Well, since we last chatted a little-known and lightly rostered pitcher threw a no-hitter, Bryce Harper broke out of a slump with a three-homer night and Shohei Ohtani raised the volume at Dodger Stadium to airplane-takeoff levels with his first home run in blue. Ho-hum, just another week in the MLB season.
Let’s see what this week has ahead of us. Here are some Deep Sleepers who are rostered in 20% or less of leagues. Salud!
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6 Fantasy Baseball Deep Sleepers & Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 3
The shortstop may be hitting seventh or eighth for the Braves, but when it’s a roster this packed with talent, one bat off the waiver wire could turn into a gem. Arcia is hitting an unconscious .450 in the early part of the season, which is unsustainable. But for him to be on base when the lineup turns over to Ronald Acuna Jr. at the top could mean some runs from Arcia. He won’t steal bases, but if he replicates the 17 home runs from last year fantasy managers would be ecstatic.
Zack Littell (SP/RP – TB): 16%
Littell is someone I’ve touted since spring training, as he showed great control in his first year in Tampa Bay after being released by Boston last May. Littell had a K-BB rate of 72-9 in 87 innings last season. The righty should remain in the Rays’ rotation for at least the foreseeable future and could get some cheap wins and help with the ratios in the meantime. When in doubt, grab Tampa reclamation projects.
In his first year with the Marlins, Anderson is off to a slow start hitting .231. The 2019 AL batting champion is going to play every day for Miami and has been hitting sixth or seventh in the lineup. He’ll likely be showcased for a contender to possibly trade for him at the deadline, so look for him to get plenty of opportunity to put up some numbers. He did get three hits in the first two games of a series against the Angels this week, so there might be signs of his bat waking up.
The lefty gave up three runs (one earned) in his 2024 debut, but there were some encouraging signs for the rest of the season. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven Tampa Bay hitters. With a fastball in the low 90s, Heaney could be considered a crafty lefty. But on the reigning world champions, Heaney could get wins just going five or six innings on the regular. He gets the Astros at home on April 8.
Could Wicks actually be a streaming option against the otherworldly Dodger lineup on April 6? Well, temperatures could be in the high 40s that day and that tends to cool off even the hottest bats, especially if the wind is blowing in at Wrigley Field. So for fantasy managers looking for a one-start pitcher who could stick around — likely as long as Justin Steele is on the shelf — Wicks could be the guy. He did strike out six in four innings in an uneven 2024 debut against Texas.
This “gentleman” – the English translation of “caballero” – is off and running in the first week of the 2024 season with a .316 average. He’s hitting mostly in the bottom third of the lineup but still has three steals in this limited sample size. Caballero stole 26 bases last year, and figures to be in the starting lineup for the Rays for the immediate future.
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