Each week we’ll look at a handful of different players whom fantasy managers should consider picking up in deeper fantasy baseball leagues. Many of these players will have the most value in larger leagues where waiver wire options aren’t as plentiful. Still, they could also occasionally be useful additions in other, more standard-sized leagues depending on your options at their position.
All roster percentages mentioned in this column are via FantasyPros as of Friday afternoon.
All 2024 stats are as of the beginning of play on Friday.
Paul DeJong – 8%
Paul DeJong continues to hit home runs.
The 30-year-old is up to 16 home runs (along with a .237 average, a .282 on-base percentage, and a pair of stolen bases) in 294 plate appearances.
It’s been a bit of a career resurgence for DeJong, who’s turned in above-average power production in the past.
DeJong continues to hit home runs to the point where we’ve moved past the “flash in the pan” stage and more to the point of the White Sox potentially trading him to a more fantasy-friendly environment later this month.
Of course, that’s all entirely speculative on my part, but if the Whtie Sox do trade away more veterans, it would make sense to move the 30-year-old.
If that’s the case, it would raise DeJong’s fantasy ceiling considerably. Because while he’s amassed the 16 home runs and the 10.4% barrel rate, he’s also accumulated just 36 RBI and 35 runs scored. Take away the times he scored and drove himself in on those home runs and the numbers drop to 20 RBI and 16 runs scored.
Though thanks in part to high strikeout numbers, numbers that have continued this season to the tune of a 31.6% strikeout rate, DeJong hasn’t been a constant contact hitter in recent years. That plus the struggling White Sox lineup around him limits him to providing above-average fantasy production just in home runs.
If he’s traded, however, that could change.
Miguel Rojas – 8%
Sticking with shortstops enjoying their best season in years, we move now to the Dodgers Miguel Rojas, who has been quietly excellent for the National League West franchise.
The 35-year-old is batting .290 with a .335 on-base percentage, three home runs, and three stolen bases in 168 plate appearances.
There’s nothing that the 35-year-old is doing from a loud contact standpoint that will vault him to the top of the league leaderboard. What with a .298 xwOBA, a .299 xwOBAcon, a 2.8% barrel rate, a 28.2% hard-hit rate, as well as a 68.1 MPH average bat speed.
But, what Rojas is doing is making a bunch of contact. Contact that is helping him sustain such a high batting average.
And while players with higher batting averages and lower power production metrics aren’t always as impactful in fantasy, Rojas’ ability to make so much contact in a loaded Dodgers lineup makes him well worth an addition via waivers.
Case in point, despite just the three home runs and four total barrels, Rojas’ RBI (18) and runs scored (16) production when removing his own home run production (or, more specifically when he scored on his own homers) are eerily similar to DeJong’s under the same circumstances, despite 126 fewer plate appearances, 16 fewer barrels and 13 fewer home runs.
Lenyn Sosa – 2%
Switching back to Chicago and the White Sox, infielder Lenyn Sosa has been in a fine run of form as of late.
The 24-year-old is batting .279 with a .303 on-base percentage, three home runs, and a pair of stolen bases in his last 89 plate appearances, supplying an 8.6% barrel rate and a 47.1% hard-hit rate in the process.
Sosa has struggled in the Majors before, batting .211 with a .262 on-base percentage and a 60 wRC+ in 62 plate appearances prior to that stretch, and didn’t top a 50 wRC+ in either of his previous two Major League stints with the White Sox.
Still, his recent run of form has been encouraging, particularly in the last week, during which he’s logged two home runs in his last 23 plate appearances.
He’s not an addition for the full fantasy season quite just yet, but there’s plenty of upside for more here when considering him as a streaming option. That’s particularly true if the White Sox do end up trading more veterans like DeJong, opening up not only consistent roles for players like Sosa but also consistent plate appearances further up the lineup. To date, the 24-year-old has predominantly hit in the bottom third of Chicago’s lineup.
If Sosa does step into a regular role for the rest of the season, he’s more than worth a look in leagues with 14 or more teams with the upside for more if he keeps hitting like this.
Tommy Pham – 8%
This really wasn’t intended to be such a White Sox-heavy column, but here we are.
It’s mainly more down to how effective Tommy Pham has been at the plate for Chicago.
The veteran outfielder is hitting .266 with a .342 on-base percentage, four home runs, and four stolen bases in 222 plate appearances for the White Sox this season. A closer look at his quality of contact and plate discipline metrics shows a fairly similar set of numbers to what the veteran has done for the better part of the last decade.
The only difference so far is that Pham’s barrel rate and hard-hit rate have been down so far. Though, with that being said, he’s offset that (from a fantasy production and upside standpoint) with what is on track to be the highest xBA of his career at .288, a number that also sits in the 91st percentile league-wide as of the start of play on Friday.
Like DeJong, he makes sense as both a speculative trade candidate for the White Sox and as a player whose fantasy upside would benefit immensely from a trade to a more fantasy-friendly (read higher scoring) lineup.
You’ll want to add him now before that potentially happens.
Photo by Adobe Stock | Adapted by Carlos Leano.