5 sleeper third basemen to consider in 2020 fantasy baseball

The 2020 MLB season is going to happen! Maybe. And we could probably have baseball! So, that means it is time to take a look back at our draft prep from back in the pre-Covid era. What year was that?

Below I’ve got some interesting third basemen sleepers for the 60-game season. The designated hitter coming to the National League should help some players see more work this season, but playing time is what we need to keep an eye on for most sleepers as we draft and work waivers.

Travis Shaw, Toronto Blue Jays

Are we getting last year’s Shaw or the Shaw of the previous two seasons? If it’s the former, he’s quickly going to be dropped from your team, but there is reason to believe Shaw isn’t done at the age of 30. It appears that Shaw tried very hard to up his launch angle, as he was second highest angle at 24.5 degrees. That had him swinging high in the zone and missing lots of balls. It feels like this was an adjustment more than Shaw falling off a cliff. That kind of cliff dive doesn’t happen that often, even for players notably in decline. If we can get anything like his 2017 or 2018 seasons, we get value this year.

Nick Senzel, Cincinnati Reds

The delay to the season helped Senzel get his bum shoulder 100 percent. Injuries have been a concern, but when playing, he’s got the goods. Last season, if he could have played a full season, he would have been around 19 homers and 22 stolen bases. A healthy Senzel is a producer and with the DH in the National League, I expect Senzel to have more chances at the plate and his upside is sky high in the Reds lineup.

Yandy Diaz, Tampa Bay Rays

Diaz, like many hard hitting sleepers, needs to get the ball up in the air more often. He has seen a slight improvement to his launch angle over the last three seasons, but he’s still below average. Otherwise, his metrics rank high across the board. He can get on base with a career .350 OBP and if he can stay healthy, he has a much higher upside than he’s being drafted.

Johan Camargo, Atlanta Braves

In 2018, Camargo hit 19 homers in 134 games with a .272/.349/.457 slash line. The question is, will Camargo beat out Austin Riley at third base? It appears he has a real chance to do so and can also see time in the outfield and at DH, which should give him enough at bats to be a useful fantasy player this season.

Miguel Andujar, New York Yankees

In 2018, Andujar hit for a .297 average, .328 on-base percentage, with 47 doubles, 27 home runs and 92 RBIs. Last season he barely saw the field, as he injured his shoulder and had season ending surgery. Now healthy, it would make sense he’d be ready to pick up where he left off, but we still need to make sure he’s going to get at bats before going all in.