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Mitch Haniger 2020 Outlook: Not Worthy Of Drafting Amongst Top-125
5 years agoUPDATE: Mitch Haniger placed on the 60-day IL (28 Jun) as he recovers from back surgery in February. Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger missed a great deal of the 2019 season after suffering a ruptured testicle following an unfortunate foul ball off his bat. Before the injury, he was in the midst of an up-and-down season that saw him hit an impressive 15 home runs over 63 games, but he hit only .220 over that stretch while striking out at a career-worst 28.6% rate. Haniger's career strikeout rate of 23.3% isn't ideal for someone who doesn't excel in any one category. He's a career .267 hitter who has only topped 16 home runs in a season once, when he hit 26 home runs in 2018. To be fair, he's only appeared in over 100 games once in his MLB career (2018), but at the same time, he turned 29 in December and has a rather limited track record of success given his age. Haniger currently has an ADP around 185. If he can match his 2018 numbers (.285 BA, 26 home runs, 93 RBI, 90 runs), that's a fantastic value at that draft position, but 2018 is a clear outlier from the rest of his career so it's risky to chase. He's fine to draft at his current ADP and should be a reliable low-end starting outfielder in most leagues, but don't reach much higher for him.
