BALLER MOVE: Target in drafts ~pick 197
CURRENT ADP: ~239
ANALYSIS: Most of you would say Ryan Mountcastle had a disappointing 2023 campaign, right? He only played in 115 games and while he improved on his worse 2022 numbers, he still only produced a .779 OPS with an ISO 50 points lower than the .232 seen in 2021.
Some may happily settle on thinking this is roughly who Mountcastle is, especially after Camden’s walls were altered. While that may hold partial truth, we can’t forget how Mountcastle crushed throughout spring training and slugged six home runs with a .972 OPS in Baltimore’s first 13 games. Four of those round-trippers came at home, so don’t give me that.
Mountcastle would slump over the next eight weeks, supplying a .605 OPS with 47 strikeouts to just nine walks. He hit fewer HRs (five) in that 47-game span than in those first 13 contests. But then we learned he suffered from vertigo and had been struggling to see the ball for quite some time.
His first 45 games off of the injured list saw him hit .359 (.978 OPS) with seven HRs and eight doubles. He had a far more reasonable 37:19 K: BB. Some of this was the result of platooning with Ryan O'Hearn, with Mountcastle primarily facing southpaws. But then a September shoulder injury cropped up, which effectively wrapped up his 2023. At this price point, I’m comfortable leaning on Mountcastle and expecting more consistency from his bat.
idk what just happened but it’s 1-0 pic.twitter.com/YKvKyl8zzr
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 25, 2023
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