This one feels a year away from fantasy production, but since the Dodgers promoted Alex Verdugo this past September, and let him get at-bats, I’m on a fence with hedges all around me. Or maybe it’s a hedge maze like in The Shining. Or the Shinning with Groundskeeper Willie. Or maybe it’s a fence made of hedges. Or a fence made of hedgehogs. Ugh, I’m so indecisive I can’t even decide if I’m on a fence of hedges, a fence with hedges around me, a maze of hedges, or a fence of hedgehogs for Alex Verdugo. Maybe a nap will help…*dozes off, wakes, sees a young Lea Thompson* It’s 1955!? Okay, let’s play out the Dodgers’ outfield. Chris Taylor is in center, but can play the infield; Puig looks locked into right; there’s not enough screws loose in Home Depot for them to not play Cody Bellinger; Joc Pederson is still looming, but he’s starting to feel like a guy that might need a change of scenery or will be a platoon player and Kiké — not Gabe Kapler — can play outfield, but he’s a futility player. Not a lot of wiggle room for Verdugo, and Los Angeles isn’t known for autumn, but that changing landscape leaves Alex Verdugo with a chance to play if Taylor plays infield. So, what can we expect from Alex Verdugo for 2018 fantasy baseball?
There’s something to be taken away that every highlight reel I see on Alex Verdugo, they include a bunch of defense highlights. Who’s making these highlight reels? The scout I like to call, Chewtobacca? The 98% of people interested in prospects are interested in them for their dynasty leagues, the other 2% are the Nation of Islam. Nah, they’re people who are interested in a prospect for their hometown team, and they just want to see hitting highlights. Okay, okay, who am I, Grey Hoffa, leading a belabor union? The hitting highlights I saw of Verdugo, well, they were this: *swings out of shoes, ball goes 100 feet the other way* Okay, not all, but a bunch of the highlights were of this variety. He is only 21 years old, so he could grow into more power. Last year, he hit 6 HRs in 433 ABs in Triple-A, so I don’t see a ton of power in the recent history of his browser. He also only stole nine bags, and, from what I saw, he looked like a 12-15 steal guy in the best case scenario. He did make the top 50 prospects for 2018 fantasy baseball by Prospector Ralph, so there’s gotta be something to be excited about, right? Yeah, he seems like a high contact guy, with no discernible splits. So, let’s put it together, maybe ten homers, possibly 15 steals and a .290+ average? Hmm, well, his defense is good! What an arm! He profiles as a number two hitter, due to great contact, so 105/12/62/.310/17 in his prime. That’s not bad, when I put it that way. Seems doubtful that way will be 2018’s way, however. For 2018, he could be up in April, and that would change his projections, but for now I’ll give Alex Verdugo the projections of 43/3/31/.278/7 in 322 ABs.
