Jonathan Singleton was suspended for 50 games this past year for smoking marijuana. Singleton wasn’t even tested until he kept forgetting the pitch count and called time out to grab some nachos. After his suspension, Singleton said, “I made an error in judgement. I should’ve cleansed by downing a 3-liter jug of cranberry juice rather than Nature’s Way Detox Tea. Damn you, Tommy Chong, for endorsing that!” Any self-respecting marijuana smoker will tell you that players aren’t suspended for DUIs but marijuana gets them… Then they trail off and their argument becomes less coherent and they’ll ask if they can borrow your Snuggie so they can take a nap. When Singleton returned from his suspension, he didn’t exactly hotbox the stadium with his power. This past year he hit six homers and .220 in 73 games (294 PAs) in Triple-A. Yay/sounds awesome/sarcasm. To get all third person on you, why is Grey even talking about him and what can we expect from Jonathon Singleton for 2014 fantasy baseball?
We should throw out his 2013 season. Who knows how long it took for him to return to form. He’s still a prospect and only 22 years old. In 2012, Singleton hit 21 homers with 7 steals and a .284 average in 131 games. That’s more like what his minor league season should look like, and he does have 30-homer power, but won’t hit for a huge average. He strikes out too much. Singleton reminds me a lot of fellow Astro, Chris Carter. See, the truth is out there. Maybe Chris Carter and Jon Singleton can get together and make an X-Filez movie. Carter hit 29 homers and .223 with an insanely terrible 36.2% strikeout percentage. Singleton could do the same. More than likely, he won’t be quite that bad for average. Singleton could hit for the same amount of power and hit for a .260 average. Singleton is almost five years younger than Carter, and he’s already posted 15+% walk rates. Carter’s never posted a walk rate that good in any stop of his professional career. I already went over my George Springer fantasy, and Singleton could outperform him for power. The good news is mixed with the bad news to make so-so news. The good news and bad news is he plays for the Astros. The Astros have no reason to hold prospects back, but they’re also the Astros. Realistically, Singleton should be up by June, but I could see him breaking camp with the team with a huge spring training. In that case, he’ll hit 27 homers and a .250 average. But, if the more likely scenario plays out, Singleton will give you a line of 32/14/39/.258/4 and be up in June.
