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

Turning Two: Will Anyone Hit .350 in 2017?

Welcome back to our third edition of Turning Two. We've now discussed who will hit 50 HR, and who will rack up 300 K. This week we flip back to the hitters to discuss a challenge that has not been tackled in seven years; hitting .350 for a season.  A .350 batting average is a daunting task. Hell, .330 is an amazing feat. Remember when Tedd Williams hit .406 in 1941? Of course you don't (unless you're at least 76, then I say thanks for reading pops!). Given the advances in baseball (relief pitching, defensive shifts) it takes a rare breed of player to overcome the odds and reach .350, let alone tinker with the idea of .400.

Since 2000, thirteen players have achieved an average of at least .350. Ichiro Suzuki has done it four times in that span! But since 2010, only one player has had such a season (Josh Hamilton; .350 in 2010). Chances are, Ben and I will go 0-for-4 in our picks. There's no fun in that pessimism, so let's take some swings at this topic and hope we strike gold!

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.

 

Turning Two: Who Will Hit .350?

Have a subject you want discussed? Send us a note via Twitter to RotoBaller (@RotoBaller), JB (@RowdyRotoJB) or Ben (@Ben_Ruppert_21) and let us know!

 

JB's Two:

1. Miguel Cabrera, DET (1B)

I am going to go just about as safe as it gets for my first pick. Although Miggy has never reached .350, he has come damn close twice, hitting .348 in 2013 and .344 in 2011. The dude is one of the best hitters of all time. Last season he hit over .300 for the eigth consecutive season, although the .316 mark was quite a ways from today's bold prediction. But I believe some of the statistics from 2016 point to a monstrous 2017 campaign, culminating in a .350 BA.

First off, Cabrera is getting older. Duh, right? At the age of 33, we can expect a players bat speed to begin to decrease, and begin to have more trouble catching up to the fastballs. We've even already seen the trend with Miggy according to Pitchf/x, as his value against fastballs had decreased for three straight seasons heading into last year. But the 5.5 wFA he posted in 2016 is a laughable outlier. Go ahead and toss that out. Prior to that, his lowest value was over 13. That will undoubtedly even out in 2017, which will be an easy increase in the BA department. The second outlier statistic Cabrera suffered last season was his splits vs left handed pitching. He hit .302 against southpaws, which is 15 points lower than his career average, while hitting a higher LD% and Hard% than his career marks. I don't care what the BABIP numbers say, that doesn't add up. It might not seem like much, but when we're aiming for .350 every little blip returning to its norm is going to help.

But even with having an "off year" against the cheese and lefties, Miggy absolutely balled out over the second half. He hit .346 and earned the second highest wRC+ after the All-Star break. He increased his line drives, increased his hits up the middle of the field, and increased his hard hit percentage to a terrifying 47.9%. If that kind of momentum doesn't scream .350 BA, I don't know what does.

Ben: Can’t argue if you think a former triple crown winner is going to hit .350, especially considering he has hit over .310 every year but one since 2005.

 

2. Jose Ramirez, CLE (3B/OF)

If you go safe with your first choice, you got to follow it up with a pick like Ramirez. It looks absurd, considering the man only has one full MLB season under his belt, but hear me out. Ramirez broke onto the fantasy scene in 2016 after taking over the starting third base gig for Cleveland. He hit .312/.363/.462 while posting an impressive 0.71 BB/K ratio, aided by the fifth lowest strikeout percentage in the league. He was an elite contact hitter, ranking in the top ten of both contact percentage and swinging strike percentage. But the dude isn't out there just slapping infield ground balls. Ramirez has what you would call "gap power". His high line drive percentage and surprising speed make him a doubles machine (third most in the league) and will help keep the BA consitently high. The bonus you get with Ramirez is the switch hitting ability, which is great for matchups. He hit almost identical batting averages against both RHP and LHP pitching last season (.312, .311).

Much like Miggy, a lot of my juice behind this pick was found in the second half stat book from 2016. After the break, Ramirez hit .329 while even further cutting his K% and increasing his Hard% by seven points. This shows me that the 24 year old is still getting better at the plate, and I don't believe for a second we've seen the best of him yet. Did I mention he's only 24 years old?? With his elite contact percentages, high amount of line drives, speed, and continuous improvement at the plate, Jose Ramirez is literally just a small BABIP increase away from reaching the .350 BA. Here's to those friendly bounces coming in 2017!

