RADIO
Steven Souza 2019 Player Outlook: Can He Overcome Health and Strikeout Issues?
6 years agoSteven Souza strained his pectoral muscle during spring training in 2018, and that injury seems to have derailed his entire 2018 season. He spent the first five weeks of the season on the disabled list, returned for 47 miserable plate appearances of a .163 AVG and .420 OPS, and spent another five weeks on the shelf. He came back in July and put up a .734 OPS and .177 ISO in 225 PA, but dealt with lingering injury issues all season. While Souza’s final 225 PA might seem underwhelming, those numbers align quite well with his career averages save for his breakout 2017 season. He posted a .717 OPS and .174 ISO in 2015 and a .713 OPS and .164 ISO in 2016 before exploding for an .810 OPS and .220 ISO in 2017. While he has cut down on strikeouts, he still whiffed at a 27.6% rate last season and made contact just 74.5% of the time. At least Souza can be had cheaply; he is currently ranked 283 overall by RotoBaller experts and is being drafted at pick 345 in NFBC leagues. However, what we’re getting is a fragile outfielder with strikeout problems that only has one good season under his belt. Not to mention his lineup lost Paul Goldschmidt and will likely lose A.J. Pollock. There is upside in Souza’s power-speed combo, but don’t reach much higher than his current ADP for him.
