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Hunter Dozier 2020 Outlook: Late Blooming Value Bat
5 years agoKansas City Royals third baseman/outfielder Hunter Dozier finally got a chance to showcase his first-round draft pick skills. The 28-year-old Dozier made the most of the career-high 586 plate appearances. He posted a slash line of .279/.348./.522 with 26 home runs, 75 runs, 84 RBI. Dozier piled up his counting stats by increasing his flyball rate(43.9%) and BB%(9.4%) while lowering his ground-ball rate(34.4%) and K%(25.3%). The strikeout rate still needs to come down as its a concern. His O-Swing% dropped to 30.1%, and his Z-Contact% jumped to 90.4%. Dozier's Statcast outlook shows excellent improvement. His maximum exit velocity was 115.1 MPH, 23rd in the MLB, and the average exit velocity was 91.1 MPH, 36th in the MLB. He won't be a five-category contributor as he did decline somewhat in sprint speed and had never shown an ability while in the minor leagues. Do not expect more than a handful of stolen bases from him. Kansas City has added lineup depth around him, which should help boost runs and RBI. Dozier is going to be drafted as a corner infielder/fourth outfielder but could return significantly more value at pick 187. He is a solid late-round bat showing improvement from year to year.
