Fantasy Baseball Recap-Sleeper Central-July 9

Baseball has made it to the break. It’s time for the three-day breather that is the Midseason Spectacular of the All-Star game, Home Run Derby, and fantasy baseball roster overhaul time.

As you evaluate what you need to add/subtract, check out my Fantasy Baseball AL All-Star selections running on the fansided.com mothership. Also make sure to drop a bookmark here at FantasyCPR for tons of upcoming fantasy football coverage and still plenty of MLB during the second half of what shapes up to be a crazy finish. Each day you can catch sleepers to know and spot starters to add right here on CPR plus off the radar for more in-depth coverage and the weekly top 10 waiver wire pickups.

Here’s today’s sleeper central to keep you company during the down time in the derby.

Sleeper Awakening

Yasmani Grandal – C – SD: Grandal went 2-4 with a runs scored in the final game of the first half for the Pads bringing his average to .286 (10-35) after his first 10 games in the Majors. Half of those hits have gone for extra-bases as Grandal has a double, four home runs and six RBI while scoring seven runs and striking out eight times. If he played a different position, it would be easy to dismiss Grandal, but in a power-offense thin catching pool he’s worth knowing about. If you need a pickup at catcher he’s still available in over 90% of leagues and San Diego seems committed to plugging him into the fifth spot in their order for the rest of the season. Don’t drop a great catcher for him, but he’s a solid pickup if you need offense from the often-dry position behind home plate.

Sleeper Starting Lineup

C– Yasmani Grandal -SD: (owned in 8.5% of ESPN leagues) 2-4, R, K. See above.

1B– Casey Kotchman – Cle: (0.4%) 3-5, R, 3 RBI, HR. April batting average-.149 July batting average-.368. Two home runs in his last five games, eight on the year.

2B– Pedro Ciriaco – Bos: (0.6%) 3-4, 2R, BB, SB. Last two games: 7-12 , 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 SB. Should get a chance to play while Pedroia is sidelined. Was hitting great at AAA and makes a nice short-term fill-in.

3B– Jordan Pacheco – Col: (1.5%) 2-3, R, 2B. Avg-.302 on the year.

SS– Zack Cozart – Cin: (23.5%) 2-5, R, 2B. Avg-.252 with 9 HR, 17 RBI, 46 R batting leadoff everyday for the Reds.

OF– Michael Brantley – Cle: (44.3%) 3-4, 2B, BB. Hit in 10 straight to raise Avg-.288. 42 RBI, 24 2B, 38 R, 10 SB on the year.

OF– Reed Johnson – ChC: (0.1%) 2-4, 2 R. Hitting leadoff for second time in three games. Avg-.302, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 21 R in just 149 at-bats. Worth a look if playing regularly atop the lineup.

OF– Andruw Jones – NYY: (0.4%) 2-5, R, 3 RBI, HR. Four home runs in last three games, 11 total on the year.

DH– Delmon Young – Det: (23.2%) 2-4, 2 R, RBI, HR. Four games in a row with a home run bringing his total to 10 on the year. Primed for a big second half?

AL Starting Pitcher– Cole De Vries – Min: (0.3%) 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K against Texas. Ine three of five starts has allowed one or zero earned runs.

NL Starting Pitcher– Trevor Bauer – Ari: (37.6%) 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Finally delivered on promise and will look to build on it in the second half.

Relief Pitcher– Sean Doolittle – Oak: (0.1%) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Has allowed runs in just 2 of 11 appearances. 2.45 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 24 K in 14.2 IP.