Dave Roberts just shuddered when he read the title. “Listen, Max Muncy was just great, but you don’t want great out there, you want…” Then Dave Roberts ran through a stop sign and took home without a throw, but, that was because he was in his car and no one tries to throw you out when you’re heading to your home in a car. Dave Roberts then kicked over a pile of leaves, and, when he was obstructed from our view, he rubbed dirt on his jersey, then he smelled his armpits and said, “Hustle,” like he was Molly Shannon saying, “Superstar.” As of right now, Max Muncy is penciled in as a starter, but where? 1st base? 2nd base? 3rd base? Outfield? Who’s on 1st? What’s on 2nd? I don’t know! 3rd base? He played them all last year, so I’m assuming Dave Roberts can have the decency to find 400 ABs for his best hitter last year. For as late as I’ve been seeing him drafted (as late as 150 overall), if he gets 400 ABs, Muncy is going to blow away anyone drafted around him. If Roberts has a brain fart, and poofs out something that makes sense, Muncy could sneak into 450+ ABs, and shock the world for the 2nd time in two seasons. Anyway, what can you expect from Max Muncy for 2019 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
What makes a guy a sleeper fascinates me. Why are some guys trusted to repeat their breakouts and other guys are not? Y’all are true believers in Jesus. Aguilar, that is. Max Muncy, on the other, more agnostic, hand, is not believed at all. Listen, I believe in Jesus too. Praise be. Aguilar’s numbers were great last year, and I think they can be again. Muncy’s season came completely out of nowhere, and he lost his starting job in the 2nd half for a time; he’s in a pitchers’ park vs. hitters’ park, and now I’ve talked myself out of Max Muncy too. Damn. Let’s pit them against each other, Jesus vs. Max, or Yeezy vs. Air Max, if you’re a sneakerhead. Late breakouts scare you? Jesus is two months older than Muncy, both are 28 years old. Lack of playing time scare you? Muncy had 35 homers, and Aguilar had 35 homers. Only Muncy did it in 395 ABs vs. Aguilar’s 492. If you’re in a daily league, you can move Muncy out of your lineup when he’s not in there. If splits just bother you, Muncy had 11 points higher average vs. righties. Aguilar’s average vs. righties was 11 points lower. There’s more righties than lefties, so you kinda want a guy who’s better vs. righties. Average home run distance: Muncy beats Aguilar. Average exit velocity: Muncy again. Muncy barreled up more balls last year (45) vs. Aguilar (41) in almost 100 less at-bats! Muncy’s OBP .391 vs. Aguilar’s .352. For guys who saw 350 plate appearances, Muncy had the 5th best walk rate in the major leagues; Aguilar was 75th. Muncy’s plate discipline is just ridunk, in general. He had the 8th best Z-Swing% and the 15th best O-Swing%. In layman’s terms that means, Muncy swung at next to no balls outside the zone, and, when he swung at pitches inside the zone, he only swung at the very best pitches. That’s on par with guys like Joey Votto, Mookie Betts and Matt Carpenter. Aguilar, as you can imagine, wasn’t close to elite in either category. Muncy had the 9th best Hard Contact percentage, Aguilar was 29th. You might be thinking, “Okay, cool, man, cool, but I didn’t like Jesus Aguilar either.” Well, man, I do, and can understand why he’s going around top 70 overall, but what I can’t figure out is why is Max Muncy going almost fifty picks later, or after him at all? For 2019, I’ll give Max Muncy the projections of 81/33/87/.268/4 in 423 ABs with a chance for much more.
