Here’s a fun list:
Carlos Gonzalez — 424.6 feet
Giancarlo Stanton — 422.8
Trevor Story — 420.3
Nomar Mazara — 415.8
A) Surprised to not see Cespedes since he started with 100 feet B) Hot damn, Nomar! C) There’s no C. If you haven’t guessed, that’s the top distances averaged on home runs for players with at least 18 homers last year. Two of the guys were Rockies, i.e., Coors, and the other one was Giancarlo. Right behind Nomar Mazara was Nelson Cruz, Joc Pederson, Trout and Goldschmidt. Oh, and tied with Mazara was Mitch Moreland. Is there a non-home run hitter among these men, I ask sounding like a character from Game of Thrones. Granted, I do believe it to be true (why do I sound like I’m talking Middle Ages English?) that if someone hits fewer homers there’s gonna be a chance their average distance will be higher. In other words, Mazara hit 20 homers last year. If he hit 30 homers, maybe he would’ve hit a few just-outta-heres and his average distance would’ve lowered, but he didn’t so I’m throwing out my theory that I just threw in there. Don’t ask me why I didn’t just omit it to begin with and don’t end a sentence with with — dah! If I wanted, I could link to or post a bunch of upper deck blasts by Mazara. Seriously, he did not get cheated on his dingers. I personally hate when my dingers are cheated on. So, what can we expect from Nomar Mazara for 2017 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Well, second things first, he’s a sleeper, because he won’t be drafted until around 150 to 200 overall. He’s a 21-year-old that just hit 20 homers that averaged distances hardly seen. 21 years old?! This isn’t fair. I don’t know why hype isn’t building hard for this guy. It could be because of his lesser 2nd half. I’m not talking his bum, I’m talking about August/September. He hit .242 and his Ks skyrocketed to 25.4%. Since he doesn’t have any speed whatsoever, he needs to hit to continue to prove valuable. I’d say his 2nd half was merely growing pains that killed our Boner. RIP. His 2nd half doesn’t concern me. If you’re all ears like Alfred E. Neuman, what does worry me is his fly ball rate. He doesn’t hit a ton of them. He hits grounders. That’s not good for a guy with no speed and big-time power. If he tweaks his swing, he could be a 40-homer hitter. No foolsies. Unfortch, we can’t just project a guy to change his approach even though he’s only 21 years old and it would be easier for him than, say, a 35-year-old. Even with his worm killer tendencies, which could cause him to duck PETA, he will easily hit 25 homers. Here’s what I said when he was first called up, “(Mazara) kinda reminds me of a young Matt Holliday, though from the other side of the dish. I watched some of his YouTube highlights and he doesn’t struggle to hit balls a long way, but also doesn’t look like a fat turd that can’t make it to first. I’m no scout, but watching him makes me think this is what scouts call sexy. I’ve seen him compared to Miguel Cabrera. Okay, no one is Miguel Cabrera until they are Miguel Cabrera, if you catch my drift, but Mazara doesn’t look like a guy that is going to disappoint. .280 with 30 homers a season for many years.” And that’s me quoting me! (I went on to say this year I’ll project him for 20 HRs and .275. He hit 20 HRs and .266. Give me that gold star!) So, for 2017, I’ll give Nomar Mazara the projections of 72/26/81/.277/2 in 554 ABs with upside from there and I want him on every team.
