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After what was a long, slow, and perhaps uncertain offseason, baseball is officially back, and of course, that means fantasy baseball, and it is absolutely great to have a full season of baseball on tap this year. We got to enjoy having it back, but now we fantasy players have to get back into the grind of analyzing the players on our rosters, potential trade targets on other rosters, and of course, the waiver wire.
For those in deep leagues, scourging the waiver wire is a necessity, especially in the early part of the season as teams try to find roles for all their players. It's still tricky to try and get wrapped around and caught up on everything, with playing time situations still up in the air, but with that, an opportunity for a sharp fantasy manager to get in on the ground floor on some targets that may be under-rostered.
Each week, I'll look at five players that under 15% rostered in Yahoo leagues that are options to be considered in deep-league formats, such as fifteen teamers or AL or NL-only teams, along with a recommendation for what to do with the said player on your roster. Now, without further ado, let's get into it.
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Taylor Trammell (OF, SEA)
9% rostered. Recommended move: Add for the long haul.
Trammell, the one-time top-100 prospect, is a target here mainly for his ability to steal bases along with everyday playing time in the Mariners outfield. He is still a work in progress at the plate, as these opening few plate appearances have been the first Major League plate appearances of his career. On a brighter note, Trammell did hit well in spring training this year, which ultimately helped land him the starting gig in Seattle, as he posted a 1.037 OPS in the spring.
While he has just one hit and hasn't yet stolen a base in his first ten at-bats of the season, his profile as a prospect suggests that plenty of those should be on the horizon. He's consistently run strong walk rates in the minor leagues, including a 14.2% clip as a 21-year-old with the Reds' AA team, and getting a lot of free passes means that Trammell ends up with more opportunities to swipe bags than some other prominent speed threats. He's not a slouch with the stick either, although he may not have much power, Trammell should be adequate in terms of batting average, with the potential to get better in later seasons.
His main calling card right now though is stolen base upside though, with the bat being a bigger question mark right now as this is just his first taste of Major League pitching. The Mariners have every incentive right now to play him nearly every day, and they shouldn't have any hesitations about letting him run, which makes him quite attractive for fantasy purposes. Although Kyle Lewis may impact Seattle's outfield picture upon his return from injury, Trammell should still be in the picture in left field at that point, so playing time shouldn't be much of an issue right now. Grab him while he's still readily available in leagues.
Kyle Isbel (OF, KC)
7% rostered. Recommended move: Add for the long haul.
Speaking of rookie outfielders, Isbel has become something of a hot commodity in the very early part of the season. Like Trammell, Isbel absolutely raked in the spring with a .968 OPS, and made such a strong impression that the Royals started him on Opening Day despite never playing above High-A ball.
So far, that hot spring has carried over to the regular season, as he has hit for authority to start the year. Namely, he's hit the ball exceptionally hard, trending toward the top of the early-season average exit velocity, (95.8 MPH), maximum exit velocity (111.0 MPH), and hard-hit rate (50.0%) leaderboards, all with an encouraging 12.5% barrel rate. He's done a good job thus far at keeping the ball off the ground, which matches up with his minor league profile and is encouraging to see. While Isbel is not likely to keep hitting the ball this well throughout the season, this hot start has definitely put him on the fantasy map. To even add to the intrigue, Isbel can run. He doesn't have the blazing speed as Trammell for instance, but his scouting reports have praised his running ability, and he does have one stolen base already to boot. The Royals have been one of the game's more aggressive teams when it comes to stolen bases the last few seasons, so that trend should continue this year, and Isbel can probably be expected to have at least double-digit steals this year, provided the playing time.
Speaking of playing time, Isbel started the first game against a lefty starter on Sunday, but then sat against another lefty on Monday, so Isbel may not be an everyday player to start the season, but if he continues to hit well against righties and run while doing it, it won't matter too much for fantasy purposes, especially in deeper leagues. Scoop him up if you still can.
Starlin Castro (2B, WAS)
7% rostered. Recommended move: Add for the long haul.
Moving from two youngsters now to a veteran in Castro. Castro isn't a spectacular option, but the circumstances around the team perhaps provide an opportunity. The Nationals have dealt with an outbreak of COVID-19 which delayed the start of their season. This could have an effect on Castro in two ways for fantasy purposes. First, if he was rostered previously, his former manager could have dropped him in favor of players that were actually playing or other options that were viewed as more desirable. Second, Castro should be locked into the Nationals' starting lineup and in a pretty good spot in the lineup. With all of the uncertainty around who will actually be playing for the Nationals, Castro is one stable option for manager Dave Martinez to go to.
As for the player Castro is, his first season in D.C. was cut short to just 16 games, but in that span, he still provided his usual league-average-ish slash line. The preseason projections essentially pegged him for the same league-average level of production in 2021, even with a small sample of plate appearances in 2020 to draw from. Most projections call for somewhere around 20 home runs, 70 runs batted in, and 60 runs scored, all while not dragging down the batting average category. It's boring and not glamorous, but it does have value, definitely so in deeper leagues where production is less stable. Castro may be under-rostered at the moment, which would give a good opportunity to fantasy managers to swoop in and grab him while the season is still young.
Jason Heyward (OF, CHC)
5% rostered. Recommended move: Add for the next few weeks.
Perhaps another boring veteran, Heyward had one of the game's most overlooked seasons last season, with a strong .265/.392/.456 triple slash, partly driven by a better hard-hit rate along more line drives and a whopping 16.6% walk rate. While Heyward isn't projected to match that strong 181 plate appearance sample in 2021, he is maybe still being overlooked.
Gone are the days where Heyward was expected to be a legit 20-20 threat, but the projections still call for somewhere around 15 home runs, 60 runs scored and another 60 driven in, and that is with the expectation of him being more of a part-time player. It remains to be seen if Heyward will be a part-time player this season, as Heyward did start the first game of the season against a left-handed pitcher, and it was Ian Happ that sat against the lefty, and Heyward has pretty much been an everyday player in each of the last two seasons, so perhaps those projected home run, runs, and RBI totals could be bumped up a bit.
Still though, while the playing time situation is still not clear, Heyward should still be a solid, reliable hitter, albeit not a spectacular one. He'll be a good option on a fantasy team that is short on outfielders, and if you're looking for a good matchup, the Cubs play the Pirates this weekend, which could lead to strong offensive output. Keep Heyward around for a few weeks at least and monitor both his performance and the playing time situation before deciding to move on or not.
Jay Bruce (1B/OF, NYY)
3% rostered. Recommended move: Add for the next few weeks.
In the case of Bruce, the reason he'll be considered is for the potential for a few home runs in a favorable offensive environment (see his home run hit on Tuesday) and maybe he'll get a lot of RBI opportunities hitting in a strong Yankees lineup.
Bruce will essentially be getting all of the playing time at first base for the Yankees for the foreseeable future until Luke Voit returns from his meniscus injury, which isn't supposed to happen until sometime in May at the earliest, but could always be delayed.
As a hitter, Bruce is almost tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, with his left-handed pull-heavy power approach, which makes him a favorable target for some cheap power. Last season with the Phillies for instance, he had a 51.4% pull rate with a 45.8% fly ball rate, which would certainly play nicely at Yankee Stadium, and the other hitter-friendly ballparks in the American League East, and it may be tough to find this type of power upside elsewhere on the waiver wire, yet Bruce is only rostered by 3% of fantasy managers currently. That may change within the next few weeks, so if in need of some pop with an added benefit of dual eligibility, Bruce would be a fine option.
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