January 19, 2020

L.A. Angels infielder Tommy La Stella was an unexpected gem off the waiver wire in the first half of 2019. By the end of May, he was batting .303 with 12 home runs, 34 RBI, and 30 runs scored. It was quite a surprise to say the least, considering he had all of 10 career HR entering the year and had never even reached double-digit homers in a minor league season. Was this an age-30 breakout or just a case of a player finally making the most of regular at-bats for the first time? Needless to say, this doesn't seem like a repeatable performance. La Stella's 18.4% HR/FB isn't extraordinary but it is a full 10 points ahead of his career norm and he never displayed power at any stop before. His exit velocity, fly ball rate, and all key peripherals were either the same or lower than his previous norms. It would seem he simply got hot for a while before trailing off in the second half. That said, La Stella does still have fantasy value due to the fact he is projected to lead off for the Angels, ahead of Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Shohei Ohtani. That should lead to a fair amount of runs scored and enough hittable pitches that he can serve as a MI option in deeper mixed leagues. If he platoons with David Fletcher or Luis Rengifo, that would prevent him from being a weekly fixture, but the early portion of the season will be telling. La Stella is not worth more than a late-round pick and is being treated as such, with an ADP of 281 overall in NFBC drafts.--Pierre Camus