Corners Report: Slow Starters

At this point, we’re getting near re-rankings season. There’s enough data to make things not small sample sizes. Some Razzball representation was had last night in the Yahoo Friends and Family league, where they redraft around Mothers’ Day to reflect changes (and one is that I think I may have been invited next year!). And yearly stats have stabilized.

This week, the focus is on some guys whose yearly numbers don’t reflect the success they’ve had in the past 30 days.

Here goes:

Rhys Hoskins: Maybe last season was just a weird one, recovering from a gnarly torn ACL. Hoskins has been great for Milwaukee, and after doing the proverbial deep dive, I’m all in. The guy has one of the best plate approaches statistically in the league. He’s currently sporting a .400 OBP on the season. This isn’t purely average driven either; he’s making elite swing choices. The strikeout rate has been cut by seven percent, all the way down to 21%. He’s in the top eight percentile for walk rate and chase rate, which has led to one of the best sweet spot percentages in the league. It’s truly impressive, and we should all be buying in, hoping this lasts. I think it will and have Hoskins in a number of places, and I am not looking to move away.

Rafael Devers: Apologies to Rafael, rumors of your demise were always premature. In fact, looking at his past 30 slash line will give you warm fuzzies (.330/.457/.631) Along with these juicy numbers are 8 home runs and 29 RBI. Devers is hitting second in a stacked lineup and has completely gotten past the insanely poor first week. I made the mistake of fading him in fear that his start reflected a skills decline. To this, I respond: Oops.

Cody Bellinger: The full season line is low as Bellinger battled food poisoning and a back issue. Bellinger is one of those guys too who needs time to get back into his groove after his many injuries. So right now, in his past 30, the slash is .312/.396/.581 with six home runs. I think that qualifies as a groove? Seems like ol’ Belly is heating up; maybe you can get a discount from a doubter who’s only looking at the full season line. He’s going to be a top 50 overall player until the next injury pops up.

Vinnie Pasquantino: OOOOOOOF. Come on, Vinnie, you were my ride or die! My road dog! My ace of spades! Hopefully, he’s just a slow starter again (he’s started slow last season as well) and he’ll heat up. The plate approach is the problem, not some sort of skill decline. His strikeout rate is up and his walk rate is down, leading to just a .272 OBP. There’s no physical issue the stats show, just that the stats are down. Ride him out, still a long season left for Vinnie to heat up.

Miguel Vargas: Ladies and gentlemen, here he is, a fantasy viable White Sox! Vargas has displayed the upside that led him to be a highly regarded prospect in the Dodgers system, leading the Sox to acquire him as part of the package for Michael Kopech. The last 30 days has been fun: .309/.387/.564 and four home runs. He should continue to be fun going forward. Vargas might be kicking around some waiver wires due to his terrible start; expect him to be a capable 3B going forward. Just keep in mind the counting stats will be hard to come by in a putrid lineup.

Isaac Paredes: Paredes has found his formula. Pull the ball, keep it in the air, find a short left field, and get some home runs. It doesn’t even matter if it’s hard hit or anything, he can just loft lazy flies into the air all season, and Houston accommodates. He’s recaptured his approach after changing everything to avoid the weird Wrigley wind blowing in. Just in case you aren’t also a Chicago Cubs writer, Wrigley was the second worst park for hitters last season, mainly due to random weather and the wind often blowing in. He adapted his approach to zero success. Now, he’s back to what he knows and worth keeping around for your fantasy teams.