Young players are all the rage. We are coming off of one of the best seasons in recent memory for rookie players to emerge and play a big part in the fantasy landscape. A year later we need to take a look at the crop of last year’s rookie to see who may have a sophomore slump and who may take another step forward. Here is my full fantasy baseball primer for second-year hitters. Below we dive into a few notable names.
Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice
Matt McLain (SS/2B – CIN): NFBC ADP 61.42
McLain is coming off of a nice season in which he hit .290/.357/.507 with 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 403 plate appearances. McLain had his season cut short by injury, but when he was on the field, he was a fantastic five category performer. He was a bit lucky with the BABIP at .385 so I would expect some regression, but he hit second or third in every single game he played and should continue to do so on one of the best young teams in baseball.
Josh Jung (3B – TEX): NFBC ADP 100.02
Jung had a very underrated season in which he hit .266/.315/.467 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI. Jung has pretty much no speed, but in spite of missing time with an injury, he showed a good amount of power and decent contact skills. I think there is a future 30/100 season at some point for Jung though he needs to show a little better health to get there after two seasons in a row that he struggled with injuries.
Spencer Steer (1B/2B/3B/OF – CIN): NFBC ADP 104.45
Steer is coming off of a great rookie season in which he hit .271/.356/.464 with 23 home runs and stole 15 bases in 665 plate appearances. Steer showed really nice plate skills in the process, striking out at a 21% rate and walking 10% of the time. The only issue for Steer is the playing time. While you would expect that he should play every day, the Reds were already loaded before signing Jeimer Candelario. The signing of Candelario pushes Steer to the outfield where the Reds aren’t as stacked, but still have TJ Friedl, Will Benson and Jake Fraley. I think he still has a full time role, but if there are struggles, he could lose time.
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