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Yasiel Puig 2020 Outlook: Five-Category Contributor joins the Atlanta Braves
5 years agoYasiel Puig signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday 14th July. With Nick Markakis opting out of playing in 2020, the Braves had a hole to fill in right field and although they have internal options, they have decided to go with the best free agent still available. For Fantasy purposes, this move is arguably one of the best landing spots for Puig. Although he is likely to hit in the bottom half of the Braves batting order, it's a lineup stacked around him. The implementation of a universal DH for this season also helps Puig as even with a fully healthy team, he should still see regular playing time in Atlanta and should still provide value across all five main fantasy categories in 2020. Last year, Puig’s power and speed combination helped him to 24 home runs, 19 stolen bases, 76 runs and 84 RBI while compiling a .267/.327/.458 slash line. Only three other players managed to better each of those numbers in 2019; Christian Yelich, Ronald Acuna and Trevor Story. Puig has become a model of consistency and is in a group of just four players who have managed 23+ HRs and 15+ SBs in each of the last three seasons. The other three are Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, and Jose Ramirez. According to Statcast, since 2017 Puig has finished in at least the 77th percentile for sprint speed every year with an average of 28.2 ft/s, giving him a nice floor to his stolen base production. Also, Puig has finished in the top 100 for average exit velocity during that time too, offering a solid floor to his power. If you gambled on drafting Puig back in March when his ADP was ~114, you could have a bargain on your hands. If we look at Nick Mariano’s Expected Draft Values research, a power/speed combo guy would only need to return 23 HRs, 14 SBs and a .261 AVG to return value at that ADP (based on a 162 game season). His 2019 numbers would make Puig more of a top-80 player in drafts. The only question is will if he'll be game ready by Opening Day but even if he isn't, it shouldn't be long before Puig is entrenched in the lineup.
