I almost cheated this week. Confining this column’s focus to hitters with a consensus ownership rate below 10 percent will always wipe noteworthy candidates from consideration. Eliminating the obvious names is the point, but two players who fit the spirit of this pursuit narrowly cleared the barometer.

A long-time personal favorite, Stephen Piscotty has shaken off a slow start by batting .308/.395/.523 in June. Three home runs in the last 11 games matches his tally from the previous 58. Kendrys Morales, on the other hand, just misses with 10 percent. The Statcast-foreshadowed rebound is finally happening, as the designated hitter has gone 22-for-68 (.324) with five doubles and four homers this month. Jason Heyward (11 percent owned) and Gerardo Parra (10) also just missed the cut.

Rules are rules, so none are among the five hitters highlighted below. If still available in a deeper mixed league, add Morales or Piscotty before these lesser-owned options.

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Lucas Duda (1B – KCR): 6 Percent Owned
Baseball’s most overlooked slugger is back. Out since May 13 with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, Lucas Duda returned to the Royals on Saturday. The first baseman homered in the cleanup spot the next day.

He was off to an uncharacteristic start before getting sidelined. While investors appreciated the .256 batting average, they signed up for power and plate discipline. Duda netted a 6.2 percent walk rate and .399 slugging percentages in 145 plate appearances but read too much into a small sample size compromised by bad health. If his .527 xSLG (updated after Saturday’s return) is any indication, he would have eventually returned to his mean.

You’re still signing up for home runs, and walks where they’re counted. They may come with a .235 average, but that’s not necessarily a killer in a 15-team mixer when MLB is collectively hitting .245. A strong July could relocate Duda to a contender, which could jeopardize his playing time but also move him to a better power venue.

Devon Travis (2B – TOR): 3 Percent Owned
We’ve spent years waiting for Devon Travis to stay healthy. He’s now avoiding the disabled list and settling into a groove, and nobody seems to care.

It’s not injuries, but rather poor performance that has limited him to play in 43 of Toronto’s 77 games this season. He played just seven games in May after exiting April with a .458 OPS. While the damage still shows in his .232/.283/.4011 slash line, the 27-year-old has since batted .296 (24-for-81) with four homers in 24 games. The second baseman has belted two doubles and three long balls over his last eight bouts, which has cemented a steadier spot in the starting lineup, albeit still as the No. 9 hitter.

This is also poor timing from Travis, as Josh Donaldson’s pending return threatens to expel him back to a timeshare. Although not the optimal defensive alignment, Yangervis Solarte could instead supplant Aledmys Diaz at shortstop. Injuries have constantly derailed his momentum, but Travis is still a career .283/.324/.453 hitter who can factor prominently into Toronto’s future if his body cooperates. A flashy sleeper once upon a time he’s available in all but 3 percent of leagues for anyone needing a streaking middle infielder with pop.

Charlie Culberson (3B/SS/OF – ATL): 2 Percent Owned
Charlie Culberson made his major league debut in 2012. He had hit six career home runs-including a walk-off homer on Vin Scully’s final game in the booth-before going deep in last year’s instant-classic World Series Game 2.

Before 2018, the utilityman was a career .229/.269/.321 hitter with a 48 wRC+, lower than Zack Greinke (62) and Madison Bumgarner (63). This is despite spending two years with the Rockies. Now he has more walk-off homers than Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig. Since the start of May, Culberson is batting .308 (32-for-104) with four homers and two stolen bases. He had three steals in 160 previous major league games dating back to 2014. Slugging .519 over the last 34 games, the 29-year-old has found an everyday spot in left field.

Will this last? A .271 xwOBA certainly does not silence any doubters. Yet he has also made harder contact over the last two months in pursuit of power, so perhaps some progress will stick. His multi-position eligibility will also help deep-league managers needing to plug in a corner-infield, middle-infield, or outfield hole with a hot hand.

Pablo Sandoval (3B – SF): 5 Percent Owned
Fantasy players are by now familiar with the works of Pablo Sandoval, and it hasn’t been pretty for a while. The third baseman was nearly baseball’s least valuable player as he earned $54 million from 2015 to 2017. Now earning $545,000 from the Giants, he’s looking more like the guy Boston overpaid.

Following three years of below-replacement level play, the Kung Fu Panda is suddenly providing above-average offense with numbers near his career norms:

 
He hasn’t succeeded in precisely the same fashion. The 31-year-old is on pace to set career highs in walk (9.8) and strikeout (23.2) percentage. While still hitting too many grounders and infield flies, he also has elevated his hard-hit rate (40.4%), average exit velocity (90.1 mph), and launch angle (11.3°), as of Sunday. Even avid Giants fans would be forgiven for not recognizing the version of Sandoval that has registered eight walks and four homers in June.

Nobody expected Sandoval to outhit Rafael Devers in 2018, and the Giants could not have anticipated him producing this well in a regular role when they acquired Evan Longoria during the offseason. Baseball is funny that way, so deep-league managers might as well join them in celebrating his unlikely comeback.

Kole Calhoun (OF – LAA): 7 Percent Owned
Kole Calhoun has been baseball’s worst hitter this season. That’s not hyperbole; his .203 wOBA and 25 wRC+ rank last among all position players with at least 150 plate appearances. He deserved to get dropped in any league long before an oblique strain sent him to the disabled list at the end of May.

The outfielder now garners a second chance in deep leagues. Since reinstatement last Monday, the 30-year-old has since gone 7-for-20 with two walks, two homers (he had one before getting sidelined) and a steal in five games. Although more of a compiler at his best, the career .254/.322/.411 hitter deposited 80 homers over four full seasons. It also now seems like ages ago that prognosticators identified him as the top benefactor from Angel Stadium moving in its right field wall.

Saying Calhoun could hit .250 with nine homers hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement, but it’s a far cry from his atrocious start. If healthy and back to normal, he at least regains relevance in 15-team mixed leagues with five outfield slots.

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