Eric Hosmer, 1B, KC
Among other struggling Royals, Hosmer has managed just a .194 BA with 1 HR and 1 2B through the season's first 19 games. His .217 BABIP is bound to rise and so is his BA, but it's fair to wonder if the 25 HR's in 2016 are really an outlier. His high GB% will make it difficult to hit for a lot of power, and it's not like his Hard% has been through the roof either. It's also fair to wonder how valuable a 1B with moderate power can be in fantasy.
Adam Jones, OF, BAL
Jones went 3-3 with a BB, a 2B, and a HR on Monday, giving him a .300 BA with 4 HR's and 10 RBI through the first 18 games this season. His ADP has fallen the past couple of seasons from where it was 3 or 4 years ago, but Jones has remained a consistent producer in several categories. He has hit reached at least 25 HR's and 80 RBI in each of the past 6 seasons, while maintaining a BA of at least .265 in each of the last 9 campaigns, and he's off to a good start in those three categories in 2017 as well. In fact, he's actually shown some improvement in a few important areas, namely his current 11.5% SwStr% and 15.4% K% would be career lows, and most significantly his 9.0% BB% is double his career 4.5% mark. Whether these numbers will regress to his career norms as the season goes on remains to be seen, but it's certainly not a bad sign.
Brad Miller, SS, TB
After a breakout 30-HR campaign a year ago, Miller hasn't been quite as successful to begin the 2017 season with just 1 HR through his first 21 games. In addition to that, his K% has risen to 27.9% and his .247 BA has actually been somewhat lucky considering his .354 BABIP. At this point, it looks like his 20.4% HR/FB from 2016 will be hard to repeat, but Miller will have to at least bring back some of his power to be fantasy relevant because he' s not going to help in the BA category.
Taylor Motter, SS, SEA
Which shortstop has the highest SLG% through the first three weeks of the season? That's right, it's Taylor Motter, who is also tied for the lead among SS's with 5 HR's. It's a small sample but so far the power looks legit, based on his 50% Hard% and 44.7% FB%. His 23.2% K% is above average, but his 8.4% SwStr% indicates that there could be some regression in that area, which alleviates some of the concern of Motter being a BA drain. He could definitely be an improvement at middle infield for many fantasy owners.
Mike Moustakas, 3B, KC
Moustakas has a nice matchup against White Sox rookie RHP Dylan Covey on Tuesday, and he comes for a very reasonable price. Moustakas has already gone deep 6 times on the young season, and has been especially good against RHP's with a .971 OPS against them. Draft Kings Value Play Salary $3200.
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