Five AL Deep Sleepers For Your Radar

The NL version came yesterday. Today we’ll shift over to the AL. The point of this exercise is to identify a handful of little known players who could become fantasy relevant this season. In most cases, it will be better to track these guys than rush out to pick them up.

While the NL has teams like the Phillies, Braves, Brewers, and Reds poised to deliver substantial time to unknown players, the AL is a much more competitive league. A few teams have an unsolved position or two, but nobody has thrown in the towel with a full rebuild.

Edit: I somehow overlooked Tyler White, but he’s easily the top name for this list. He’ll be a sleeper for another 30 minutes.

Joey Rickard – OF

With offseason addition Hyun-soo Kim falling out of favor, Rickard is well positioned to cash in with substantial early work. His ability to hold onto a regular role will depend entirely upon a quick start to the season. He played his way into this position by hitting .386/.462/.579 this spring with eight extra base hits, seven walks, and nine strikeouts in 57 plate appearances.

The right-handed Rule 5 pick doesn’t possess a power bat. He might hit five home runs over a full season. He does have the capacity to steal bases. Depending on his swinging strike rate, he could be an asset in average or OBP leagues. He’ll bat down in the lineup – possibly ninth – giving him limited run production capacity. He profiles as a good fourth outfielder.

Rumors have the Orioles exploring ways out of their deal with Kim. I suspect reports are hasty. Look at how the Pirates used Jung-ho Kang last spring. He started out as a once every three days starter and quickly worked his way into full time reps. I bet the Orioles will give Kim time to adapt to the majors. If so, he’ll eventually reclaim the job from Rickard.

Josh Tomlin – SP

Tomlin, the Indians fifth starter, has scuffled a bit this spring. To provide any fantasy value, he needs to quickly round into form. The Indians have too many able replacements for the fifth starter job.

At his best, the soft-tossing right-hander displays excellent command and allows too many home runs. Last year is representative – 7.81 K/9, 1.10 BB/9, .199 BABIP, 37.5% GB%, and 15.3% HR/FB. Add it up and you get a 3.02 ERA and 4.43 FIP.

I have a H2H league with K/BB as a sixth pitching category. It’s an elite stat for Tomlin, making it the perfect format to try him out. Owners in normal 5×5 leagues will want to use him as an infrequent stream starter.

Liam Hendriks – RP

How would you like to find an extra four mph for your fastball? It probably wouldn’t mean much to your major league success – throwing 68 mph instead of 64 mph won’t fool anybody. In fact, if Rookie of the Year taught us anything, it’s that the slow ball is an underutilized pitch.

If you’re Hendriks, the difference between 91 mph and 95 mph is impressive. Last season with the Blue Jays, he maintained his trademark command (1.53 BB/9) while buffing his strikeout rate to 9.88 K/9. He doesn’t have a wipeout offspeed pitch or devastating whiff rates, but his gains look sustainable. If and when Sean Doolittle fails (his fastball velocity is still two mph off his 94 mph peak), Hendriks will battle similarly talented Ryan Madson for the ninth inning.

I also wonder if Hendriks would make a good re-conversion project. Sometimes, when pitchers find extra velocity in relief, it can translate back to starting. Zach McAllister is an example although he’s not good enough to start.

Tony Zych – RP

Like Hendriks, Zych has two good relievers between him and saves. Like Hendriks, it doesn’t take much squinting to see how he might wind up with some saves.

Zych debuted last season with a 96 mph fastball and an above average slider. In 18 innings, he accrued 11.78 K/9, 1.47 BB/9, and a 2.45 ERA. The strikeouts smell repeatable. I’d conservatively count on the walk rate doubling.

Even with more walks, the overall profile reads like a closer. The velocity and whiffs are there. Most analysts assume Steve Cishek will flop at some point. I won’t say it will definitely happen, but he’s obviously one of the guys on a short leash. Next in line is the perennially under-respected Joaquin Benoit. Teams always find a reason to leave the splitter specialist in the eighth inning. He’s 38 years old and looks to be about 55.

Shane Greene – SP

A popular breakout candidate last spring, Greene impressed in the early season before completely falling apart. A five home run disasterpiece served as the death knell. Now, the Tigers fifth starter is a forgotten man in fantasy circles.

Greene has yet to throw in front of a PITCHf/x contraption this spring so I don’t have updated velocity figures for him. He lost some juice between 2014 and 2015 which undoubtedly contributed to his downfall. The bigger issue is his insistence upon throwing a godawful two-seam fastball (or sinker). He might improve if he scrapped the pitch, but it’s not like his four seamer is any better. He does have a useful cutter. It’s more aptly described as a slutter so he still needs to use a hard fastball.

If Greene gets out to another hot start, I wouldn’t fully trust him. In particularly deep leagues, it might make sense to pick him up for the express purpose of trading him.