Alas, we’ve made it to the All-Star break. The players deserve a break for a few days and so do us fantasy owners. Yesterday was the first day since my draft that I didn’t look at my fantasy team or league page. It felt good, but extremely weird at the same time. Regardless, this article doesn’t get a break, so here are three guys that can help you moving forward.
Didi Gregorius, SS NYY— Believe it or not, Gregorius is a top-12 player at his position at the break. He’s been a much better player for the Yankees in his second season with the team, compared to his inaugural season in 2015. Take a look at the numbers for the shortstop:
2015 Pre-All Star break: .238 average with 27 runs scored, four home runs and 19 RBI
2015 season: .265 average with 57 runs scored, nine home runs and 56 RBI
2016 1st half: .298 average, 38 runs scored, 11 home runs and 41 RBI
Could he regress a bit in the second half? Sure, anything is possible, but with a BABIP only 15 points above his career average, the solid batting average should be here to stay. However, can fantasy owners expect another 11 home runs in the second half from Gregorius? You can expect it, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. His career high coming into this season was nine, and he already hit 11 in the first half, so there’s his new career high. His ISO (isolated power) sits at .171, almost 50 points above his career mark. His HR/FB% sits at 12.6 percent, which is over five points above his career mark. That mark sits around the likes of Jonathan Lucroy, Justin Turner and Brian Dozier. Gregorius could be a quality source of batting average moving forward, but don’t add him with the expectation of him being a game changer in the power department.
Yasmani Grandal, C LAD— Don’t get me wrong, Grandal has been atrocious this season. For the season, he’s hitting just .212, but he does have 12 home runs, 20 runs scored and 37 RBI. However, if you take out his numbers from the past two weeks, you can get a glimpse of just how bad he’s been in 2015. Over the last two weeks before the break, Grandal was hitting .316 with six home runs, seven runs scored and 11 RBI while posting a .789 slugging percentage. His numbers were aided by a great three-game stretch in San Diego, including a three-homer, six-RBI game. The catching position is pretty diluted in fantasy this season, but Grandal [can] provide plus power from the position. He’s going to be a major drain on your batting average, but the power is there and raise your glass in hopes of him not repeating the first half of the season.
Alex Bregman, SS HOU— As the famous Jeff Mans alluded to earlier in the season, this article is designed to point out guys who are currently impacting, or will soon be impacting categories for fantasy owners. This guy isn’t doing it right now, but he will be in the near future. Bregman deserves the call up to the big leagues, but the team is holding off, likely because Luis Valbuena is playing well at the hot corner. Bregman, a shortstop in the minors, won’t play there at the big league level because of Carlos Correa. If you watched the Futures game, you would have seen Bregman go 3-for-5, falling only a home run shy of the cycle. In 36 at-bats at the Triple-A level, the uber-talented infielder is slashing .389/.421/.889 with five home runs and 14 RBI. Listen, since Valbuena has entered the bigs, he’s been a career .232 hitter, failing to hit above .249 in a full season since 2009. Valbuena will go cold and Houston will give the keys to Bregman in due time. He’s an add-and-stash candidate.
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