Welcome. Hopefully you’ve been following our 2019 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit. If you haven’t we hope these AL East Outfielder Profiles and Projections will help you in getting to know the 2019 player pool. Enjoy the read and look for links to our other profiles at the bottom of the page.
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2019 NL West Outfield Profiles
Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies
Blackmon’s one of the safer fantasy assets around. He’s been exceptionally durable, he hits at the top of the order in baseball’s most hitter-friendly parks, and he’s hovered around 30 homers and 15 steals each of the last three years. There are some signs of cracks in the foundation as Blackmon enters his mid-30’s; his strikeout and groundball rates have each increased over the past few seasons. Still, Blackmon’s “decline” has been gradual, and he’s coming from an upper-echelon level. He’s still an elite fantasy option, likely a top ten outfielder yet again. – Anthony Franco
Socrates Brito, Arizona Diamondbacks
Brito has a great name and is an intriguing athlete, but he hasn’t been able to turn physical talent into baseball performance. Arizona is in rebuilding mode and the roster lacks “must-start” alternatives in the outfield, which could provide Brito an opening that so far he has never been able to take advantage of, but it’s unlikely. He is more of a hindrance to more viable Diamondback outfielders than a legitimate Fantasy consideration himself. Read my weekly, in-season “Trends and NoteWorthy” column to find out if he strings together NoteWorthy stretches of Fantasy relevance, but he can be ignored during draft season. – Chris Mitchell
Franchy Cordero, San Diego Padres
Cordero has the explosive tools to be a five-tool Fantasy star if he can find a way to put it all together. There was a lot of buzz surrounding those tools in 2018, but the result was a disappointing fizzle rather than a satisfying sizzle. He has had impressive moments in the minor leagues, but he has to prove he can make consistent contact at the major league level in order to reach his home run and stolen base potential. He has the raw ability to be a 30 home run, 20-30 stolen bases OF and it looks like he will be the Padres starting center fielder as long as he doesn’t blow the opportunity. Cordero needs to be rostered in all formats while owners need to be cautious not to overreach for the tools and ignore the risk. Follow along with upcoming Fantrax ADP articles to see whether Cordero is an overdrafted reach or underappreciated steal. The ceiling justifies close monitoring of this guy because he could be a steal. Think Carlos Gomez in his break out year. Corder can be that value. – Chris Mitchell
David Dahl, Colorado Rockies
David Dahl’s long been a favorite of scouts, but his brief MLB performance has been somewhat underwhelming. His .293/.341/.518 line plays, but his respective 25% strikeout and 6.7% walk rates don’t inspire too much confidence. Coors Field aids BABIPs, but Dahl’s probably not a true talent .293 hitter just yet, especially with his dreadful numbers against left-handed pitching. In Dahl’s defense, he’s never had a full season of consistent playing time, so it’s reasonable to hope that his plate discipline clicks as he finds a rhythm. At age-24, Dahl’s got five-category upside, but there’s more risk here too than his surface numbers would indicate. – Anthony Franco
Steven Duggar, San Francisco Giants
If I asked you to name a starting outfielder for the 2019 San Francisco Giants could you do it? Would you want to? Duggar looks to get the nod in center field for the Giants and will likely lead off as well. The .303 OBP says that might not work out so well. Duggar rode a .354 BABIP to a .255 batting average? What’s going to happen when his BABIP regresses? It won’t be pretty. NL-Only owners might be able to sneak 15 steals or so out of Duggar, but there’s not much more. The Giants are using Duggar because they really have no one else. Hopefully your fantasy team does. – Doug Anderson
Jarrod Dyson, Arizona Diamondbacks
Dyson is on a major league roster because he is a rabbit on the bases and a plus-defender in the field, but the bat is woefully lite. He provides zero power and has a career .251 batting average. Dyson will have to fight for playing time in centerfield with Abraham Almonte and even Socrates Brito, depending on who hits and who doesn’t. Plus-plus stolen base potential makes him an intriguing one-trick pony while the rest of his Fantasy profile leaves him irrelevant in mixed leagues and borderline but acceptable in NL-Only. Dyson has an outside chance to earn a meaningful total of at-bats due to his plus defense and as a pinch runner as a speedster in the National League system where pinch hitters, runners and the double-switch provide opportunities for a player like Dyson to enhance his contributions. He is more of a player to monitor than to own or stash and hope. At his best, he is still a limited player with more flaws than virtues. – Chris Mitchell
