Rocket Sports’ Fantasy 500

• Our weekly look at some movers, shakers and difference-makers in the world of fantasy baseball.

Note: all stats current as of close of play on September 17, 2015. Position designations are determined by Yahoo eligibility rules; check your league settings for eligibility requirements.

Logan Forsythe, Tampa Bay Rays (photo Buck Davidson)

The season is winding down, but there are still plenty of opportunities out there for the savvy fantasy baseball manager. This week, we’ll take a look at a few veterans who are flying under the fantasy radar, and spotlight a youngster who has performed better than his season’s numbers might indicate. Read on and good luck this week!

Hitters:

Logan Forsythe, 1B/2B, Tampa Bay Rays: Forsythe has quietly – which is the way baseball-related things happen in Tampa Bay these days – cobbled together a solid season, but he is still owned in less than half of Yahoo leagues.  Forsythe has carved out a .292-7-25 batting line and .833 OPS in 54 second-half outings, and he should be a good source of fantasy production the rest of the way.

Justin Ruggiano, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers: This pick is for you daily league players out there: Ruggiano has been outstanding against lefties this season, smacking out a 1.012 OPS in 61 at-bats, and he owns a .860 career OPS against southpaws. Ruggiano has been on a tear since coming to the Dodgers September 1, and he looks like a good low-cost DFS option when he’s in the lineup and facing a lefty.

Jayson Werth, OF, Washington Nationals: It’s been an injury-riddled year for the Nats’ slugger, and he was dropped in many fantasy leagues as a result. Lately, though, he has looked like his old self – rapping out a .303-6-13 line with a robust 1.008 OPS through 16 games in September. Werth is owned in just over half of Yahoo leagues, and it’s worth a peek at your free-agent pool to see if he might be languishing on the wire.

Pitchers:

Josh Tomlin, SP, Cleveland Indians: Tomlin missed a big chunk of the season as he recovered from shoulder surgery back in April, but he has been outstanding since returning to the majors in mid-August. Through his first seven starts, the veteran has forged a 5-2 record, 2.70 ERA and 0.68 WHIP – while holding opposing batters to a .172 batting average. Tomlin’s career track record indicates that a correction is in store, but this is a bandwagon worth riding while it’s rolling along at such a breakneck pace.

Eduardo Rodriguez, SP, Boston Red Sox: The 22-year-old southpaw has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last five starts, and he has allowed more than three earned runs in only two of his 10 starts this season. Unfortunately, the disastrous nature of those outings has served to inflate his ERA and WHIP considerably. Check the matchup for Rodriguez’s next start; if he draws the punchless Rays, he’s well worth running out there in mixed leagues or possibly DFS play.

Ervin Santana, SP, Minnesota Twins: Santana had been struggling since returning from his 80-game suspension, but lately he has been on a rather impressive roll.  Santana has allowed just five earned runs over his last four starts – spanning 29 innings – while fanning 32 batters and lowering his ERA from 6.05 to 4.55. Santana has shown that he can be a solid MLB starter, and he could be worth adding to your fantasy roster now that he seems to have righted his ship.

That’ll do it for this week; good luck in your fantasy leagues and we’ll talk again soon.