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. All players listed are owned in less than 30% of Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Some of last week's suggestions have ran into some injury setbacks or playing time issues. Some winners so far from the bunch though are Andres Torres
, 5-17 so far this week, and Lyle Overbay
, 4-11 with a couple RBI, are staying hot. There are a couple guys that were called up this week that I could not include below because of their obvious high ownership percentages, but if Stephen Strasburg
or Mike Stanton
is available in your leagues you should go pick them up. This week we get some more "only" UtR graduates into the Mixed League suggestions.
Carlos Santana - C, Cleveland Indians (Yahoo! 31% / CBS 64%)
Well I mentioned last week in the AL-only UtR that you should not believe Mark Shapiro and to go out and scoop up Carlos when other owners get tired of waiting and drop him. He made his Major League debut on Friday, going hitless, and has a chance to perform as a top 5 catcher from here on out. As long as his defense, or lack of really, doesn't keep him from getting into the line-up he has Mike Piazza like potential with a bat in his hand.
Gaby Sanchez - 1B, Florida Marlins (Yahoo! 6% / CBS 24%)
Gaby was mentioned early in the year in the NL-only UtR because of his line-up position and minor league pedigree with the bat. He recently has quietly got hot at the plate and it is time that mixed leaguers show notice. Over the last month he has hit 4 homeruns with 11 RBI while hitting .308. Last week helped those stats, Gaby went en fuego with 3 home runs and a .381 average. Pick him up while he is hot and ride him while you can.
Jeff Keppinger - 2B/3B/SS, Houston Astros (Yahoo! 17% / CBS 34%)
Keppinger is one of the most consistent hitters when he faces lefties and now that he is getting regular at-bats his ability against righties is also improving. His position eligibility makes him a perfect guy to have on the bench to fill in for Monday and Thursday's weak schedules and he isn't going to put you over the top in any category he will definitely help your team. The Astros offense is starting to come around which is helping Keppinger's counting stats as well.
Jhonny Peralta - SS/3B, Cleveland Indians (Yahoo! 28% / CBS 48%)
Peralta probably isn't going to stay in Celeveland much longer and with the possible move could also come a possible increase in value. After a break out 2008 season, last year brought a lot of disappointment for the Indians and fantasy owners. This year he also got off to a slow start but over the last month he has hit .286 with 2 home runs and 19 RBI. If he gets put into a better line-up all those numbers could increase, if he stays with the Indians he should be able to maintain what he is doing now, which still makes him rosterable where there is a need.
Julio Borbon - OF, Texas Rangers (Yahoo! 29% / CBS 33%)
Borbon was included in Week 8's Mixed League UtR, and since then he has really shown that he should be on fantasy rosters everywhere, but his ownership percentage has dropped - this is puzzling. He hasn't shown any power but over the last month he has hit .362 and collected 4 steals, where is his real fantasy asset. He of course will not keep up the .362 average from here on out but a .285+ is conceivable and if he can steal a base a week at the least you are looking at 15 more stolen bases. Not bad for a free outfielder.
David DeJesus - OF, Kansas City Royals (Yahoo! 33% / CBS 51%)
DeJesus was kind of lost in the fantasy world because he plays for the Royals. It also doesn't help that his counting stats are pretty low but if you need help with your team's average he is a solid pick-up. On the year he is hitting .303, and over the last month he is hitting a strong .366. His counting stats do not make his average totally hollow because he does have 26 RBI on the season, but don't expect him to be a strong source of points outside of his contribution of a high average.
Brennan Boesch - OF, Detroit Tigers (Yahoo! 31% / CBS 62%)
I have delayed including Boesch in an UtR for a while because I kept waiting for him to fall off, but he hasn't. In fact in the last 2 weeks he has started to surge again. Hitting .378 with 4 home runs and a stolen base in that time span gives you reason to pick him back up after his previous owners dropped him when he hit a lull in the year. It is really hard to tell what he is going to do for the rest of the year because of his streakiness but like so many other UtR suggestions, when they are hot you have to play them.
Felipe Paulino - SP, Houston Astros (Yahoo! 4%, CBS 18%)
If all you do is look at win/loss records when you pick up pitchers you miss out on a lot of gems, Paulino would be one of them. He has not received the run support he needs to have a record better than 1-7, but if you look at his peripherals he is worthy of a pick-up when he has favorable match-ups or a two start week, and next week he has both. He is sporting a 3.82 ERA with a 1.38 WHIP while striking out 68 in just over 75 innings. Next week he gets the Royals in KC and the Rangers at home, which there is potential for a "blow up" start, but as long as the walks don't hurt him the strike outs should be there and he is capable of quieting those offenses.
Nate Springfield joined the Baseball Press crew for the 2010 season and hosts the site's podcast. His love for the game has grown thanks to fantasy baseball, with a specialty in NL-only auction leagues. You can contact him at