January 17, 2019

Taking a late-round shot on outfielder Kole Calhoun simply comes down to your category of need at that point in the draft. He is being drafted with the 362nd (OF94) pick on average in early drafts and is rated 316th (OF91) overall by RotoBaller. Calhoun disappointed mightily in 2018, slashing .208/.283/.369 with 19 home runs, 57 RBI, 71 runs, and six steals over 491 at-bats. This was his worst season in his six-year MLB career (excluding his 2012 rookie season where he had just 23 at-bats.) He had some brutal metrics when looking deeper, with a 0.4 BB/K, 24.1% strikeout rate, .161 ISO, and .241 BABIP. The .241 BABIP stands out, as it represents the lowest BABIP of his career by a wide margin and is much lower than his career average .293 BABIP. On the positive side, Calhoun registered the highest Hard Hit % of his career at 44.5% and the lowest Soft Hit % of his career at 12.6%. He also walked 9.6% of the time, which is an above-average rate. You know what you’re going to get as a baseline with the selection of Calhoun as a late-round flier - a power hitter who will more-than-likely be a drain on your batting average category (bonus value for points leagues). After all, he has smashed 17 or more bombs and hit .272 or worse in each of the last five seasons and projects for a similar role with the Angels in 2019. Steamer has Calhoun projected for a .243/.324/.410 line, adding 21 home runs, 78 runs, 71 RBI, and six steals. That's about what you should expect and he is appropriately ranked.--Kyle Ringstad - RotoBaller
Source: Baseball Reference