10 Post Hype Sleepers (Fantasy Baseball)

There are several common types of sleeper that pop up year to year. You’ve got the rookies, new closers, high upside starting pitchers and the absolute no-namers who randomly surprise every season. The most common grouping, however, are the post-hype sleepers. Targeting these players has become ultra trendy in fantasy football, but for whatever reason, they seem to be the forgotten men in terms of ADP for fantasy baseball. If you want to find the next Luis Severino, Byron Buxton, Joey Gallo or dare I say, Aaron Judge, you’d be best off starting from this list of ten I’ve compiled. Remember that ability is nearly impossible to teach. You can come by skills and focus through hard work and mental preparation, but unless a player ages or suffers a severe injury, their God-given ability is here to stay. Each player listed above has the ability to perform as a top 100 fantasy player this year, and in some cases, a top 20 guy like Judge. Let me tell you about them.

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Kyle Schwarber (OF – CHC): ADP #164
It was not long ago that everyone was clamoring for Schwarber to hit 45 or 50 homers. The matter of the fact is that he still has that upside. Sure, he batted just .211 last year, but that is part of the territory, and more likely, he will bump it up to near .240 in 2018. If you’ve seen the pictures of Schwarber this spring or saw him stealing multiple bases, you might not recognize him. He is in the best shape of his life, and if he can get 550 at-bats, 40 homers is not only his upside, but quite possible.

Danny Salazar (SP – CLE): ADP #177
Salazar has seen his ADP plummet of late because he will begin the season on the DL plus there are whispers of him ending up in the bullpen. That is pure insanity, however, for someone who had the fourth-best xFIP in baseball over the second half. I repeat, Salazar was one of the best pitchers to close last season. Better than Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Madison Bumgarner and even the “amazing” second halves of Stephen Strasburg and Justin Verlander. Don’t sleep on him pitching like a true ace when he returns from the DL.

Kevin Gausman (SP – BAL): ADP #192
While we are on the topic of pitchers who turned their seasons around in the second half, and potentially saved their careers, Gausman proved he can be a good #2 starting pitcher in this league. After a disastrous first half, which many fantasy owners remember begrudgingly, Gausman produced near identical numbers to both Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke. Now, he isn’t Greinke, and I think we can all agree on that, but he can be every bit as good as Cole and like Cole, was a former top prospect.

Taijuan Walker (SP – ARI): ADP #194
You might suggest Walker is no sleeper, but I beg to differ. Yes, he posted a 3.49 ERA with over 150 strikeouts last year, but that is only scratching the surface of what he can do. The 25-year-old was once compared to Dwight Gooden when he was in the minor leagues. He has legitimate ace stuff but struggled with home runs to begin his career then was held back by Coors-lite last season. Now that Chase Field has the humidor, we are about to see what the kid is made of. I’m expecting similar numbers to Carlos Martinez, who is a very similar pitcher. In case you aren’t paying attention, Martinez is being drafted 130 spots higher than Walker.

Maikel Franco (3B – PHI): ADP #248
Franco has been absolutely maddening for fantasy owners. Back in 2014, everyone on the planet agreed that Franco was the superior young third basemen to Nolan Arenado. He batted .320 as a 20-year-old in Double-A and had as many extra-base hits (70) as strikeouts. We’ve seen flashes of him being a star in the big leagues, but for him, it comes down entirely to consistency in his approach. If he decides he wants it this year, he can be every bit as good as Evan Longoria in his prime and I’ll be buying a lottery ticket or two in case it happens.

Mallex Smith (OF – TBR): ADP #376
Many were excited about Mallex as a sleeper two years ago and last year, but the appeal has worn off after he played back-to-back partial seasons. Here is the thing though, he was actually a solid fantasy player if you combine the two years together. Anyone would take 32 steals, 60+ runs and the .270 batting average he posted last year. Now, consider that in his last two full seasons in the minors he batted .310 with 88 stolen bases and .306 with 57 steals. Am I expecting that in the majors? No, of course not, but it certainly does tell us that .270 with 32 steals is nowhere near his ceiling. If you are worried about him losing his job, just go take a good long look at the Rays’ depth chart. I’m certain neither Johnny Field or Jason Coats is going to steal playing time from him.

Yasmany Tomas (OF – ARI): ADP #428
Tomas struggled last year while playing through injury before being shut down for the season. Even while that was happening, he managed to produce a higher average exit velocity than Giancarlo Stanton, Khris Davis and Bryce Harper. Do I actually need to type any more about the man? Ok, there is this too, he finished 2016 as one of the top hitters in baseball, mashing 18 homers in 59 starts with 49 RBI and a .294 batting average. If you pro-rate that to a full season, that comes out to 49 homers and 135 RBI. Granted, he won’t do that with the humidor in place, but 35 homers and a useful batting average is a good bet for someone going mostly undrafted.

Adalberto Mondesi (2B – KCR): ADP #456
Yes, this is Raul Mondesi’s son. He is a former top 20 prospect who despite already having two major league seasons under his belt, is still just 22 years old. He has struggled thus far in less than 200 MLB at-bats, but in that time he has stolen a base 30% of the time he got on. To put that into perspective, that is the same rate as Trea Turner and barely behind Billy Hamilton. While it won’t matter much if Mondesi never gets on, it is worth noting that he did bat .305 last year in Triple-A. That isn’t all though, Mondesi also carried a .234 ISO which measures raw power. Anthony Rizzo had the same exact .234 line in the bigs. Mondesi is a legitimate power/speed threat like his old man who was a multi-time 30/30 guy.

Tyler Glasnow (SP – PIT): ADP #460
There is no denying the fact that Glasnow was the flat-out worst pitcher in the majors last year. There is also no denying the fact that Glasnow was the clear-cut best pitcher in Triple-A last year. He posted video game numbers with a 1.93 ERA, 140 Ks in 93 innings and just 57 hits allowed. Eventually those numbers have to at least partially translate. Don’t hear me wrong, there is substantial risk in drafting Glasnow, but if you’ve got a bench spot, he could essentially be considered the best draft and stash prospect even though he has lost his rookie status.

Jorge Soler (OF – KCR): ADP #528
In 2014, Kris Bryant was 22 years old and he played in Double-A and Triple-A ball for the Cubs. He batted .325 with a .661 slugging percentage. Oddly, that didn’t lead those teams that year. It was Soler who led in both categories, batting .340 with a .700 slugging percentage. Oh, and Soler was younger than Bryant. When a player deals with injuries for three consecutive years, it is easy to write them off as a bust or washed up (see Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan Zimmerman). The fact is, this former top-five prospect has immense tools and could bust out in a huge way if he stays healthy in 2018.

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