🖥 CYBER WEEK - TAP TO SAVE 50% WITH CODE CYBER
X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Potential Shortstop Busts for 2017

Kyle Bishop offers his thoughts on three shortstops who could disappoint in 2017. These players are potential fantasy baseball busts to avoid.

Yesterday, we looked at potential breakouts at shortstop. Today, we turn our attention to the potential busts.

Identifying the next big star is undoubtedly more fun, but as any fantasy owner can tell you, steering clear of the players whose performances will disappoint may be even more critical to a successful season.

Editor's note: For even more draft prep, visit our awesome 2017 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It has lots of in-depth staff rankings and draft strategy columns. You will find tiered rankings for every position, 2017 impact rookie rankings, AL/NL only league ranks and lots more. Bookmark the page, and win your drafts.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Shortstop Bust Candidates

Jonathan Villar, Milwaukee Brewers (ADP: 21)

Villar was outstanding in 2016, hitting .285 with 19 home runs and 92 runs scored along with a league-leading 62 stolen bases. If he comes anywhere near that production again, he’ll earn his draft cost. There’s likely some regression on the horizon, however. Villar hits the ball on the ground a lot, which will make it tough for him to duplicate the surprising power he flashed a year ago. He hadn’t reached double-digits in homers since 2012, and that was at Double-A. The odds of another HR/FB% near 20% aren’t great. Also not great are Villar’s chances of hitting for average again. While his speed should help keep his BABIP from cratering, it’s difficult to hit for average when you either strike out or pop up in nearly 40 percent of your plate appearances as he did last season.

The likely pullback at the plate will cut into his opportunities for stolen bases. It’s worth noting that in the last quarter-century, a player has stolen 60 bases or more 26 times. On average, their total dropped by 19 the following year.

 

Eduardo Nunez, San Francisco Giants (ADP: 117)

Like Villar, Nunez is eligible at both third and short, and showed unexpected pop to go with a high number of stolen bases. The veteran’s 16 homers nearly equaled his output in the previous five years – all part-time seasons, but the point remains. While he doesn’t have the strikeout issues that Villar does, Nunez also doesn’t walk much, and he hits a lot of infield flies. His career OBP checks in at a pedestrian .314, meaning he’ll have to get the green light an awful lot to replicate his 40 swipes from a year ago. Despite his breakout performance at the plate, his run production didn’t move the needle, as he managed just 140 R+RBI.

Nunez struggled mightily down the stretch in 2016, hitting just .244/.297/.357 after the All-Star break. It’s fair to wonder if he can be productive over a full season, given his lack of a track record in that department.

 

Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers (ADP: 155)

Give Andrus credit for bouncing back from a three-year decline and his nightmarish inning in the 2015 ALDS. The veteran – still, somehow, just 28 years old – set career highs with a .302 batting average and eight homers, while also stealing 24 bases. Even with pedestrian run production (75 runs, 69 RBI), that was enough to put him in the top 10 at shortstop in standard leagues. However, a glance at his batted ball data reveals a hitter essentially unchanged from the previous season, when he hit just .258. Both his stolen base totals and attempts have declined in each of the last four years, and he hasn’t scored more than 75 runs since 2013.

Time for our old friend, the blind player comparison!

2014-16 averages AVG R HR RBI SB 2017 ADP
Player A .273 72 6 57 25 155
Player B .267 69 4 51 22 326

 

Andrus, of course, is Player A. Player B is Alcides Escobar. They’ve been basically the same guy the last few years, but you can get Escobar 170 picks later. Don’t pay a premium for Andrus.

 

More Overvalued Draft Values




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Maxx Crosby

Trending Toward Playing Against Broncos
Chris Olave

Set to Play Vs. Bucs
LaMelo Ball

Won't Suit Up Against Denver
Immanuel Quickley

Questionable for Sunday Afternoon
Deshaun Watson

Expected to Stay With Browns Next Year
Klay Thompson

Downgraded Versus Houston
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Out Again on Saturday Evening
Tyler Herro

Will Miss Another Game on Saturday
Jimmy Butler III

Out Again on Saturday Night
Draymond Green

Ruled Out Versus Cleveland
Jose A. Ferrer

Mariners Acquire Jose A. Ferrer from the Nationals
Mason Marchment

Expected to Return Saturday
Danila Yurov

Returns From Two-Game Absence Saturday
Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Available Saturday
Harry Ford

Traded to the Nationals
Shane Pinto

to Miss Two Weeks
David Pastrnak

Misses Fifth Consecutive Game Saturday
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Remains Out Saturday
Nikita Kucherov

Out on Saturday
Jayden Reed

Activated Off Injured Reserve, Will Play in Week 14
Omarion Hampton

Activated From IR, Faces Uncertain Workload Monday Night
Cody Bellinger

Drawing Interest From the Phillies
MacKenzie Gore

Will the Nationals Trade MacKenzie Gore?
Justin Herbert

Officially Listed as Questionable for Monday Night Football
Justin Herbert

Chargers "Expecting" Justin Herbert to Play in Week 14
Yves Missi

Trending Toward Game-Time Decision
Khris Middleton

Questionable With Knee Soreness Against Hawks
Noah Clowney

On Track To Suit Up Against Pelicans
De'Anthony Melton

Questionable With Knee Management
Draymond Green

Questionable With Mid-Foot Sprain
Jimmy Butler III

Day-To-Day As Warriors Prepare For Cleveland
Mikko Rantanen

Picks Up Three Points Against Sharks
Kyle Connor

Scores in Fourth Consecutive Game
Beckett Sennecke

Notches Two Points in Friday's Win
Ryan Leonard

Suffers Upper-Body Injury Friday
Carter Hart

Day-to-Day With Lower-Body Injury
Brayden Point

Questionable for Saturday
Victor Hedman

Expected to Return Saturday
Byron Buxton

Twins Not Planning to Trade Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton
Patrick Williams

