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Don't Believe The Hype: Part-Time Outfielders Edition

Washington, DC, USA; Colorado Rockies first baseman Tyler Colvin (21) singles against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. The Rockies defeated the Nationals 5 - 1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE
Washington, DC, USA; Colorado Rockies first baseman Tyler Colvin (21) singles against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. The Rockies defeated the Nationals 5 - 1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

There wasn't any baseball played this week, thanks to the All-Star break, but that just means owners had more time to talk themselves into picking up certain players. Pitchers were also dropped, too, with Andrew Cashner expected to miss a month due to a lat strain, and Garrett Richards suffering from some rookie woes the cause of his sudden unpopularity. For some reason, 12 percent of owners are still holding out hope for Daisuke Matsuzaka, but given he was cut in nine percent of leagues this past week, that can't be lasting for much longer.

As for the adds...

Tyler Colvin, 1B/OF (62 percent owned, +39 percent): Colvin has 200 plate appearances this year in part-time duty with the Rockies, but it's pretty clear from that stretch that he's a fan of the offense-oriented Coors. On the season, Colvin is at .305/.335/.626 with 13 homers and 29 extra-base hits overall, and while much of that has come at home -- Colvin has a 1104 OPS at Coors -- he hasn't been slouching on the road, either, with a .283/.308/.525 line. Well, maybe if you're in a league with on-base percentage, you want a little more out of him, but Colvin is a neat piece in a deep league, especially if you can limit yourself to his home games. I'm not sure I buy Colvin for any significant length of time, but while he's on the Rockies, and he gets at-bats in Coors, he's a fun novelty piece to swap in when you need the pop.

Justin Ruggiano, CF/LF (29 percent owned, +20 percent): Justin Ruggiano has busted out over the last week, hitting four homers in seven games after hitting just a pair in his previous 25. He's up to .390/.457/.756, and while you don't need me to tell you that's highly unrealistic going forward, Ruggiano is still somewhat interesting. As a 29-year-old at Triple-A Durham, Ruggiano hit .304/.378/.518, and he mashed even more while with Houston's Triple-A affiliate in 2012. Now in the majors with the Marlins, he's making the most of the opportunity given to him. In 130 career MLB games, Ruggiano is at .274/.323/.477. I'd have to think that's the high end of what he's capable of if the Marlins give him constant at-bats, but that's not bad in a deeper format. You can't exactly trust a 30-year-old having a hot couple of weeks in one of his only stretches of consistent playing time, but Ruggiano has at least shown some power in his bat in the past, albeit in limited doses.

Travis Wood, SP (39 percent owned, +14 percent): A week ago, Wood was also a popular item, and the warning you received was that he was nowhere near as good as his ERA, but in deeper leagues, there was no harm in giving him a shot. Nothing has changed on that front, especially after seeing Wood walk more hitters than he struck out in his very next start. He's not bad, by any means, but in fantasy, he's not exactly good, either. NL-only leagues, he's an obvious arm. Deep mixed leagues with more than 14 teams? That's your other type of spot for him.

Ben Sheets, SP (18 percent owned, +13 percent): Ben Sheets either has everyone scared off because of his last attempt at a comeback, or no one is aware that he's starting on Sunday for the first time since 2010. He missed bats in the minors, as you expect Ben Sheets to do -- especially 33-year-old Ben Sheets -- and if you need the extra pitching depth, he's an intriguing option, especially since the Braves are more positives than negatives on defense these days. Starting him right away? Probably not my favorite idea. But he's worth a stash, since if he does come out of the gate strong, people will remember who he is very quickly.

Delmon Young, LF (53 percent owned, +10 percent): Delmon Young is becoming notorious for this kind of up-and-down stuff, where everyone cuts him after getting tired of watching him fail miserably, and then he picks things back up like he has of late, when he's hit .300 and slugged over .700 with four homers in July already. No more, Delmon Young! You won't trick me any longer. Especially in leagues where OBP is a thing. (Or, to put it another way: Young has four homers in July, but just 10 on the year, and is slugging all of .418 despite a decent .271 batting average. Walk away. It's not like Delmon is going to walk after you.)

AL-only

Yuniesky Betancourt, SS/2B (6 percent owned, +1 percent): Not my favorite option either, but he's been getting playing time with Chris Getz on the disabled list. You could do worse in AL-only. But probably not in mixed, since not many worse than this get consistent playing time.

NL-only

Jason Grilli, RP (10 percent owned, +1 percent): Grilli isn't going to get saves for you, especially with the Pirates in contention and Joel Hanrahan continuing to rack up saves in Pittsburgh because of it, but he's having a dominating season out of the bullpen, and a roster spot might better be used on him than some awful fifth starter who is just going to kill your rate stats, anyway.