Fantasy Baseball: National League Sleeper Watch

Last week, we took a look at the top 10 breakout candidates for the 2011 season. This week, we are going to look at the top five sleepers in both the National League and American League.

The difference between a breakout candidate and a sleeper is that a breakout candidate is someone who has been on the scene for a bit now and we think this is the year that he takes it to the next level. A sleeper is someone that just comes out of nowhere to have a productive season and makes a fantasy impact.

A sleeper is also someone who, nine times out of 10, comes from a small market team or a second-tier team. As we all know, there are no sleepers when it comes to the New York and Boston hype machine.

We will take a look at the top five sleepers in the NL now. Later in the week,  we'll take a look at the AL sleepers. Here are the top five sleepers in the NL, in no particular order.

Murphy will get his shot at second in 2011

1. Dan Murphy, New York Mets: To say things haven’t gone Murphy’s way over the past couple of years is a severe understatement. The Mets jerked Murphy around in 2008 and 2009, with position change after position change. He went from third to left then to second. There’s nothing harder than to adjust to major league pitching while trying to learn a new position.

Then in 2010, Murphy had a string of knee injuries that really derailed his season. He only played in 11 minor league games last season

Despite all of this, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for Murphy. He is coming into the 2011 season healthy and ready to roll at second base. All he needs to do to win the second base job out of spring training is beat out Luis Castillo.

Murphy is a career .295 hitter in the minor leagues and isn’t too far removed from a .313 season in 2008. With very little pressure on him to perform in 2011, Murphy can be a nice sleeper candidate at the second base position.

2. Xavier Nady, Arizona Diamondbacks: Nady has always had the talent, but he has been a walking injury since his arrival on the major league scene in 2003. He has played in 140-plus games just once in his career and that was in 2008.

But there are three things I like about Nady in 2011:

A. He will be the starting left fielder for the Diamondbacks.

B. He is playing in a ballpark that is a hitter’s paradise.

C. He will be hitting in the middle of the Diamondbacks’ lineup, which should give him some RBI opportunities.

If Nady can play in over 140 games in 2011 (that’s a big if), then a .275/25/85 season might not be out of the question.

3. Jordan Zimmermann, Washington Nationals: The Nationals' other Zimmermann (Jordan’s is spelled with two of the letter 'n') was off to a good start in 2009. He was averaging nine K/9 and showed some tremendous promise.

Unfortunately, Zimmermann suffered an elbow injury that season and eventually needed the ever-so-popular Tommy John surgery. Zimmermann is now over a year removed from the surgery and should return to his 2009 form.

Zimmermann isn’t on too many people’s radar entering the 2011 season, but with the Nationals somewhat improved, he could be their No.1 starter as the season progresses: 10-12 wins and a high strikeout rate isn’t out of the question for Zimmermann.

4. Brad Hawpe, San Diego Padres: It was just two years ago when Hawpe put up a .285/.384/.519 slash line with 23 HRs for the Colorado Rockies. Then he got off to a terrible start in 2010, and just like that, Hawpe was given his walking papers by the Rockies.

Now Hawpe finds himself in San Diego asthe Padres first baseman heading into 2011. Some are calling him this year’s version of Aubrey Huff.

The similarities are there, but I would be surprised if Hawpe had the year Huff had in 2010. However, that doesn’t mean that he can’t have a good year in 2011.

I think Hawpe has a little left in the tank. I don’t think he is complete toast like Garrett Atkins was when he left the Rockies. My logic for that thinking is that Hawpe wasn’t completely awful for the Rockies in 2010, and he has hit fairly well away from Coors. He has a career. 839 OPS away from Coors, which isn’t too far off from his home OPS of .886.

I don’t think Hawpe will reach his peak Rockie numbers, but if you need a backup first baseman to hit against right-handed pitching when your No. 1 first baseman has off, then Hawpe could be your guy.

David Freese, St. Louis Cardinals: It’s time for Freese to put up or shut up. He will be 27 in April, and he has had to deal with a lot since being traded to the Cardinals in 2007. Freese has had some off-the-field issues in the past, and he is entering spring training this year coming off two ankle surgeries in the last six months.

But no matter what has happened to Freese in the past, the one thing you can’t accuse him of is not being able to hit. In 304 career plate appearances in the major leagues, Freese has put up a .299/.360/.413 slash line with five HRs. Freese has put up decent power numbers in the minors, so his HR total should increase with more playing time.

Due to his gimpy ankles, the Cardinals will take it easy with Freese during spring training. But if he is healthy, he will be surrounded by a solid lineup and will have a chance to put up some good numbers in 2011.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg