab to help you in Week 7.
Ryan Hanigan - C, Cincinnati Reds (Yahoo! 3%, CBS 12%)
Going into the 2009 season Hanigan was viewed as a solid Major League back-up catcher that had a little upside at the plate, but the Reds thought the MLB experience out weighed the potential growth from Minor League at-bats. When Joey Votto ran into missing time for personal reasons, Ramon Hernandez moved to first base and opened up playing time for Hanigan to show what he could do. Hernandez is struggling and Hanigan who has more pop than most back up catchers is making the most out of his at-bats and needs to be rostered in all NL-Only leagues while he is hot.
Troy Glaus - 1B/3B, Atlanta Braves (Yahoo! 13%, CBS 40%)
Glaus was mentioned in the first Under the Radar of the year as a player who could contribute that probably went un-drafted because of his poor 2009. This year he started off slow, with a decrease in his bat speed and timing still not right. All that changed once the calendar hit May and over the past 6 he has sparked the once struggling Braves offense with his .417 average, 2 homeruns and 8 RBI. This may not continue, but it has the potential to and he should be picked up immediately to at least ride out this hot streak.
Omar Infante - 2B/SS/3B/OF, Atlanta Braves (Yahoo! 9%, CBS 4%)
With Yunel Escobar hitting the disabled list Omar looks to be picking up a lot of those vacated at-bats. His versatility is definitely a plus being able to be slotted in anywhere except first base and catcher. His average has hovered around .300 the last few years but that is about all that he will be able to contribute not having big numbers in any of the counting categories. There is a possibility that he'd be slotted in that lead-off spot because of the struggles they have had finding production out of that spot.
Freddy Sanchez - 2B, San Francisco Giants (Yahoo! 10%, CBS 12%)
Sanchez started his rehab assignment single-A San Jose on Tuesday night collecting 3 doubles in his first few games. They look to move him to join triple-A Fresno on their road trip to Oklahoma City early next week. The earliest you would see him back with the Giants is next Wednesday but may be worth adding this weekend in case he does something special his first few games back. He is very capable of contributing a .300 average and depending where he is in the line-up will determine what kind of counting stats he can offer.
Tony Abreu - SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (Yahoo! 0%, CBS 1%)
I know, I know but hear me out on this. A.J. Hinch has done some pretty absurd things with his line-up so far this year, and not consistently at that so this suggestion may be a bust but here is my reasoning. He has spelled Stephen Drew and Kelly Johnson over the past few weeks frequently when facing left handed pitching. He has shown that he can hit that pitching at a pretty good clip hitting .327 on the season and .357 over the last week. Next week the Diamondbacks will see at least 3 lefties so expect Abreu to get some more at-bats.
Jonny Gomes - OF, Cincinnati Reds (Yahoo! 3%, CBS
7%)
Gomes has always killed lefties at the plate, but last week he was
killing everyone. In his last six games he is hitting over .400 while
contributing 6 RBI without a home run. When he gets on streaks like
this home runs end up coming towards the end of them. Pick him up and
hope that trend continues while you reap the rewards next week. He too
is facing a few lefties next week to guarantee him some at-bats, but
maybe Reds' Manager Dusty Baker will realize that he needs to be playing
him every day while he is hot, fantasy owners can only hope.
I almost cringe at the thought of suggesting Bailey since he has killed my ERA and WHIP for my NL-Only team as well as NFBC so far this year but his last outing showed some pretty encouraging signs. His command was brilliant, he added a couple mph back to his fastball and he worked efficiently. There was a time last year at triple-A that all three of these things happened and he turned into a very worthy NL-only pitcher to finish the season. Next week he is facing a couple struggling offenses in a two start week against the Brewers at home and the Indians in Cleveland. This is one of the close your eyes and hope for the best situations, but that last start shows signs of confidence for me.
