Season Preview - Outfielders
Examining the top Outfielders for MLB Fantasy Baseball 2018. Season outlooks, projected stats and past stats to prepare you for the coming fantasy drafts.
Khris Davis, OF - Oakland Athletics Sn
Davis heads into 2018 coming off back-to-back 40+ home run seasons (43 and 42 respectively), and provides plenty of production in the power categories. He's not going to help in the batting average department, as he's hit exactly .247 in each of the past three seasons. And while that kind of average isn't exciting, it's also not the killer low .200s that we often see from some power hitters with big home run numbers. Entering his age 30 season Davis feels like a pretty safe bet to repeat a similar output, helping in home runs, RBIs and runs, but not much else. |
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Giancarlo Stanton, OF - New York Yankees Sn
Stanton is coming off an epic season in which he led all of baseball with 59 home runs, drove in 132 and scored 123, while his .281 average was the third best mark of his career. Of course, he's no longer in the National League where he won the MVP last season. He's now in pinstripes and will likely hit third in between Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, who hit 52 and 33 home runs respectively, last season. Staying healthy is always the key with Stanton, as he's played in 125 games or more in only half of his last 8 major league seasons. And playing in the American League should help, as he will now spend some time at DH in addition to the outfield. While we're not likely to see a repeat of last season's home run output, a healthy Stanton could post some truly eye-popping offensive production with the nice lineup bump and huge ballpark upgrade he got in coming to New York. |
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Mark Trumbo, OF - Baltimore Orioles Sn
At this stage in his career Trumbo is penciled into the DH spot on a daily basis and he backslid significantly last year after posting the best season of his career in 2016. It's possible he's hitting the downslope of his career, but at just 32 years old there's every reason to think he can at least provide serviceable power production in what needs to be a bounceback 2018 campaign. If nothing else, he's a cheap power and RBI source who should get plenty of opportunities in a good hitting Baltimore lineup. |
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Bryce Harper, OF - Washington Nationals Sn
Despite heading into just his age 25 season this spring, Harper's massive 2015 NL MVP campaign (42 HRs, 99 RBIs 118 Runs, .330 Avg) feels like ages ago. Yes, he's still one of the premier young players in the game, but after struggling through an awful 2016 season by his standards, Harper missed significant time with injury last year, playing in just 111 games. Unfortunately, that's also become a bit of a reoccuring theme with Harper, for as good as he's been through six big league seasons, he's managed to play in more than 120 games just twice in the past five seasons. Still, when healthy you're getting a top tier outfielder who is capable of contributing across all categories, save for maybe stolen bases, where his production has varied widely from season to season. All of this said, if you're looking for a reason to buy into Bryce in 2018, it's worth noting that he'll hit free agency at the end of this season and he has every incentive in the world to make it a memorable one. |
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Ronald Acuna, OF - Atlanta Braves Sn
Acuna is easily the most promising outfield prospect to come through the Braves organization since Jason Heyward was ranked #1 on Baseball America's list of top prospects nearly a decade ago. Acuna probably won't make the Opening Day roster, as the Braves will look to keep him under club control for an extra season by starting him out at AAA. But even if he only sees around 450 big league at bats starting in May, he's got the power-speed combination to post a 20-20 season with a solid average, even in that sort of shortened season. |
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Lewis Brinson, OF - Miami Marlins |
| Season | AB | H | Avg. | HR | R | RBI | 1B | 2B | 3B | TB | SB | HBP | SO | BB | Pts | Roto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (proj) | 515 | 133 | 0.258 | 21 | 65 | 71 | 81 | 26 | 5 | 211 | 23 | 5 | 131 | 43 | 279.00 | 1513.37 |
| 2018 | 382 | 76 | 0.199 | 11 | 31 | 42 | 10 | 5 | 129 | 2 | 4 | 120 | 17 | 107.00 | 0.00 | |
| 2017 | 47 | 5 | 0.106 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 11.00 | 43.89 |
The Marlin's addition of Cameron Maybin isn't ideal for Brinson, who prior to the signing looked like he'd take over in center field to start the season. Just 23 years old on Opening Day, Brinson was the key piece of the trade that sent Christian Yelich to Milwaukee. Though he had a less than stellar cup of coffee with the Brewers last season, the talent is obvious. While strikeouts continue to be a concern, it's worth noting that Brinson did hit ..349 over 470 AAA plate appearances the past two seasons. Should he make the major league roster out of camp, he's the kind of rare power-speed combo that could put together a 20-20 effort or better, even as a rookie.
