At Home Plate - Fantasy Baseball: The DL Special

At Home Plate

Written by Jonathan Leshanski (Contact & Archive) on June 04, 2009

Looking for some serious fantasy help but wondering where you are going to find it? The place to look right now might be the disabled list. There are tons of highly regarded players riding the pine right now as they recover from injuries that have sidelined them or sabotaged their season up until now.   They aren’t sure things, but they all have talent that’s hard to ignore and many, if not all, are available as free agents in the majority of Yahoo! Leagues at this point -- for help that should be coming in the next 2 to 8 weeks.

Ben Sheets could help a contender bolster the rotation

Photo by Scott Ableman, used under creative commons license.

Ben Sheets (Free Agent, SP):   Sheets is the forgotten man right now in leagues across the country and that amazes me. This guy has a live arm and is capable of being electric if he’s able to throw, helping in four pitching categories. Odds are he’ll end up with a contender in the next few weeks and be pitching sometime in July.

John Smoltz (SP/RP, Red Sox): In the last two weeks there has been a surge in ownership for Smoltz as he racks up solid rehab starts down in the Sox farm system. He’s projecting as a starter right now, but he’s accepted bullpen assignments before. The Sox will help him get wins, but it’s his Hall of Fame credentials which have many convince he’ll help in K’s, WHIP and ERA too.

Kelvim Escobar (SP, Angels): Escobar is expected to make his 2009 MLB debut this weekend in Detroit and he’s definitely worth a flyer for anyone needing pitching help. He didn’t pitch at all in 2008, but he won 29 games with a 3.50 ERA between 2006 and 2007 with 307 K’s over that span. Just two years ago he was considered the ace of the Angels staff.

Justin Duchscherer (SP, A’s): I’m not a huge fan of Duchscherer as a fantasy pitcher but it’s hard to ignore the 10 wins, 2.54 ERA and 1.00 WHIP he posted last season as he stepped to the fore as the ace of the Oakland Athletics staff.   He’s not a strikeout pitcher, but helping in the other three starting categories can’t be scoffed at.

Mike Aviles (2B/SS, Royals): Aviles’ first 120 at bats in 2009 have been brutal (.183-1-8) but you have to hope that the cause of the misery was the mystery forearm injury affecting his swing. There is no available middle infielder with the same kind of upside as Aviles who hit .325-10-51 with 8 steals back in 2008.   If you need middle infield help I’m not sure there is a better low risk high reward type player available.

Pat Burrell (OF, Rays): There is a reason they called him Pat the Bat in Philadelphia but he’s yet to show it in Tampa. He’s owned in just 38% of Yahoo! Leagues but neck strains tend to heal well and Pat has the ability to hit home runs and drive in runs for the struggling Rays.   His power alone makes him worth a flyer and he’s likely to be back within a month.

Alex Gordon (3B, Royals): Gordon is out until mid to late July most likely but upon his return he’ll be slotted back into the heart of the Royals lineup. That could be just in time for a late season RBI surge.   He’s yet to have the expected breakout, but he’ll be coming into the season fresh and maybe that will be enough to get him to take a step forward..

Troy Glaus (3B, Cardinals): Glaus still had power before he underwent shoulder surgery (he hit 85 over the last three seasons) and his rehab is going well -- but that isn’t stopping the Cards from looking for a big bat to replace him. If a deal is made it’s more than likely Glaus would be one of the players changing teams.   One of the big rumors is the Rockies Garrett Atkins, which would mean that Glaus could end up hitting in Colorado. That wouldn’t be bad.

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