Travis Jankowski, San Diego Padres
Janikowski would be an intriguing Fantasy player in deep leagues if he was on a less crowded team and was expected to receive something close to full-time at-bats. As things stand, he is a one-tool talent (stolen bases) who defends well enough to be a defensive replacement and semi-part time player but doesn’t hit for enough power or make enough consistent contact to deserve full-time opportunities. He is a nuisance to more impactful Fantasy options like Hunter Renfroe, Franmil Reyes and Manuel Margot than a viable one on his own. If he does receive part-time at-bats his plus stolen base ability makes him worth owning in NL-Only and a spot starter in rotisserie leagues and daily transaction formats. Like a lot of the Padres outfielders, they do one thing very well and if owners can utilize them in their specific roles, they can contribute. – Chris Mitchell
Manuel Margot, San Diego Padres
Margot’s got elite sprint speed, but he went just 11-21 in stolen base attempts last season. Maybe he doesn’t have the instincts to be a true stolen base threat, but he’s got speed and opportunity to dream on. While his surface numbers don’t reflect it, he showed signs of offensive maturation in 2018. His average exit velocity was up three miles per hour from 2017 and he pulled the ball more without sacrificing any of his bat-to-ball skills. Despite logging over 1,000 MLB plate appearances, he just turned 24. He hits too many pop-ups to hit .300, but it’s possible he’s on the verge of a mini-breakout. As he enters his prime, Margot could hit .270 with 20-20 upside. – Anthony Franco
Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers
Pederson has systematically cut his strikeout rate in each of his four MLB seasons. Last year, he took his offensive game to a new level. He got more aggressive, hit the ball harder and sported a career-high fly ball rate. Entering his age-27 season, it’s reasonable to think he’s entering his prime. He can’t hit left-handed pitching, so he’s more valuable in daily leagues, where owners can better respond to his platoon usage, but even with the limits on his usage, he could hit 30 home runs and drive in 75 amidst an elite LA offense. – Anthony Franco
David Peralta, Arizona Diamondbacks
Peralta had a quiet power breakout in 2018, slugging 30 home runs after never previously having exceeded 17 in a season. There’s probably some luck involved there; he didn’t hit more fly balls, and while his hard contact rate was the highest of his career, his exit velocity on air balls, which Al Melchior has found the most predictive batted ball metric, was only marginally improved from 2017. Even if he doesn’t sustain all of his power gains, Peralta’s a solid #2 outfielder in fantasy. He makes above-average contact, should hit 20 homers and has a chance to threaten double-digit steals. He’ll no longer have AJ Pollock or Paul Goldschmidt to drive him in, but he’s a passable five-category contributor. – Anthony Franco
Hunter Renfroe, San Diego Padres
If there was a direct and clear path to 600 at-bats Renfroe would be a must-own, one tool, late round pick in mixed leagues. He is an above average defensive right fielder with the power to slug his way to full-time starts while he hurts his cause in batting average, OBP and in Fantasy purposes, his lack of stolen base potential. The Padres are overflowing with possible outfielders and without a clear path to full-time at-bats, the power isn’t enough to make him a target in mixed leagues. He is worth owning at the end of a Fantasy bench if the seats are available, but ideally he is a player to monitor and then claim when the Padres outfield picture becomes more clear. In NL-Only he should be owned early in the season while the playing time works itself out, but with Wil Myers and Franchy Cordero looking like full time locks, it’s difficult to see how a heavy-handed platoon doesn’t suppress Renfroe and the other Padre outfielders Fantasy prospects in 2019. – Chris Mitchell
Franmil Reyes, San Diego Padres
After struggling in his first look at Major League pitching, Reyes got a second chance and took full advantage. On Aug. 4 Reyes was hitting .221 with six homers and eight RBI in 111 plate appearances. A little math says that he went on to hit .318 with 10 HRs and 23 RBI over his final 174 PAs. Reyes hit a combined 32 HRs in 2018 and he had 25 in 2017 in Double-A, so there’s real 30-homer potential here. The problem is that with Wil Myers headed back to the outfield there’s no guaranteed slot for Reyes. Roster Resource has him projected to start the 2019 season in the minors. I have to think the talent will win out at some point, but as of now Reyes is a reserve pick at best in mixed leagues. I’m still drafting him as a starter in NL-Only leagues, but we’ll likely have to wait awhile for the reward. – Doug Anderson
Chris Shaw, San Francisco Giants
