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5 Deep Hitters to Pick Up (Fantasy Baseball)

5 Deep Hitters to Pick Up (Fantasy Baseball)

Continuing our series suggesting five hitters each week that you should consider adding in deep mixed leagues and AL/NL-only formats. All of the players featured have less than 10% ownership.

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Matt Davidson (3B/DH – CWS): 7%
Over the last 11 weeks, the 26-year-old has almost always been on the shortlist for inclusion in this article of five hitters, but he has not made the grade and was very nearly bumped from the list this week. On Sunday, Davidson went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, pushing his strikeout rate up over 39%. Only Keon Broxton has a worse rate.

However, when he is not striking out, Davidson enjoys hot stretches of impressive power. Over the last seven days, Davidson has hit five home runs with .370/.393/1.000 slash line. The 10 strikeouts to just one walk suggest that you will never know whether this week will be a hot stretch or slump.

Franchy Cordero (OF – SD): 4%
Another player with an OPS over 1.000 for the last seven days is Padres’ outfielder Franchy Cordero. The 22-year-old has already scored 14 runs in the big leagues, hitting .313 (20-for-64) with three home runs, two triples, and three doubles. Over three levels in the minors in 2016, Cordero slashed .290/.344/.450 with 51 extra-base hits, 11 home runs, and 23 stolen bases.

Cordero strikes out too much, but with Alex Dickerson, Travis Jankowski and Manuel Margot still on the DL, he will have a little more time to show that he is ready for the majors.

Alex Gordon (OF – KC): 2%
The Royals’ left fielder was one of the least productive players in MLB over the first two months of the season. Up to the end of May, Gordon hit .175 with an OPS of just .493, with no home runs and only nine RBIs in 160 at-bats. A mechanical adjustment in Gordon’s swing suggested by hitting coach Dale Sveum apparently contributed to the dramatic change that ensued then the calendar flipped to June.

Over the last 14 games, Gordon has slashed .271/.375/.542 with three home runs and four doubles. He looks much more like the player with 154 career home runs and 576 RBIs.

Cory Spangenberg (2B/3B/OF – SD): 1%
The 26-year-old is seizing his opportunity since becoming the Padres’ third baseman with the demotion of Ryan Schimpf to Triple-A. In June, the former top prospect is slashing .341/.372/.610 with three home runs. The power is unexpected as he has always profiled as a light-hitting, base-stealer.

In the minors, Spangenberg only hit 14 home runs in over 400 games but stole 111 bases. In selling out for power, Spangenberg is striking out at a rate of 34.9% in June and has not swiped a bag since May 15.

Eduardo Escobar (SS/3B/OF – MIN): 7%
On Sunday, Eduardo Escobar was the only Twins player with an extra-base hit, extending his hot stretch by going 1-for-3 with a run, RBI, and walk. The 28-year-old is hitting .552 (16-for-29) since June 11 and is making it increasingly difficult for Paul Molitor to drop their hottest hitter from the starting lineup.

Over the last seven days, Escobar is contributing in all of the standard categories with five runs, three home runs, eight RBIs, and one stolen base. This month, the utility player has started at second base, third base, shortstop, and designated hitter. He even saw some time behind the plate.

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Gavin Tramps is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Gavin, check out his archive or follow him @_tramps.

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