Hope springs eternal for all 30 Major League Baseball teams, as camp begins. We’ll take a look at three sleepers at the pitcher position, and three sleepers among the hitters, to get you ready for the 2013 Fantasy Baseball season.
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PITCHERS
Chad Billingsley, SP: Billingsley enters the season with a partially torn ligament in his elbow, which is never a good thing. The good news is that he threw without pain in the offseason after having a platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) injection back in October. However, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Billingsley, and that should force his daily league salary down. It is uncertain if he will have any pitch restrictions placed upon him, but if so, that’s another thing that might send his salary tumbling. He is still a good pitcher, and if he works without pain, even with any kind of pitch cap, he’ll have a tremendous offense backing him with plenty of support. The wins should flow early and often for Billingsley, assuming he can stick around long enough to qualify.
Brandon League, RP: League was fantastic in Kenley Jansen’s stead last season, as a heart problem forced him to the shelf. League dusted himself after being humbled in Seattle, losing the closer job. He didn’t fumble away his second chance, and he earned himself a healthy payday in the offseason to boot. League will be trying to slam the door for a high-octane offense which figures to be ahead plenty this season. Unless we see the League who showed up for the Mariners in the early months last season, League will be a steady and fairly cheap closer as opposed to the bigger-name, higher-priced guys out there.
Hyun-Jin Ryu, SP: There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Ryu. There are a lot of questions surrounding the high-priced import, too. He reportedly never threw in between starts in Korea, and was adamant about not doing so in L.A., too. There are some issues that need to be worked out between the pitcher and the management. Perhaps it is a simple situation of being lost in translation, but it sounds like Ryu could be a bit of a diva. Either way, he obviously holds plenty of talent for the Dodgers to spend big on the rights to negotiate for him. Right now he is slotted in the middle of the rotation, and he should face early favorable pitching matchups, and he has a strong offense backing him up. He won’t be a bargain basement option for daily leaguers for long.
HITTERS
Luis Cruz, 3B: The Dodgers wheeled and dealed, seemingly building an All-Star at every position kind of team. Only it seems they forgot about third base. They have the light-hitting, sure-defending Cruz to handle the hot corner. He handled the position last season for half of the season, hitting a robust .297 with six homers and 40 RBI over 283 at-bats over 78 games in his most extensive time in the majors to date. He didn’t show a great eye at the plate, drawing just nine walks while striking out 34 times, and that is something he’ll need to improve. He will be a filler fantasy option for owners in daily play, allowing you to spend more at other positions. Some nights he might surprise.
Mark Ellis, 2B: The numbers for Ellis last season were generally in line with what he has does over the past few seasons. He managed a pedestrian .258 batting average with seven homers and 31 RBI over 415 at-bats in 110 games in his first full season with the Dodgers. Like Cruz above, he’ll simply be one of those options with a low to mid-level price tag, allowing you to spend heavily at other positions. Occasionally when he gets on a roll, he will be a nice value play, especially since he has a little power and some decent speed. Did you know Ellis has managed 20 or more doubles in nine straight seasons?
Skip Schumaker, IF/OF: Manager Don Mattingly is going to love having the ultra-versatile Schumaker at his disposal, and fantasy owners are going to like using him as well. Some nights, you will see Schumaker spelling Ellis (above) at second base, other times he might be at first base giving Adrian Gonzalez a breather. And he can play all three outfield positions, so he’ll get into the lineup frequently even though he isn’t listed as a starter at any one position. And the nice thing about fantasy is when he is going right, and you need a cheap option, you don’t necessarily have to start him where he is starting that evening. If he is playing left field, something that could be frequent with OF Carl Crawford (elbow) not expected to be at full throwing capacity until May, you can still use Schumaker at second base, etc.