Shaw is a big man with big power… and big holes in his game. He’s played mostly first base in the minors, but it looks like he’s going to see at-bats in right field for the Giants. Shaw got a late-season trial in 2018 and struck out 23 times in his 54 at-bats 37.1 K%). That shouldn’t have been too surprising following a 34.1 mark in 422 Triple-A PAs. Shaw has no speed and was considered unathletic at first base. Should be interesting to see how that plays out in right field. NL-Only owners might be able to sneak double-digit homers out of Shaw, but it’s likely to come with significant batting average damage. More likely his limitations get him sent back down in pretty short order. Just not much here to suggest he has any real future, in fantasy or reality. – Doug Anderson
Austin Slater, San Francisco Giants
On any other team Slater would just be organizational depth. On the Giants he could see significant time in the outfield. Throughout his minor league career and in his two short Major League stints Slater has hit much better against left-handed pitching. A natural platoon with Chris Shaw would seem to make sense… Well, make sense when this is all the depth the Giants have in the outfield. Slater has a little speed and decent pop, but it’s hard to see him getting enough at-bats to make a fantasy impact. If he does get more play, it likely means more time against right-handers which would sing his average. Slater is nothing more than a reserve pick in NL-Only formats until he proves otherwise. – Doug Anderson
Steven Souza Jr., Arizona Diamondbacks
Souza’s 2018 season was a disaster. Perhaps Chase Field’s new humidor beat him down; his HR/FB rate plummetted. Souza strikes out too much to be productive without the longball. Fortunately, his profile seems primed for positive regression. The aforementioned home run rate was unsustainably low and Souza made more contact than he ever had in Tampa. In 2018, he suffered through a nagging pectoral strain which conceivably could sap his bat speed. Healthy now, there’s hope for a bounceback. He’ll hurt you in batting average, but he’s still got power-speed upside. – Anthony Franco
Raimel Tapia, Colorado Rockies
Tapia has the perfect 25th man major league profile. He can defend and he has enough of an overall offensive profile to contribute to every Fantasy category without having a prohibitive hole in his game. Any player with the potential of full-time at-bats in Coors field is viable in NL-Only formats. The question is does he have enough potential to justify a roster spot in mixed leagues. Tapia had an enlightening 2018 season at Triple-A, hitting 14 home runs while stealing 21 bases and batting .302 in 105 games played. But, he had never been “that guy” prior to 2018 and he is at the back-end of the priority list, behind Ian Desmond and possibly even Michael Saunders. Tapia is a player to monitor in deep leagues and a player to stash in NL-Only ones. There is potential, but its a low-percentage bet he becomes viable without injuries in the Rockies outfield. – Chris Mitchell
Andrew Toles, Los Angeles Dodgers
Toles isn’t that far away from receiving the at-bats necessary to be on the Fantasy radar in Los Angeles. He has never flashed the tools to be relevant even if the at-bats materialize and it’s unlikely the Dodgers would be satisfied with such a limited player in a full-time roll. Toles can be ignored in all formats until he earns our attention. – Chris Mitchell
Alex Verdugo, Los Angeles Dodgers
As the Dodgers are currently constituted Verdugo looks to be a significant part of their 2019 plans. He is ranked by all outlets as a top prospect and his hit-tool is plus to plus-plus (career .309 minor league batting average), but in Fantasy baseball we want home runs and stolen bases too. He hasn’t hit 15 home runs or stole 15 bases in a season and while Verdugo is only 22 years old, to get excited in deeper leagues I want to see some numbers on the back of the baseball card before I invest. He has the hit tool to bat .290-.310, making him viable in NL-Only formats as a third outfielder and a player to monitor in mixed leagues. He lacks the ceiling to target him in mixed leagues while his batting average provides a safe floor if owners want to stash him to see if his power develops. He merits a late-round flier pick. – Chris Mitchell
Mac Williamson, San Francisco Giants
Mac Williamson is the one shining light in the San Francisco outfield… just kidding. Williamson is a 29-year-old fifth outfielder type with a bit of pop and not much else. He hasn’t hit for an average over .269 since 2015 in Double-A. He doesn’t run much and likely tops out in the mid-teens as far as homers go, and that’s with full-time play. Williamson offers a bit of value in NL-only leagues, but mostly just because the Giants have no other viable options. I’d rather give players with more long term upside a chance. – Doug Anderson
Enjoying these 2019 NL West Outfield Profiles? For more great rankings, strategy, and analysis check out the 2019 FantraxHQ Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit. We’ll be adding more content from now right up until Opening Day!
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Where is Chris Taylor??
He was profiles at shortstop since he would most likely be used there in fantasy.