Fantasy Baseball Watch List – Sleeper Central – July 23

Brooms were out in full force around the Major Leagues as eight teams completed sweeps of their weekend series. Whether your team was on the right or wrong end of the broom, hopefully it was a solid weekend for your fantasy team. If not, check out these guys as possible upgrades or additions if your team is in need of a mid-summer face lift. For more ideas, come back each day for a full lineup of contributing players owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues in what we call our Sleeper Central (archive here).

Sleeper Awakening

Brennan Boesch – Det: (owned in 28.7% of ESPN leagues) In his last seven games, Boesch has three home runs and nine RBI. He’s lit up the month of July hitting .380 with an OPS of 1.155. After some early struggles, the Detroit lineup is growing into the juggernaut that many predicted it would be when the team was constructed. Batting in the five or six spot has allowed Boesch to be the beneficiary of Price Fielder’s and Miguel Cabrera’s increased production. He has 11 home runs and 43 RBI on the season but is a great pickup right now as he and the Tigers battle it out for first place in the AL Central.

Sleeper Starting Lineup

C– Ryan Doumit – Min: (9.7% owned in ESPN leagues) 3-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR. Doumit has nine home runs and 45 RBI on the year while hitting .291 in a DH/OF/C role for the Twins.

1B– Juan Rivera – LAD: (1.7%) 1-3, R, RBI, HR.Rivera has two home runs in four games and five in limited action for LA. He may see more time at 1B in place of James Loney.

2B– Stephen Lombardozzi – Was: (1.8%) 1-5. Lombardozzi is set to play 2B and leadoff everyday for the Nats shile Ian Desmond is on the DL. Definitely worth a look moving forward.

3B– Wilson Betemit – Bal: (1.0%) 2-4, R, RBI, HR. Betemit is hitting .255 with 11 long balls and 34 RBI and is in the lineup almost everyday somwhere for the O’s.

SS– Everth Cabrera – SD: (2.3%) 2-2, 2 R, BB. Cabrera has become a catalyst for the Padres offense and is 18-18 in stolen base attempts. He has scored four runs in his last five games and 23 on the year. If you haven’t seen his steal of home from Saturday night, it’s a must-see highlight.

OF– Brennan Boesch – Det: (28.7%) 2-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB. See above.

OF– Roger Bernadina – Was: (0.3%) 3-4, 2 RBI, BB, SB. Forcing his way into the lineup more often. In his last three games this weekend against Atlanta he went 8-11 with a pair of steals and raised his average for the year to .292 with 11 steals, a pair of homers, and 17 RBI.

OF– Jon Jay – Stl: (20.2%) 4-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B. Jay’s back over .300 at .304. He had a pair of doubles and four RBI in the last two games against the Cubs. His owners hope this is the beginning of him turning things back around.

OF– Nate Schierholtz – SF: (0.6%) 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, BB. Shierholtz hit a pair of homers and has a mini three-game hitting streak after a nice series in Philadelphia.

OF– John Mayberry Jr. – Phi: (2.4%) 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR. Mayberry has eight home runs but is still hitting just .237 this year.

AL Starting Pitcher– Blake Beavan – Sea: (0.2%) 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W. Beavan had his best outing of the year and picked up his second win in as many starts.

NL Starting Pitcher– Jeff Karstens – Pit: (5.5%) 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W. Karstens shut down the hapless Marlins as he dropped his ERA to 3.52 overall and a filthy 0.64 home ERA.

Relief Pitcher– Junichi Tazawa – Bos: (0.0%) 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Tazawa saved the Sox bullpen after the early trouncing of Jon Lester. He way not get a start, but is a valuable piece pitching multiple innings for Boston.