Kevin Kiermaier, OF - Tampa Bay Rays Sn
| Season | AB | H | Avg. | HR | R | RBI | 1B | 2B | 3B | TB | SB | HBP | SO | BB | Pts | Roto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (proj) | 528 | 135 | 0.256 | 18 | 70 | 64 | 87 | 26 | 4 | 205 | 19 | 6 | 123 | 46 | 292.00 | 1447.39 |
| 2018 | 332 | 73 | 0.220 | 7 | 44 | 30 | 12 | 9 | 124 | 10 | 6 | 91 | 25 | 117.00 | 0.00 | |
| 2017 | 380 | 105 | 0.276 | 15 | 56 | 39 | 87 | 15 | 3 | 171 | 16 | 5 | 99 | 31 | 248.00 | 425.17 |
| 2016 | 366 | 90 | 0.246 | 12 | 55 | 37 | 67 | 21 | 2 | 151 | 20 | 7 | 74 | 40 | 212.00 | 422.72 |
Despite playing in just 98 games last season, Kiermaier did hit a career high 15 home runs, while stealing 16 bases and hitting a career best .276. A defensive wizard, as long as he can stay healthy he should be the Rays everyday centerfielder and hit near the top of the order. All of this said, keep in mind that this is a Tampa Bay offense that no longer has Logan Morrison, Steven Souza or Evan Longoria so he's not going to be hitting in a particularly potent lineup, and so far in his career he hasn't seemed like the kind of player who can overcome that.
Adam Eaton, OF - Washington Nationals Sn
| Season | AB | H | Avg. | HR | R | RBI | 1B | 2B | 3B | TB | SB | HBP | SO | BB | Pts | Roto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (proj) | 533 | 149 | 0.280 | 11 | 81 | 56 | 105 | 29 | 4 | 208 | 13 | 10 | 106 | 56 | 335.00 | 1445.64 |
| 2018 | 319 | 96 | 0.301 | 5 | 55 | 33 | 19 | 1 | 132 | 9 | 11 | 64 | 38 | 151.00 | 0.00 | |
| 2017 | 91 | 27 | 0.297 | 2 | 24 | 13 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 14 | 70.00 | 181.63 |
| 2016 | 619 | 174 | 0.281 | 13 | 88 | 57 | 134 | 31 | 9 | 262 | 15 | 15 | 115 | 61 | 396.00 | 696.24 |
Eaton is the kind of guy who's a better real life player than he is a fantasy assett. He's a plus glove and gets on base a ton, but he's mostly a mid-low teens home run/mid-high teens stolen base threat who won't kill you in the average department. When he tore his ACL a month into 2017 he was producing at a similar pace to his seasons in Chicago, with one exception: runs. Through his first 23 games Eaton had already crossed the plate 24 times and was on a pace that would have landed him north of 140 runs scored. At some point that likely would have normalized, but for a player who never scored more than 98 runs in a season for the White Sox, that's likely to change hitting near the top of the Nationals lineup.
A.J. Pollock, OF - Arizona Diamondbacks Sn
| Season | AB | H | Avg. | HR | R | RBI | 1B | 2B | 3B | TB | SB | HBP | SO | BB | Pts | Roto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (proj) | 551 | 157 | 0.285 | 21 | 89 | 67 | 95 | 36 | 5 | 245 | 25 | 5 | 94 | 51 | 341.00 | 1362.16 |
| 2018 | 413 | 106 | 0.257 | 21 | 61 | 65 | 21 | 5 | 200 | 13 | 8 | 100 | 31 | 167.00 | 0.00 | |
| 2017 | 425 | 113 | 0.266 | 14 | 73 | 49 | 74 | 33 | 6 | 200 | 20 | 6 | 71 | 35 | 260.00 | 565.44 |
| 2016 | 41 | 10 | 0.244 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 29.00 | 79.14 |
After missing nearly all of 2016 the Diamondbacks eased Pollock back into the lineup last year, giving him regular rest, as he played in just 112 games. This season he's playing on a one year contract and will most certainly hit the free agent market after the season so there's really no need for the organization to hold him back. Even more encouraging for fantasy owners is that last year Pollock was essentially on track to duplicate or better many of his counting stats from his breakout 2015 season. The lone exceptions were in the average and OBP departments, where he should be able to get back on track this season as the DBacks everyday outfielder. The only real question here is the one he's constantly carried as a major leaguer: Can he stay on the field?
Mookie Betts, OF - Boston Red Sox Sn
| Season | AB | H | Avg. | HR | R | RBI | 1B | 2B | 3B | TB | SB | HBP | SO | BB | Pts | Roto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (proj) | 575 | 173 | 0.301 | 27 | 103 | 90 | 104 | 40 | 2 | 271 | 22 | 3 | 73 | 64 | 380.00 | 1317.34 |
| 2018 | 520 | 180 | 0.346 | 32 | 129 | 80 | 47 | 5 | 333 | 30 | 8 | 91 | 81 | 309.00 | 0.00 | |
| 2017 | 628 | 166 | 0.264 | 24 | 101 | 102 | 119 | 45 | 2 | 287 | 26 | 2 | 79 | 77 | 386.00 | 755.13 |
| 2016 | 672 | 214 | 0.318 | 31 | 122 | 113 | 167 | 41 | 6 | 360 | 27 | 2 | 80 | 49 | 503.00 | 706.97 |
Heading into his age 25 season, Betts seems well on his way to becoming one of the better leadoff hitters in baseball. While his averaged dipped significantly last season from his first three years in the majors, the rest of his offensive numbers stayed relatively consistent. There's no reason to think the average won't bounce back, and Betts is a perennial 25 HR-25 SB candidate who managed to both score and drive in 100 runs in each of his last two seasons. It was clear that Boston missed David Ortiz last year, and plugging J.D. Martinez's big bat into the middle of the lineup should help to re-anchor that lineup overall.
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