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Under the Radar - NL-Only (Week 13)
Nate Springfield | Saturday June 26th, 2010
Gaby keeping South Florida hot. (AP)
Gaby keeping South Florida hot. (AP)

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.

Chris Iannetta , Mike Morse and Pat "the bat" Burrell have all gone deep at least once so far this week, you can't beat that.  Even Jamie Moyer put up a solid 8 innings, allowing only 1 earned run and picked up the win.  This week we have more guys just sitting there for the taking in an NL-Only that can help you guys out.


Jason Castro - C, Houston Astros (Yahoo! 1%, CBS 12%)

Castro was taken 10th overall in the 2008 draft and a lot of people were wanting him to break camp with the team this spring, but instead the Astros gave J.R. Towles another chance.  Unfortunately when the Houston catchers struggled at the beginning of the year so did Castro.  He was hitting only .261 with 4 home runs at triple-A Round Rock before getting the call.  Last year, he split time between high-A and double-A Houston affiliates hitting in the upper .290's with 10 home runs on the year.  Don't expect a lot of power from him, but you can hope for the average to come back.

Gaby Sanchez - 1B, Florida Marlins (Yahoo! 12%, CBS 39%)

Gaby was mentioned a few weeks ago and there really isn't much new to say except that he has continued to perform since being mentioned then and still is only 12% owned in Yahoo! leagues.  Over the last month he is hitting .350 with 4 home runs and 2 stolen bases.  Those are some very, very good numbers.  His performance may be sparked by other first base prospect Logan Morrison doing so well down on the farm, but who cares why he is performing as long as he is performing.  Go get him now, he is playing well enough to be more than just a corner infield at this point in time.

Jonathan Herrera - 2B, Colorado Rockies (Yahoo! 0%, CBS 0%)

Herrera was mentioned on the podcast when we discussed the Troy Tulowitzki 's injury earlier this week.  He was given the call-up to play second after Troy hit the DL and Clint Barmes was moved over to short stop.  Herrera has plus speed but has yet to successfully steal a base being cut down twice so far in his short tenure.  Even though he hasn't got that first steal it is a positive sign that they are letting him run, and probably will continue to.  He has a chance to take over as the every day lead off guy for the Rockies if he can keep his OBP near his Minor League mark of .360.

Edgar Renteria - SS, San Francisco Giants (Yahoo! 8%, CBS 16%)

Renteria has come off the DL and found himself in a middle infield log jam in San Francisco.  Along with Juan Uribe and Freddy Sanchez he may feel the squeeze for at-bats, but he hasn't done anything to have manager Bruce Bochy keep him out of the line-up.  If you remember he started off the season blazing hot and since coming off the DL he has gone 8-18 raising his season average to .346.  He was dropped in a lot of leagues when he hit the DL but as you can see he is back and should be on a roster.

Melky Cabrera - OF, Atlanta Braves (Yahoo! 4%, CBS 14%)

After starting the season horrible, along with the now injured Nate McLouth , Melky has really turned things around in the past 2 weeks at the plate.  He has improved from a .227 mark on June 5th to his now .266 average.  He doesn't have a lot of pop in his bat, but if he is put at the top of the Braves line-up, who is also very hot, in front of the likes of Jason Heyward , Brian McCann and Troy Glaus you can bet his Runs total will be very respectable.  He also does have a little speed to offer and as long as he stays hot he should be picked up.

Edinson Volquez - SP, Cincinnati Reds (Yahoo! 16%, CBS 64%)

Coming off of Tommy John surgery, with a little help of a PED, Volquez appears to be ready to come back to rejoin the Reds right around the All-Star break.  There has been little hoopla about Volquez serving his 50 game suspension while being on the 60 day DL, but that may change if and when he comes back healthy and successfully this year.  In his three rehab starts so far he has allowed one run over 13 innings while walking no one.  Look for the Reds to give him one more rehab start before inserting him back into their rotation.

Nate SpringfieldNate 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 [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @NateSpringfield.