Ya know, I play this fantasy baseball game shizz whatnot hullabaloo as well, so when I tell you about sleepers, everyone who I play against sees what I’m saying. Some sleepers are so juicy and under-the-radar I don’t want to discuss them. I want to store them away in my cheek until the perfect time to unleash them in my drafts. “Grey, are you chewing tobacco?” *mumbles* That’s me at a draft squirreling away sleepers. The one fortunate (in this case, at least) thing about fantasy baseball ‘perting is everyone thinks they know better than everyone else, or because of a URL someone might think they know more. For unstints, a ‘pert can lose massively 12 years in a row, but if they write for a ‘quality’ site, then they’re considered more of a ‘pert than someone from aitch tea tea pee ess colon back slash back slash Razzball dot com. So, I can say Amed Rosario is a sleeper, but most won’t pay attention because they think they know better. Others will pay attention, and these are the ones we have to make sure have the wrong time for the draft. Muahahahahahaha–*coughs wildly* Sorry, just getting over an evil cough. So, what can we expect from Amed Rosario for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
What is the act of being honed in on someone? Being hone-y? Well, I am so hone-y for players with power and speed. This sweet spot is where my hone-y lies. Last year, Amed Rosario went 75/15/72/.287/19 in 616 ABs with a 18.9% strikeout rate; .338 BABIP; 4.7% walk rate. What jumps out? His batting average? Yup, samesies. He had a .288 expected batting average, that’s 23rd best in the majors. From a 23-year-old kid (now 24), this feels special, because it is. He is a .290 hitter. You can say that about roughly 30 players, and six (Moncada, Betts, Trout, Marte, Yelich, Bellinger) have 20-steal speed. And, even those six, they feel like 20 steals is a bit pie-in-the-sky hope-and-pray type steals numbers. Moncada’s never come close, Trout isn’t a steals-first guy; Yelich’s been great recently, but just shattered his kneecap; Bellinger is a 20-steal guy? Really? Betts…Well, Betts feels like the only 20-steal lock there. Amed’s sprint speed is 29.2 feet/second. After filtering for at least 150 opportunities to get one’s gallup on, Amed is top ten, and, after Mondesi and Trea, he’s basically sausage-packed in a group of seven others separated by decimals and a desire to be the best you can be no matter how much adversity of Metsieness is put in one’s way. So, .290 and 20 steals? You’re getting that from literally Betts, Amed and no one else. I will know cackle into a corner for 45 minutes until they drag me away to a sanitarium. Next up, power. Does Amed really have any? Thanks for asking, Clunky Expository Question! You say expository, I say suppository, let’s call the whole thing off. Sorry, that’s catchy, and I’ve caught it! Rosario had a 29.3% fly ball rate with a 8.8 launch angle, uh, angle and 10.3 HR/FB%. Damn, Rosario, you learn hitting from Charley Lau? Stop swinging down on the ball! In other words, he’s not really going to be a 20-homer hitter. Are there exceptions? Is every snowflake the same? A guy with a worst fly ball rate is DJ LeMahieu, who hit 26 homers; Tommy Pham hits no fly balls and seems to threaten 20 homers every year; Shin-Soo Choo gets on The Seoul Train and hits 21-ish homers every year and doesn’t hit fly balls. So, yes, Amed could possibly hit 20 homers, but might depend on how many straws of Capri Sun are stuck into every ball for that juice. My guess is Amed hits around 14-17 homers without tweaking his swing. Also, we don’t really want the swing tweaked because then the .290 average would go bye-bye. With that said (yes, I’m about to throw out everything), Yelich had a terrible ground ball problem and wasn’t a 35-homer hitter until he grew into more power. Yes, I just compared Amed Rosario to Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich. *writes in Amed Rosario’s name for president* So, I’m a fan, apparently. For 2020, I’ll give Amed Rosario projections of 88/17/70/.294/23 in 578 ABs with a chance for more.