Ben: Ramirez was a big surprise for Cleveland last season, partially due to his BABIP taking a huge leap (.232 in 2015 to .333 last season). He did make some nice improvements in his approach, but I need to see if the improvements stick before I’m buying .350.

 

Ben's Two:

1. Jose Altuve, HOU (2B)

Jose “Gigante” Altuve has emerged as one of the primier hitters in the league over the past three seasons for Houston. Over that span, he has hit .331 with some excellent underlying statistics. His strikeout percentage has been under 10% every season, and his walk rate rose to 8.4% last season. Altuve struck out only 10 more times than he walked last season; his 0.86 K/BB rate was ninth in the league. His hard contact percentage has risen each of the past three seasons, and was over 30% for the first time last season. His soft contact percentage was a measly 13.6% last season, which was top-20 among all hitters.

Altuve’s BABIP has been fairly consistent over the past three seasons, so there is no reason to expect a regression in his game there. His ISO has also risen over the past three seasons, as evidenced by his rising HR totals. Though that total may dip this season (career-high 13% HR/FB rate last season, nearly double his career average), there is no reason why Altuve can’t take another step in his game and break through to the .350 mark. Last season he hit .300 every month until September, and he hit over .350 twice (he hit .420 in June).  He hit over .300 against left and right handed pitching, the second time in his career he accomplished that feat (2014, when he hit .341). If I’m putting my money on one player to hit .350 this season, its Jose Altuve.

JB: Career high line drive and hard hit percentages last season, which are definitely great signs for a high BA. But the GB/FB ratio has decreased each season since 2012, so if he is unable to at least replicate those two career bests- while still trying to hit the most HR ever by a 5'7" human being, this years BA will look more like the .313 we saw in 2015. 

 

2. Francisco Lindor, CLE (SS)

Boy, do I love me some Francisco Lindor. Known for his silky-smooth fielding abilities coming through the minors, he was not projected to make a major impact offensively. When he arrived in 2015 even the most optimistic Lindor supporters had to be surprised with his production. He hit .313/.353/.482 with 12 HR and 12 steals in 99 games. He proved that start to be real in 2016, slashing .301/.358/.435 with 15 HR and 19 steals in 158 games.

Though his average took a slight dip, his plate discipline improved; his walk rate improved to 8.3%, and his strikeout rate fell to 12.9%. His soft contact percentage fell two percentage points to 17.2%, and those points went straight to his hard contact percentage, which rose to 27.5%. Lindor was able to drop his outside swing percentage to 30.3% last season, and increase his contact percentage on outside pitches to 71.4%. This also helped lead to his swinging strike rate dropping from 8.6% to 7.7%.

Lindor is a legit hitter at the major-league level even if he didn’t appear to have this potential in the minors. He will continue to provide highlight reel defensive plays for the Indians, while providing fantasy owners with a SS who can chip in in all five categories. If Lindor continues making strides in his approach while hitting in a loaded Tribe lineup, he has a chance to make the leap to .350.

JB: Why are people paying so much for this guy when you can get the same production out of Jose Ramirez later in the draft? Different discussion for a different day I suppose. But there's no way Lindor hits .350 before Ramirez. Same speed, less pop (don't care about the HR totals), less contact, and subsequently more strikeouts. Maybe after Ramirez does it, he can teach Lindor his secrets. 

 

Turning Two Articles: 

Who will hit 50 HR?

Who will rack up 300 K?




