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Tony Peters analyzes some American League players to target as fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups & adds in Week 15. These AL-only targets can be sleepers.
The American League came out victorious in the 2016 All-Star Game Tuesday, winning by the final score of 4-2. With home runs from the Royals' Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez, Danny Salazar's clean second inning was all he needed to go home with the win. Though the outcome of the game has no fantasy effect, there's never a bad time for a good performance. Baseball players are often creatures of habit and feed off positive performances, exhibition or not.
With that in mind, here are some AL players looking to build upon positive ends to their first halves when the season resumes on Friday. All players are owned in 25% or less of Flea Flicker leagues.
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American League Waiver Wire Targets
Hitters
Aaron Hill (2B/3B, BOS) - 9% Owned
Infielder Aaron Hill made his long-awaited return to the American League last week when he was traded from the Brewers to the Red Sox. After a down couple of years, he's shown new found life in 2016, hitting .283 with eight home runs, 29 RBI and four stolen bases for Milwaukee. With the Red Sox in need of help at third base, Hill has a real opportunity here to continue playing regularly if he can keep hitting. That's not a for sure thing anymore for the aging veteran, but his outlook appears a lot sunnier than it did before the season started.
Alex Bregman (SS, HOU) - 18% Owned
Houston's newest can't miss phenom, shortstop Alex Bregman's name has been making the rounds this week as a potential weekend call-up as the Astros look to bolster their lineup from within. Based on those rumors alone, his ownership has already skyrocketed to 18%. After one look at his stat line this year, it's hard to disagree with the excitement. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Bregman's hitting .309 with 19 home runs, 60 RBI and five stolen bases, including five home runs in his first 36 career at-bats at Triple-A. Even if he doesn't come up this weekend, he is so close he must be owned in all deep and AL-only leagues at this point in the season.
Andrelton Simmons (SS, LAA) - 3% Owned
Since returning from the disabled list June 15th, shortstop Andrelton Simmons has been hitting like a man making up for lost time. In 87 at-bats, he's hit .333 with 10 RBI, which isn't spectacular but more than enough for deeper leagues. Offensive production has always been the part of Simmons' game that was lacking, but it appears as if he intends to make good on the gains he made in batting average last season. His lack of power and speed greatly limits his fantasy appeal, but if he can keep his average respectable, it'll ensure he at least isn't without it.
Kennys Vargas (1B, MIN) - 3% Owned
A long-time friend to the deep sea AL-only waiver wire diver, Kennys Vargas is back on the radar. After Trevor Plouffe was lost to the disabled list, he was called up to help a struggling Twins team. So far he's done just that, hitting .471 with three home runs in 17 at-bats after hitting .235 with 14 home runs in Triple-A. At only 25 years of age, there's no reason to think Vargas is incapable of sticking in the Majors after spending most of his minor league career hitting in the .280s with pop. The talent to be a mildly productive designated hitter exists within him, and maybe 2016 is the year he proves it.
Cheslor Cuthbert (3B, KC) - 3% Owned
Rookie third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert has been building a name for himself as a startable fantasy third baseman. In the first 206 at-bats of his career, he's hitting .282 with eight home runs and 28 RBI, which has gone a long way in helping fill the hole left by injured third baseman Mike Moustakas. Cuthbert has only been getting better as the season goes on, hitting .343 so far in July. With Moustakas out for the year, there's no better time than now to get on the Cuthbert bandwagon.
Pitchers
Dan Otero (RP, CLE) - 0% Owned
Relief pitcher Dan Otero doesn't get as much fantasy fanfare as his fellows teammates in the Indians' bullpen, but he has arguably been better than all of them this season. He ended the first half 2-1 with a 1.27 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 34 strikeouts in 35.1 innings as he has returned to his 2013-14 form after a disastrous 2015. Otero isn't a big strikeout pitcher, nor does he often factor into decisions, but he can help teams lower their ratios as the dog days of summer set in and humble some starting pitchers.
Hector Santiago (SP, LAA) - 3% Owned
After failing to do much other than disappoint his fantasy owners this year, starting pitcher Hector Santiago appears to finally be righting the ship. Starting June 15th, he's gone 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 28 strikeouts in five starts, bringing his season ERA down to 4.58. Having never posted an ERA above 4.00 as a Major Leaguer, 2016 doesn't look to be the first, as Santiago pushes himself back into respectability during the second half.
Nick Tropeano (SP, LAA) - 10% Owned
Fresh from the disabled list, starting pitcher Nick Tropeano wasted little time helping out his pitching-depleted team, the Angels. In the two starts he made right before the All-Star Break, he put up a 2.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 11 innings. While he gave up three home runs during the same stretch, he has kept the ball in the park enough this year that this should pass. Tropeano has always been prone to a messy WHIP, but if he keeps his strikeout rate in the 9.0s, he should continue to work around it enough for fantasy owners to squeeze juice.
Mike Montgomery (SP/RP, SEA) - 16% Owned
Simply being one of the top relievers in the American League isn't enough for pitcher Mike Montgomery it seems, as he has added starting to that list as well. After reinventing himself as a reliever for the Mariners last season, he was called upon to help fill out the rotation after Taijuan Walker went down with an injury. He did so majestically, allowing one run on five hits over 6.1 innings, striking out three. A former first-round pick and top prospect of the Royals, it's too early to say his relief stats will directly translate to starting ones. But so far so good.
Kyle Gibson (SP, MIN) - 10% Owned
After seemingly harnessing his pitching skills last season, there were modest expectations put on the shoulders of starting pitcher Kyle Gibson. Those proved to be too heavy though, and he ended the first half 2-5 with a 5.02 ERA and was cast off many a team that drafted him. But in his last four starts before the All-Star Break, he went 2-1 with a 3.77 ERA, reigniting hope that he can produce enough for fantasy relevance this season. With a mess of a team behind him, Gibson isn't likely to put up the prettiest of stats, but if he can keep pitching like he did last year, he won't put up the ugliest either.
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