Fantasy Baseball: The 25 Least Powerful Hitters Who Slugged 20-Plus Homers in 2017
Players Ranked 25th to 13th
For whatever reason, this portion of our programming is very popular with first basemen -- as many as eight players who manned that position in 2017 (or can man it but have been mostly relegated to designated hitter duties) have popped up here. But as always, we have a wide range of players below, whether we're talking about their on-field skills, where they are in their respective careers or both.
| Rank | Player | PA | BB% | K% | HR | R | RBI | ISO | wOBA | wRC+ | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Mitch Moreland | 576 | 9.9% | 20.8% | 22 | 73 | 79 | .197 | .326 | 98 | 0.9 |
| 24 | Carlos Santana | 667 | 13.2% | 14.1% | 23 | 90 | 79 | .196 | .350 | 117 | 3.0 |
| 23 | Kendrys Morales | 608 | 7.1% | 21.7% | 28 | 67 | 85 | .196 | .320 | 97 | -0.6 |
| 22 | Trey Mancini | 586 | 5.6% | 23.7% | 24 | 65 | 78 | .195 | .349 | 117 | 1.8 |
| 21 | Mookie Betts | 712 | 10.8% | 11.1% | 24 | 101 | 102 | .194 | .339 | 108 | 5.3 |
| 20 | Tommy Joseph | 533 | 6.2% | 24.2% | 22 | 51 | 69 | .192 | .305 | 85 | -1.1 |
| 19 | Didi Gregorius | 570 | 4.4% | 12.3% | 25 | 73 | 87 | .191 | .335 | 107 | 3.9 |
| 18 | Hanley Ramirez | 553 | 9.2% | 21.0% | 23 | 58 | 62 | .188 | .318 | 93 | -0.4 |
| 17 | Corey Seager | 613 | 10.9% | 21.4% | 22 | 85 | 77 | .184 | .364 | 127 | 5.7 |
| 16 | Ryon Healy | 605 | 3.8% | 23.5% | 25 | 66 | 78 | .181 | .320 | 100 | 0.2 |
| 15 | Adam Jones | 635 | 4.3% | 17.8% | 26 | 82 | 73 | .181 | .334 | 107 | 1.7 |
| 14 | Maikel Franco | 623 | 6.6% | 15.2% | 24 | 66 | 76 | .179 | .292 | 76 | -0.5 |
| 13 | Eric Hosmer | 671 | 9.8% | 15.5% | 25 | 98 | 94 | .179 | .376 | 135 | 4.1 |
Is There Such a Thing as Too Patient?
Fresh off placing second in American League MVP voting in 2016 while earning his first trip to the All-Star game, first Gold Glove award, and first Silver Slugger award, the sky seemed to be the limit for Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts. If we look at those individual accolades, he didn't do too shabby in 2017 -- he went to the All-Star game again, placed sixth in AL MVP voting, and brought home another Gold Glove.
And he did have a solid year, evidenced by the 108 wRC+ and 5.3 fWAR he produced off the strength of an .803 OPS, 24 homers, 102 RBI, 101 runs scored, and 26 stolen bases. It's only disappointing when you compare it to his MVP-caliber 2016 campaign, which included a 137 wRC+ and 7.9 fWAR, along with better numbers in all the other categories just mentioned (except for stolen bases).
So what happened? We could point to a drop in line-drive rate (19.3% to 16.8%) and BABIP (.322 to .268) as part of it, but maybe his increase in patience was a detriment to his success. His walk rate jumped form 6.7% to 10.8%, which is great, but he got less aggressive in advantageous situations -- Betts' swing rate on pitches inside the strike zone dropped nearly six percentage points to 50.8%, coinciding with a drop in contact rate in this situation (96.0% to 93.1%).
Being Overly Aggressive
We go from the sublime to the ridiculous, courtesy of Baltimore Orioles veteran outfielder, Adam Jones. His 58.1% swing rate was the fifth-highest among qualified hitters in 2017, but this is nothing new -- nobody has swung the bat more often than Jones since 2013. He's made it work, though, hitting at least 26 homers in each of those years.
However, what could get Jones in trouble moving forward is if his performance on fly balls continues declining. His 151 wRC+ on this batted-ball event in 2017 is much better than the 115 mark he posted the year prior, but the peripherals don't match up. The outfielder's hard-hit rate decreased from 37.9% to 32.5%, yet his BABIP ticked up from .084 to .146.
That decline in hard-hit rate is now the third consecutive season in which it's taken a dip, as his rate in 2015 stood at 42.9%. Playing at a hitter-friendly park like Camden Yards certainly helps him, evidenced by the fact that 17 of his 26 homers from this past year came at home.
Still Too Many Grounders
Eric Hosmer finds himself in an envious position this winter. This is his first trip into free agency and appears as though he'll be the highest-paid available first basemen as he prepares for his age-28 season. It also doesn't hurt that he's entered the open market off the strength of his second consecutive 25-homer performance and the best overall year of his career, evidenced by new personal bests in fWAR (4.1) and wRC+ (135).
He also doesn't strikeout very much (16.3% career strikeout rate), and while advanced defensive metrics aren't kind to him, he is highly regarded for his work with the glove and has four Gold Gloves to prove it.
The one area of concern -- which isn't anything new -- lies in his batted-ball profile. Hosmer's 29.5% hard-hit rate was his lowest since 2011 when he was a rookie, yet he managed a career-high .351 BABIP despite a 55.6% ground-ball rate (53.4% for his career). Since he's hitting the ball into the ground so often, it's imperative for him to make the most of his fly balls.
He did that this past year, but it doesn't seem sustainable. His wRC+ on flies went from 245 in 2016 to 291 in 2017, but his hard-hit rate went from 50.4% (a single-season career high) to 41.4%.
