Each week Baseball Press will be providing some Under the Radar fantasy players for NL-Only Leagues, AL-Only Leagues and Mixed Leagues. These articles will be dedicated to finding those diamonds in the rough on the waiver wire that will either be a short term or long term replacement to an injury or struggling player on your fantasy team. All players listed are owned in less than 30% of Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball leagues.
A couple weeks ago I mentioned Gaby Sanchez
in the Mixed UtR, and again this week in the NL UtR just to show everyone that his ownership numbers are way too low. Last week's abbreviated version of the Mixed UtR boasted that Gordon Beckham
was set for a turn around and to start off his series against the Cubs he went 1-2 with a home run and 2 RBI. This week we have a more complete list for you with some outfield additions that are sure to be sitting on your Wire.
Ronny Paulino - C, Florida Marlins (Yahoo! 13% / CBS 28%)
Paulino is on one of his little hot streaks again, and I know that the market has been flooded with a lot of catchers with potential, but Paulino is doing it right now. He is on a 5-game hitting streak, batting .341 in the last week and a half and has grabbed every start for Florida since June 4th. He has moved from NL Under the Radar to Mixed League worthy.
Adam LaRoche - 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks (Yahoo! 46% / CBS 64%)
LaRoche is as streaky as they come but is looking like he is ready to go off this week on one of his hot streaks. He is facing some tough pitching but has some pretty good slugging numbers against them. LaRoche owns a .547 slugging against the Cardinals staff and .556 against the Dodgers staff. Being available in over half the leagues out there make sure you pick him up for a power kick this week as a corner infielder, utility or even slot him in for a struggling first baseman.
Clint Barmes - 2B/SS, Colorado Rockies (Yahoo! 16% / CBS 36%)
With the injury of Troy Tulowitzki a guaranteed full time role for Barmes has opened up. He doesn't have a great line on the year but in June he is hitting .286 with a home run. He would be a good fill-in an owner of Dustin Pedroia until someone else gets hot that is available. Don't think that Barmes is going to put up Pedroia like numbers but he isn't going to hurt you as a place holder.
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B, Oakland Athletics (Yahoo! 25% / CBS 52%)
Kouzmanoff is a AL Under the Radar graduate from last week. In the month of June he is hitting .379 with 5 home runs and has an OPS pushing the 1.000 mark. If you are looking for a cheap source of power look no further. This week he is in Baltimore and Cleveland, much friendlier hitters parks than the Coliseum on Oakland.
Delmon Young - OF, Minnesota Twins (Yahoo! 41% / CBS 68%)
Young disappointed a lot of owners last year with losing playing time because of his poor plate discipline and crowded outfield in Minnesota, but now he looks like he has claimed the every day job there without issue. He is hitting .310 in June and already has 8 home runs on the year. As long as he stays healthy and on the field you should see him easily eclipsing his career high 12 home run mark.
Pat Burrell - OF, San Francisco Giants (Yahoo! 3% / CBS 16%)
Since getting a chance to play almost every day in San Francisco, Pat has found his power stroke that he seemed to have lost in Tampa last year. In a Giants uniform he has a .315 average with 4 home runs. As mentioned he is an "almost every day" player sharing time with Aubrey Huff in a now crowded Giants line-up. In a 12-team mixed he would be more than adequate as a 5th outfielder.
Coco Crisp - OF, Oakland Athletics (Yahoo! 2% / CBS 14%)
Crisp's playing time was put into question with the acquisition of Conor Jackson but it looks like as long as he can perform he will be in the line-up. Since coming off his second DL stint of the season Crisp has a home run, a stolen base and is hitting .438. He has kind of been a forgotten player fantasy wise because of all the time he has spent on the DL over the past two seasons but he can give a big boost to second half numbers on a team for the rest of the season if he can stay healthy.
Brandon Morrow - SP, Toronto Blue Jays (Yahoo! 21%, CBS 68%)
Brandon Morrow is a strike out machine, sitting down 92 batters in 84 innings via the K so far this year. In his last outing against the Cardinal's he pitched 8 scoreless innings with 8 Ks. He has only allowed 5 earned runs in his last 34 innings pitched and struck out 27. This week he is a two start pitcher against the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. The Cleveland offense has been in shambles lately and on June 6 Morrow held the Yankees to 1 earned run over 7 innings pitched while striking out 8. He would be a solid pick-up in any format this week.