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

Jon Runyan

Limited During Minicamp
Saquon Barkley

Feels Great Physically
Justin Simmons

Panthers Have Talked With Justin Simmons
Jordan Addison

Trial Date Set for July 15
New York Jets

Jets Sign Kingsley Jonathan, Marquis Hayes
Jarace Walker

Remains Sidelined for Game 5
Justin Verlander

Returning to the Rotation on Wednesday
Tony Finau

Finishes Tied For 38th at U.S. Open
Bud Cauley

Misses The Cut at U.S. Open
Cameron Young

Finishes Tied For Fourth at U.S. Open
J.J. Spaun

Wins U.S. Open
Xander Schauffele

Finishes Tied For 12th at U.S. Open
Robert MacIntyre

Finishes Second at U.S. Open
Si Woo Kim

Finishes Tied For 42nd at U.S. Open
Vershon Lee

Vikings Ink Undrafted Offensive Lineman Vershon Lee
Luke Clanton

Misses The Cut at RBC Canadian Open
San Francisco 49ers

C.J. West Signs Rookie Deal with San Fran
Jaylen Warren

Training to Handle Larger Workload
Giancarlo Stanton

to Make Season Debut on Monday
Will Campbell

Ends Minicamp as Top Left Tackle
Sam Cosmi

Making Good Progress From Torn ACL
Kamaru Usman

Gets Back In The Win Column
Adonai Mitchell

Impresses at Minicamp
Joaquin Buckley

Winning Streak Comes To An End
Miranda Maverick

Drops Decision At UFC Atlanta
Bradley Chubb

Fully Healed, Looking Disruptive
Jonnu Smith

Contract Talks "Still Fluid"
Rose Namajunas

Wins Decision At UFC Atlanta
Andre Petroski

Suffers Unanimous-Decision Loss
Edmen Shahbazyan

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Raoni Barcelos

Wins Third Fight In A Row
Chase Elliott

Ends Mexico City with A Great Finish of Third
Christopher Bell

has A Strong Runner-Up Performance At Mexico City
Chase Briscoe

Wild Day Ends with A Top-10 Finish
Michael McDowell

Leaves Mexico City with A Top-Five Finish
Cody Garbrandt

Loses Back-To-Back Fights
Cody Brundage

Defeated After Accidental Clash Of Heads
Cody Brundage

Mansur Abdul-Malik Defeats Cody Brundage By Technical Decision
Oumar Sy

Suffers His First Loss
Alonzo Menifield

Scores Upset Win
Alex Bowman

Delivers Bravura Performance After Michigan Injury
Tyler Reddick

Inexplicably Mediocre on his Once-Best Track Type
John Hunter Nemechek

Canny Strategy Gives John Hunter Nemechek Best Career Road-Course Finish
Cole Custer

Earns Best Finish Since Cup-Series Comeback at Mexico City
Grant Holmes

Punches Out 15 in Loss
Elly De La Cruz

Goes Yard in Fourth Straight Game
Will Vest

Dealing With Finger Injury
Jackson Merrill

Placed on Seven-Day Concussion Injured List
J.J. McCarthy

Looking "a Lot Stronger"
Shohei Ohtani

Will Be Dodgers' Starting Pitcher Monday
Roki Sasaki

Shut Down From Throwing
Garrett Wilson

Receives New Contract Offer
Jordan Hicks

Headed to Boston
Kyle Harrison

Traded to Red Sox
Travis Kelce

Slims Down During the Offseason
Trey Hendrickson

Bengals Restart Contract Discussions
Brady House

Nationals Promoting Brady House to Major Leagues
Rafael Devers

Traded to San Francisco
Logan Gilbert

to Start on Monday
Jayden Higgins

Impresses During Minicamp
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

on the Move to Memphis
Cole Anthony

Dealt to the Grizzlies
Seattle Seahawks

DeMarcus Lawrence Making an Impression With his New Team
Isaiah Simmons

Being Used Exclusively as a Linebacker
Tyler Mahle

Placed on 15-Day Injured List
Travis Etienne Jr.

the Jaguars Lead Back?
Luis Robert Jr.

Scratched with Thumb Soreness
Desmond Bane

Traded to Orlando
Byron Buxton

Scratched from Sunday's Lineup
Brendan Donovan

Returns to the Lineup
Steven Adams

Rockets Agree to Three-Year Contract Extension
Royce Lewis

Hits 10-Day Injured List
Ty Dillon

Is a Respectable Cap Flexiblity-Focused DFS Option For Mexico City
Corey Perry

Produces 10th Postseason Goal
Connor McDavid

Scores First Finals Goal
John Hunter Nemechek

Is John Hunter Nemechek Worth Rostering In Mexico City DFS Lineups?
Shohei Ohtani

