After an extremely disappointing April (.228/.301/.380), Cincinnati Reds’ right fielder Jay Bruce bounced back with a scorching-hot May, showcasing his elite power potential. In 28 games last month, Bruce hit .342/.402/.739 with 12 HRs and 33 RBI, and now ranks as the No. 5 player in Yahoo! leagues.
I’ve always loved Bruce for his five-tool talent. Heck, I projected him to blast 35 HRs in 2010, and forecasted at least 30 bombs and a .284 average this season. I even ranked him as the No. 54 player overall on the 2011 Big Board. But I certainly didn’t expect him to be this good so soon...
Unlike third base and shortstop this year, outfield is extremely deep. In 2010, the average top-40 fantasy outfielder hit 22 homers, stole 20 base, scored 88 runs, knocked in 82 RBIs and hit .285. This speaks volumes to the depth of the position.
While first- and second-round talents such as Braun, Crawford, CarGo, Holliday and Kemp are exciting to own, you’re probably better off filling your infield spots early in the draft.
The likes of Alex Rios, Jacoby Ellsbury, Drew Stubbs, Ichiro Suzuki, Andre Ethier, Jay Bruce, Hunter Pence and Nick Markakis can all be drafted much later in the draft, and offer valuable production. Here’s the top 30...
Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings...
A year ago, I claimed Jay Bruce would hit 35 HRs and be a top-50 player heading into the 2011 season. Perhaps I was a tad bit enthusiastic with those predictions, but Bruce actually appears on the brink of both of those claims this season.
In 2008, Baseball America claimed “every one of Bruce’s tools is better than average.” They rated his power as high as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale, acknowledged his ability to hit for average, and even proclaimed Bruce capable of stealing 15 to 20 bases a season.
To give you an idea of Bruce’s power potential, consider this: his career AB/HR rate is 18.63, a hair below Miguel Cabrera’s AB/HR rate of 18.09...
Opening Day 2010 is less than 72 hours away, which means most fantasy drafts have been completed. Judging by Average Draft Positions on Mock Draft Central, fantasy owners are allowing certain sleeper candidates to go un-drafted. One of those guys is Drew Stubbs, who has a current ADP of 311.40.
Last year, Baseball America claimed Stubbs “has excellent bat speed, above-average raw power, and plus-plus speed.” The former Texas Longhorn displayed both tools in 2009, as he combined to hit 11 HRs and swipe 56 bases in 668 at-bats between Triple-A and Cincinnati. Oddly enough, eight of his long balls came in just 196 at-bats at the big league level...
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
2 Comments