Deep Sleepers: Five Off-the-Radar Players to Target
Here's a look at five potential steals that most drafters will completely ignore:
C Nick Hundley, Rockies
Hundley enjoyed a career year in 2015 at the age of 31, hitting .301 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs in just 366 at-bats. He'll likely go undrafted in just about every fantasy league based on the assumption he won't repeat.
What gives Hundley a chance to repeat is Coors Field. Easily the best hitters' park in baseball, Hundley posted a .957 home OPS last season after spending the majority of his career playing in pitcher-friendly Petco Park in San Diego.
1B/DH Byung-ho Park, Twins
Having not had a single MLB plate appearance, Park is a complete wild card.
Pirates IF Jung-ho Kang hit .356 with 40 home runs and 117 RBIs in his final year in Korea's top baseball league before posting a .287/15/58 line in his first year in the majors. Park, a four-time KBO home run and RBI champ, erupted for .343/53/146 in his final Korean league season and brings an extremely quick, yet violent swing with power to all fields.
Park has so much upside compared to other first basemen being drafted in the middle-to late rounds that he's worth the risk. If he flakes, 1B is a position that can easily be filled via the waiver wire.
2B Devon Travis, Blue Jays
Travis will be drafted extremely late - if at all - due to a shoulder injury that will keep him off the field for the first month or two of the season. As a rookie in 2015, Travis slashed .361/.498/.859 in 239 plate appearances.
The Blue Jays second baseman showed an advanced approach at the dish, displaying a great eye and a level swing that produced line drives to all fields. As a potential leadoff hitter in a loaded Toronto lineup, Travis makes for a great late-round pick and IR stash.
OF Gerardo Parra, Rockies
Parra enjoyed one of his better seasons as a pro in 2015, hitting .291 with 14 homers, 51 RBIs and 14 steals between Milwaukee and Baltimore.
The move to the most hitter-friendly ballpark in baseball should certainly help a line drive specialist like Parra. He's a near-lock for career highs in hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBI as long as he stays healthy.
With so much depth at OF, Parra will be an afterthought in the majority of 10-team leagues due to his inability to "wow" in any one category.
SP Kris Medlen, Royals
Medlen isn't one of the top-100 ranked starting pitchers in many fantasy leagues, and he'll most likely go undrafted in yours. Yet, the 30-year-old owns a career record of 40-22 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.
The former Braves ace missed all of 2014 after having Tommy John surgery, and returned last July, going 6-2 with a 4.01 ERA down the stretch. Most pitchers regain their form after their second season back from Tommy John. With a spacious ballpark and a great offense, defense and bullpen behind him, the sky is the limit for Medlen.
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