Last week I kicked off the Deep Sea Diving series going back over the players covered in 2024. Today we're going to look at 6 different hitters who have Fantrax Ownership percentages at 1% or lower to kick off the coverage for this season.

PLIVE+ Deep Sea Diving 5/9/25: Reviewing the Players Covered from 2024
Smada reviews and catches up on the players highlighted from his Deep Sea Diving series from last season
Prospects LiveSmada

To find these hitters I utilized PLIVE+ stat filters to create four different projection profile groups. They are:

  • Power Without Debilitating Strikeouts
  • Plate Skills
  • Well Rounded
  • High-End Speedsters With a Shot

You can recreate these groups with filters in the PLIVE+ app. The filter criteria is listed with each group below. For those that don't know, PLIVE+ is our stats-only prospect ranking based off Jordan Rosenblum's OOPSY Peak Projections. You can get PLIVE+ along with prospect rankings, dynasty rankings and more under the 60 Tier subscription ($10/mo).

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Prospects LiveSmada

All leaderboards and Fantrax Ownership percentages pulled on 5/9/25. Let's move on to the players!

Power Without Debilitating Strikeouts

Filter Criteria: 25+ HR, < 30% K

It can be difficult to find low-owned power bats because they are usually the first to get the hype, especially those who are not striking out at a 35%+ clip. Surprisingly, the two players at the bottom of this list of 18 players are both low-owned and somewhat intriguing.

Ryan Ward, 1B/OF LAD (Triple-A)

1% owned on Fantrax

Ryan Ward hit 33 HR with 11 SB over 520 PA last season at Triple-A as a 26-year-old. It's a full strong-side platoon profile for the lefty as he's struggled against LHP throughout his career, including the small sample this season. While he's put up great old-for-level HR numbers, the whiffs and Ks have always been present even against RHP. But, through 153 PA in 2025, Ward has significantly reduced the whiffs and the chase while increasing the in-zone contact. He's kept the power, hitting 8 HR through his 35 games all leading to a 149 wRC+.

We have the obviously small samples size caveat here, but the 27 year-old Ward could finally be forcing a call up (or trade) and could end up playing well in a platoon situation. Obviously he's an add more in deeper leagues where a decent strong side platoon bat is valuable.

Esmerlyn Valdez, 1B/OF PIT (High-A)

1% owned on Fantrax

Esmerlyn Valdez brought the boom stick out in Single-A last season, leading the league with 22 HR over 435 PA as a 20 year-old. However it was a low-contact, passive profile with a 13.6% BB and 30.6% K. In the move to High-A he's continued hitting bombs, with 8 HR in 121 PA while still striking out, though not at an alarming rate (27.3%). Valdez has also had a pull-heavy profile throughout his career and that's continued with a 52.4% pull this season.

With the projected 29.9% K he barely meets the standards of this search. But if you're wanting to take a chance on a low-owned player who can actually mash and is likely to rise in trade value, Valdez is your guy.

Side-note: he's also the only player I've ever seen homer wearing a balaclava.

Plate Skills

Filter Criteria: < 18% K, 10%+ BB, 100+ wRC+

The players on this list typically don't have power or are late to the gains, but they often end up MLB players. Most recently Chase Meidroth and Nacho Alvarez Jr. were players who have shown that to be true and certainly gain value as prospects once they hit the higher levels. Outside of the elite, some established MLB players like Steven Kwan, Alejandro Kirk, J.P. Crawford, Geraldo Perdomo and Ha-Seong Kim fit the mold. Two low-owned players stick out from this list.