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Tom Bellucco brings you the best deep American League MLB sleepers and picks for Week 6 of the 2017 Fantasy Baseball Season.
Welcome back to Digging Deeper! I'll be taking a look at some deeper AL waiver wire options for Week 6 of the fantasy baseball season.
The pitching pool in the AL is weak. I mean it's so weak that I couldn't find any suitable options at or under 20% owned. So, for those of you in need of pitching on the AL side of the league, I would suggest picking up a setup man like Joakim Soria or Alex Wilson and hope for the best.
As for hitters, there are a few names worth discussing in the AL. Any feedback is welcomed, and you can find me on Twitter @BellRoto. Let's do it.
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Digging Deeper: Week 6 Picks - AL
Rajai Davis (OF, OAK) - 19% owned in Yahoo! Leagues
I'll start with the good news. Davis came back from injury and is still firmly planted in the leadoff spot for Oakland. He's also managed to steal three bases in the past two games despite not recording a hit. That should be a sign of things to come, as he only has four steals thus far, but seemed like a lock for at least 30 at the beginning of the year.
The bad news was kind of mentioned above: Davis hasn't been hitting the ball. He holds just a .207 batting average coupled with a .263 OBP. The silver lining is that his BABIP is way down, and his strikeout rate is actually down too. I believe positive regression will push Davis' OBP back near .300, and those stolen bases and runs should begin to accumulate quickly.
Shin-soo Choo (OF, TEX) - 12% owned in Yahoo! Leagues
If you're not in need of an AL outfielder in your deep league, I wouldn't blame you for moving on to a new article. Choo is this week's Delino DeShields. Which is funny, since he's taking DeShields' job. Choo has batted leadoff in each of the last two games, and that trend will likely continue against right-handed pitchers. Until we see further evidence, I would guess DeShields is still the guy against lefties, since Choo has been dreadful against them.
This is the Choo owners were hoping to see earlier in the year. In the past four games he's collected six hits, four runs, three RBI, two steals, and a home run. This is a high-contact hitter who can rack up stats atop this lineup if he can stay there. He's certainly an option in deep leagues.
Colby Rasmus (OF, TB) - 2% owned in Yahoo! Leagues
Another outfielder you say?! Well, sure! Rasmus made sparks fly last season for a month or two with the Astros. He predictably cooled off, and has finally gotten healthy for his new team, the Rays. I'm not going to rattle off his ridiculous stats in the past five games, while he's been cemented in the sixth spot of the Tampa Bay order, but go look for yourself; they're fantastic.
This guy is a perennial hot/cold hitter, and hopefully this is the start of a three or four-week hot streak. When Rasmus is hot, he can pile on the power numbers. Take a shot on this guy in the deepest of leagues.
Sorry for the brevity of this week's article. Hopefully we can pinpoint some pitchers next week. Best of luck, ya'll!