Blasts Two Homers in Win
Sam Bennett

Nets Another Road Goal in Game 5 Win
Eetu Luostarinen

Earns Two Points Saturday
Michael King

Not Making Progress
Brad Marchand

Pots Two Goals in Game 5 Victory
Jackson Merrill

Removed Early on Saturday
Sergei Bobrovsky

Ties NHL Record with 10th Road Win
Ross Chastain

Trackhouse Racing's Mexico Focus Makes Ross Chastain a Leading Contender for the Win
Kyle Busch

One of Two Past Mexico City Winners in the Field
Ryan Preece

Earns Surprising Front-Row Start
Austin Cindric

Not as Strong of a Road Racer as People Think
NASCAR

Bubba Wallace Stronger on Infield Road Courses Than Purpose-Built Ones
Joey Logano

Seemingly Alternating Between Good and Mediocre Races
Brad Keselowski

One of the Few Drivers with Mexico City Experience
Denny Hamlin

Ryan Truex Makes First Cup Series Start Since 2014
Erik Jones

Mexico City Will Likely be a Struggle for Erik Jones
Noah Gragson

Front Row Motorsports' Speed May Make Noah Gragson a Decent DFS Option
Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Road Courses Are Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s Worst Track Type
Evander Kane

Drops to Fourth Line Saturday
Kasperi Kapanen

Won't Play on Saturday
Calvin Pickard

Starts Game 5 for Oilers
Tyrese Haliburton

Struggles in Friday's Loss to OKC
Chet Holmgren

Dominates the Glass in Game 4
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Leads the Way in Game 4
Jalen Williams

Has a Quality Showing on Friday Night
Russell Westbrook

to Decline Player Option
Kevin Durant

Trade Could Happen in the "Next Few Days"
Joaquin Buckley

Set For Main Event
Kamaru Usman

An Underdog At UFC Atlanta
Miranda Maverick

Set For Co-Main Event
Rose Namajunas

Looks To Bounce Back
Andre Petroski

Looks To Extend His Win Streak To Four
Edmen Shahbazyan

A Favorite At UFC Atlanta
Raoni Barcelos

Set To Take On Former Champion
Cody Garbrandt

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Mansur Abdul-Malik

Looks For His Third UFC Win
Connor Hellebuyck

Wins Vezina And Hart Trophies
Aleksander Barkov

Records Two Power-Play Assists Thursday
Sam Reinhart

Collects Three Points in Thursday's Loss
Matthew Tkachuk

Notches Three Points in Losing Effort
Calvin Pickard

Joins Exclusive List with Thursday's Win
Mattias Ekholm

Logs Two Assists in Comeback Victory
Leon Draisaitl

Delivers Victory in Overtime Thursday
Myles Turner

Playing Through Illness
Reed Sheppard

Will Play in the NBA Summer League
Kevin Durant

Deal Could Come Sooner Rather Than Later
Dorian Finney-Smith

Undergoes Ankle Surgery
Anze Kopitar

Wins Third Lady Byng Trophy
Sergei Bobrovsky

Heading Out for Win No. 15
John Klingberg

Won't Play in Game 4 Against Panthers
Viktor Arvidsson

Sits Out Game 4 Against Panthers
Stuart Skinner

Remains in Oilers Crease Thursday
Jalen Williams

Leads Thunder in Scoring Wednesday
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Settles for 24 Points in Game 3 Loss
Pascal Siakam

Does Everything for Pacers Wednesday Night
Tyrese Haliburton

Gets Close to Triple-Double in Game 3 Win
Bennedict Mathurin

Leads All Scorers with 27 Points Wednesday
Brandin Podziemski

Has Second Offseason Surgery
Matt McCarty

Comes Off Season-Best Showing at RBC Canadian Open
Justin Thomas

Desperate to Continue Good 2025 Season
Jon Rahm

Seeks Revenge at U.S. Open
Tom Kim

Aiming for Improvement in U.S. Open
PGA

Sungjae Im Expects Solid Performance at Oakmont
Brian Harman

Aims to Rebound From the Memorial
Tony Finau

has Been Up and Down at U.S. Open
Patrick Cantlay

Hoping This is the Year at Oakmont
Akshay Bhatia

Improving in Time for U.S. Open
Xander Schauffele

Primed for Another Major Championship Run
Cameron Young

May Struggle at U.S. Open
Collin Morikawa

Eyeing Third Major Championship Title
Matt Fitzpatrick

Seeks to Avenge Oakmont Collapse
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF