What’s The Point: Walker Down

What is up party people? We mostly focus on the positive, but not everyone has gotten off to a rockin start. Take, for example, Jordan Walker.  You know him well as Razzball favorite, destined for fantasy stardom. To put it bluntly, the results have not been that of a fantasy star and obviously, the Red Birds feel the same way since they just sent him down to AAA. So far the points just haven’t been there and with a .164 batting average this season it’s not difficult to see why. Unfortunately, the news doesn’t get much better when you look beyond that to his 18 strikeouts and only 6 walks. Yeah, that’s not very good. At least he is showing strong exit velocity, but that’s about it. He’s got roughly a full season in the majors, give or take a handful of games, but the power we expected hasn’t really manifested yet, with only 16 for his career. While disappointing, it is also not entirely unexpected. It’s not uncommon for guys to take a beat to grow into their power and Walker is still pretty young, at only 22. That means he still has time. Time to be better, time to remind us all of that big time power. I will admit that I am concerned but I’m not ready to panic. All the tools are still there and I want (need) to believe that he will figure it out. I hope that it will be merely a short stint to get right and he will be back to terrorize major league pitching but he really did look lost out there so who knows what it will take for him to earn another shot, especially after last season’s struggles. Outside of deep leagues, I just don’t think you can afford to hold onto him.

Julio Rodriguez – He finally hit a home run. I still don’t think he’ll be top 10 guy for points leagues but I’m happy to be proven wrong. If you drafted him, stay the course. He’s about to show you just how good he can be.

Corbin Carroll – Last season’s Rookie of the Year has been good but not great so far this season. I’m afraid there might be more to the preseason shoulder injury than we were originally told. I think you likely have to stay the course at this point but I am definitely on tilt.

Nico Hoerner – He was one of my favorite points league targets going into the season and he did not come out of the gates firing at the level I wanted him to. He wasn’t terrible but, he wasn’t quite what I had hoped. Fortunately, it looks like he has found his stroke at the plate. Once he starts stealing bases the numbers will look even better.

Luis Arraez – Took a minute but his batting average is on the rise. That’s huge because his lack of power and speed has also been on full display as well. You knew what you were getting with him and where his value comes from so he’s right on track.

Jung Hoo Lee – It hasn’t been a bad start to the season but there has definitely been an adjustment period. The best part to see has been the lack of strikeouts. That was his strong suit and through 93 at bats he has only struck out 9 times. That looks even better when you remember that 4 of those came in his first 28 at bats. Points league stardom here he comes.

Trevor Larnach – He got the call up from AAA and has been taking full advantage with a pair each of double and dongs. I’m not sure how long he can keep it up and it’s a distinct possibility he finds himself without a spot on the major league roster once he cools off/ the Twins decide to reshuffle some things. But for now, he’s hot so let’s see where it goes.

Travis d’Arnaud – Tough to fully endorse a backup backstop but there’s no denying he has been on a tear lately. Worth a look in deep leagues because he’s capable of outbursts like this and there’s a pretty strong lineup surrounding him.

Cal Raleigh – Big Dumper has power and when he gets on a run, he can shoot to the top of the weekly leaderboard. His performance this season is being boosted by his batting average sitting at .271, which is quite a bit higher than we’ve seen from him in the past. If he can keep that in the .250ish range, the power will play nicely.

Wilyer Abreu – Looks like this hot run and some injuries should give him regular at bats against right handed pitching. He can get on base and if he has a spot in the lineup, I’m interested.

Luis Rengifo – If he gets to play every day or at least close to it, I’m very interested. He doesn’t have power but he can hit for a decent average and has the speed to pick up some doubles. With his eligibility at second, third, short, and outfield he’s the perfect depth piece for daily leagues with short benches. Unfortunately, his playing time has been all over the place in spite of the on field result. That makes him tough to trust in weekly formats unless something changes. It is a situation to monitor.

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