Two weeks of regular season baseball are wrapping up and whether you’re in first or last place of your fantaasy league, you should always be looking to try and improve your team. Trades aren’t always available, so the waiver wire is going to be your next best friend.

Now, we realize not all players are going to be available, so we asked our featured experts below to provide some guidance on which players they feel are flying under the radar based on consensus ownership percentages.

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Q1. What one hitter should fantasy owners look into picking up that is owned in less than 25% of Leagues?

Mitch Moreland (1B – BOS): 12% Owned
“Moreland is batting .323 (10 for 31) with an eye-popping seven doubles already. He has always been considered a platoon hitter (better against right-handed pitching) but last season he slashed .277/.320/.479 against southpaws and sported a .202 ISO. He made hard contact 36.8% of the time, too. Fenway may sap some of his home run potential this season, but Moreland’s average should rebound and in that stacked Boston lineup his counting statistics should be above average, at least. While he’s on one of his hot streaks I will definitely use him as a corner infield option. And if the gains against left-handed pitching are real, watch out!”
– Heath Capps (Fake Teams)

Ryan Schimpf (2B/3B – SD): 18% Owned
“I loved Schimpf as a sleeper coming into the season, and he has as much power as anyone, enough that he’s worth taking the batting average hit if he’s playing regularly. Well, he’s playing regularly, picking up 3B eligibility to go with his 2B eligibility from last year. A power hitter I can plug at 2B/3B/MI/CI whenever needed? Sounds like the perfect bench player to me.”
– R.J. White (CBS Sports)

Cesar Hernandez (2B – PHI): 23% Owned
“It just doesn’t make sense that Hernandez ranks near 30th among second basemen in league ownership. The 26-year-old isn’t going to mash 20 homers (or 10?), but the Phillies’ offense is an improving one, and their leadoff hitter will benefit. He’s hitting over .300 already, with four multi-hit game (tied for 11th in the majors), and he hasn’t even shown off his new stolen base technique. He ranks among one of the fastest players in the game, but was haunted by bad technique last season (13 caught-stealing attempts).”
– David Gonos (SoCalledFanEx)

Jorge Soler (LF/RF – KC): 14% Owned
“Soler isn’t going to help you now or probably at all in the next 10 days, but his rehab assignment is starting any day now. When he does come back, the Royals will look to plug him into the middle of their lineup. Soler is a former top prospect who hasn’t been able to put it together for a full season because of injuries. If he can stay on the field and see regular playing time now that he is out of Chicago, this could be a breakout year. Add him now before he is recalled to the big league club and starts hitting bombs.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)

Domingo Santana (OF – MIL): 19% Owned
“Let’s go with Santana. He plays every day, bats fifth in the order, and has a reasonable chance to be a 20-10 guy – especially since the Brewers run so much. There’s more upside with Santana than with boring players like Nick Markakis.”
– John Halpin (Fox Sports)

Marwin Gonzalez (1B/3B – HOU): 7% Owned
“Any player that is eligible at essentially any position is certainly worth owning at this time of the season. Starting the season with a .238/.385/.667 slash line with a 1.052 OPS, the Houston Super-Utility Man is worth watching….while he is on your roster.”
– Brad Jerde (Fantasy Team Advice)

Q2. What pitcher should fantasy owners look into picking up that is owned in less than 30% of Leagues?

Wily Peralta (SP – MIL): 7% Owned
“Peralta is under 10% owned in both ESPN and Yahoo formats, but he has pitched far better than that number since the second half of 2016. Over the first half of last season, he had a 6.68 ERA, but his ERA plummeted to 2.92 in the second half. Over that timeframe, Peralta’s K-rate improved from 13.6% to 20.8% and his walk rate fell from 8.7% to 6.5%. This season he has employed a curveball that should aid in his ability to get left-handed hitters out. If Peralta can make improvements against left-handed hitters he could become valuable as a back-end starter in mixed leagues.”
– Heath Capps (Fake Teams)

Carter Capps (RP – SD): 10% Owned
“Like Soler, Capps isn’t going to help your fantasy team right now, but sometimes to get the best free agents, you have to be proactive. You can save some FAAB by picking up this soon to be dominant closer right now. Sure, he probably won’t be 100% of himself coming back from Tommy John plus he has to win the closer job, but let’s just say he takes a 20% dip everywhere. That would take him from 16.8 K/9, 5.2 H/9 and a 1.16 ERA to 13.4 K/9, 6.2 H/9 and a 1.39 ERA. For comparison’s sake, each one of those is better than Seung-Hwan Oh who was drafted in the top 100 this season. Those kind of numbers are helpful even before he takes over the closer role from a sub-par Brandon Maurer.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)

Eduardo Rodriguez (SP – BOS): 32% Owned
“If you’re a believer that the Red Sox are going to be contenders this season (you should be), then picking up Ed-Rod (my nomination for his new nickname) is a smart move. He’s striking out plenty (13 Ks in 10.1 IP), but he loses focus at times, all standard issue for a hard-throwing lefty that’s just 24 years old. David Price isn’t close to returning, and the Red Sox are bound to deal with other injured pitchers, which means he should stick in the rotation for a few more weeks at least. He’s also lined up for a pair of starts next week (at TOR, at BAL). ”
– David Gonos (SoCalledFanEx)

“Rodriguez was a highly-regarded prospect a couple of years ago. After he got knocked around in 2016, everyone decided he was terrible. He’s only 24, and has whiffed 13 batters in his first 10 1/3 innings this season. If I’m fishing for an available starter, he’s at the top of my list.”
– John Halpin (Fox Sports)

Shelby Miller (SP – ARI): 9% Owned
“Miller doesn’t have great numbers so far, but he’s still worth scooping up and sticking on the bench. His velocity was up this spring and has remained up, and couple that with the sky-high ceiling he brought with him to the majors, and he makes for an interesting add. It wouldn’t be the first time a top prospect seemed to flame out before finally hitting his stride a year or two later.”
– R.J. White (CBS Sports)

Brad Brach (RP – BAL): 13% Owned
“My strategy typically insists on punting saves during the draft. I would much rather have a setup guy (or 3 ideally) that are used more often than “Closers”; as they tend to have excellent ratios if you look hard enough. Brad Brach of the Orioles has started the season with 5 appearances, with 5.0 IP; 7 K; 3BB; with a 0.00 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. He is on my roster, so I am one of the 13% of owners that have him rostered currently.”
– Brad Jerde (Fantasy Team Advice)

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Thank you to the experts for taking the time to name their under-the-radar pickups for owners out there. Got thoughts on the picks? Feel free to leave a comment below and be sure to listen to our latest episode below.

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