3 Forgotten/Overlooked Players

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Posted By: Steven Claxton

As most leagues are likely in or nearing double-digit weeks now, you may have a good idea of how the rest of your season might unfold for your fantasy team. (At least from your perspective.)

Maybe you're an optimist or maybe you're a pessimist. I'd like to believe it's too early to give up on turning a season around at not even the halfway mark - you obviously just need to be more precise with your moves going forward.

Maybe you missed out on drafting Cody Bellinger. Maybe you missed out on picking up Lucas Giolito a couple of weeks into the season. Or maybe you missed out on stashing top midsummer prospects such as Yordan Alvarez.

Again, I say, there are still players out there and, as such, there will be some players going forward. I don't know about you, but I prefer to be early to the party than late regarding adds. So, here are 3 players who have been showing some life lately.

3 Forgotten Players

Carson Kelly - Unless you are a Cardinals fan, from St. Louis, or really know your prospects, there's a good chance you have no idea who Carson Kelly is...or was.

It was only a few years ago when it appeared all but certain Yadier Molina was on his way out of St. Louis and fans were collectively ready for Molina to pass the baton on to the Cardinals' supposed catcher of the future - that being none other than Carson Kelly. The Cardinals then went on to surprise the baseball world by handing out a 3 year, $60 million extension to "Yadi".

In the first two of those three seasons, Molina went on to hit 38 home runs between 2017 and 2018 while still providing adequate defense. In 2019, however, Molina has been mediocre both offensively and defensively - equating to roughly a replacement level player (although he still gets a boost solely based on his position).

Coincidentally, his former-future-heir (got that?), Carson Kelly, seems to finally be getting his shot - and is performing well with the chances he has been given on offense as his full-season pace translates to what could be as nice as 20 home runs and a .280 batting average - great numbers especially from the catcher position.

He is accruing walks at a nice clip of 10% and only striking out at a rate of 16.7%. In fact, he has never been one to strikeout much - having stuck around 15% for the vast majority of the sum of his minor and major league stops.

As he approaches his 25th birthday in July, Kelly's bat looks good as does his approach. He looks athletic out there and appears to be taking advantage of his opportunity. There may be a hiccup or two in the near-future, but I see a player who is rounding into form.

It's still difficult to say just what his ceiling is, but the player we're starting to see is one who looks like someone you could be able to deploy as your starting fantasy catcher. And while his defense doesn't appear to be elite by any means, at least not yet, he grades as an excellent pitch-framer and has still been respectable overall on that front - meaning he could stick around as a starter for the Diamondbacks.

Ramon Laureano - Unfortunately, Ramon Laureano hasn't quite yet taken that next step many were hoping for in his second season - although the sum of both years hasn't even equaled a full season to begin with. 

I know I have discussed him before multiple times and I don't think I've been all that wrong as there was nothing bankable with him other than defense and having both a little bit of power and speed. His plate discipline has been the question mark and continues to be a concern.

*Side-note: Eerily enough, Ramon Laureano and Carson Kelly were only born 1 day apart.*

I still think there are positives to be taken away from his profile. 

Things he is doing great: sprint speed (could mean more steals) and hard-hit rate

Things he is doing well: exit velocity and barrel %

Things he is doing adequately: his OPS is ok

On the surface, it looks like the same guy with the same intriguing potential, but it's still about perspective. For starters, he has 13 hits in his last 37 at-bats (.351 BA). He also has 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 4 RBI, 5 runs, and 1 stolen base. Overall, strikeouts look to have been a part of his game in the past, but this low of a walk rate has not. If there's any one thing that I would think would improve, it would be that. His BABIP is high, but I think he is also just a high BABIP player.

At this point, I would have thought next year would be a year in which we see improvements in his offense if it is going to happen, but he has been hot lately and it's worth noting. Every player responds to their service time differently and parts of one season scattered over two can feel like multiple seasons just because they occurred over the span of two years.

Luis Rengifo - I've been told I have a hard time letting go, and maybe that has been true in my life on occasion, but I tend to think my odds are better with fantasy as far as knowing who to hold on to. And if you've been reading my articles, I have mentioned Rengifo, like Laureano, at least a couple of times.

Also like Laureano, Rengifo has a solid barrel % and a good hard-hit rate (though not quite as good as that of Laureano's). His strikeout rate is a bit higher than you'd like to see, but is still respectable given his age and MLB inexperience. He has balanced that aspect out dramatically with a great walk rate of 12.1%  - a percentage that is typically not seen in 22 year old 1st-year players.

Since being recalled on the 21st of May, Luis Rengifo has 13 hits in 40 at-bats (.325 BA) with 12 runs, 8 RBI, and 6 walks in his most recent 6 games. These are some exciting numbers given his age. 

I see a player whose stock is continuing to grow. He probably should have had our attention being a 21 year old in AAA last year. It looks like he is possibly starting to put it together in the majors. The next step is for Rengifo to parlay some of his minor league stolen base rates in which he looked like a guy who could steal at least 30 bases. Although he looks like more of a doubles and triples hitter, he has shown enough power in the past to suggest he might be able to grow into 15 home run power.

It's still hard to say exactly the type of offensive player he will become, but he's young, on a hot streak, and showing ability to produce in some facet and likely won't cost you anything to add if you hurry up.

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