Dalen Terry Available Versus Pacers
Coby White

Returns With Minutes Restriction Friday
Ayo Dosunmu

Out Friday Against Pacers
Zach Collins

Available for Season Debut Friday
Robert Williams III

Donovan Clingan Out, Robert Williams III in for Portland Friday
Evan Mobley

Ready to Play Friday
Kristaps Porzingis

Coming Off the Bench Friday
Spencer Jones

Available Against Hawks
Ozzy Wiesblatt

to Miss 8-10 Weeks With Upper-Body Injury
Pierre-Olivier Joseph

Out With Illness Friday
Evander Kane

Doubtful for Friday
Conor Garland

Back From Two-Game Absence Friday
Thomas Harley

Could Be an Option Next Week
Mikael Granlund

Returning From 10-Game Absence Friday
John Carlson

Misses Second Consecutive Game Friday
Rome Odunze

has Fractured Foot, Labeled Week-to-Week
Sauce Gardner

Ruled Out for Sunday
Petr Yan

Looks To Reclaim Bantamweight Belt
Merab Dvalishvili

Set For His Fourth Title Defense
Joshua Van

Can Become The New Flyweight Champion
Aaron Jones Sr.

Cleared to Play in Week 14
Chris Olave

Listed as Questionable for Week 14
Alexandre Pantoja

Set For Fifth Title Defense At UFC 323
Tatsuro Taira

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Alvin Kamara

Ruled Out for Sunday
Brandon Moreno

Searches For His Third Win In A Row
Rome Odunze

Ruled Out for Week 14
Payton Talbott

A Favorite At UFC 323
Henry Cejudo

Set For His Retirement Fight
Drake London

Ruled Out vs Seattle
Jan Blachowicz

Set To Open Up UFC 323 Main Card
Lamar Jackson

Will Play on Sunday
Bogdan Guskov

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
CFB

Emmett Johnson Leaving Nebraska for 2026 NFL Draft
Dalton Kincaid

to be Questionable for Week 14
Tee Higgins

Clears Concussion Protocol, is a Full-Go for Sunday
CFB

Jam Miller Unlikely to Play in SEC Title Game
CFB

Penn State Expected to Hire Matt Campbell from Iowa State
Mike Evans

Not Quite Ready to Return This Week
Jayden Daniels

Will Start Against Vikings
Lamar Jackson

Returns to Practice, on Track to Play on Sunday
Kyler Murray

Won't Return This Year, Cardinals Non-Committal on his Future
CFB

Arkansas Targeting Ron Roberts for Defensive Coordinator Job
Jhostynxon Garcia

Pirates Acquire Jhostynxon Garcia From Red Sox
Cody Bellinger

Yankees Pushing Hard to Re-Sign Cody Bellinger
CFB

Penn State Eyeing Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell For Coaching Vacancy
Alex Bregman

Cubs Have Renewed Interest in Alex Bregman
CFB

Billy Napier Finalizing Deal to Become James Madison's New Head Coach
CFB

Buster Faulkner Set to Become Florida's New Offensive Coordinator
CFB

Joe Sloan Expected to be Kentucky's New Offensive Coordinator
CFB

Lane Kiffin Working to Keep Defensive Coordinator Blake Baker at LSU
CFB

Brian Daboll a Candidate for Penn State Head-Coaching Job?
Kyle Tucker

Visits With Blue Jays
Emilio Pagán

Reds Bring Back Closer Emilio Pagan on Two-Year Deal
Cedric Mullins

Rays Agree on One-Year Deal
Freddy Peralta

Brewers Considering Trading Freddy Peralta
Kyle Schwarber

Reds Serious About Adding Kyle Schwarber in Free Agency?
CFB

Brent Key Signing Five-Year Deal to Remain at Georgia Tech
CFB

Brian Hartline Expected to Land USF Head-Coaching Job
CFB

Collin Klein Expected to be Top Target for Kansas State if Head-Coach Job Opens
CFB

Chris Klieman Considering Stepping Down at Kansas State
CFB

D.J. Durkin Staying at Auburn Under Alex Golesh
CFB

Charlie Weis Jr. Permitted to Coach Ole Miss Offense in College Football Playoff
CFB

Five-Star Quarterback Jared Curtis Flips Commitment From Georgia to Vanderbilt
CFB

Florida Hiring Brad White as Defensive Coordinator
Kyle Schwarber

Giants Have Checked in on Kyle Schwarber
Willson Contreras

Willing to Waive his Full No-Trade Clause?
Edwin Díaz

Mets Still Interested in Re-Signing Edwin Diaz
Devin Williams

Agrees to Three-Year Deal With Mets
Cole Ragans

Red Sox Targeting Cole Ragans in a Trade?
CFB

Kentucky Hires Oregon Offensive Coordinator Will Stein As Head Coach
CFB

Kalani Sitake the Top Target for Penn State Coaching Job
CFB

Josh Heupel Says He's Not a Candidate for Penn State Head Coach Job

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP