Fantasy Baseball: 6 Hitters With a Lot to Prove in 2018

Matt Davidson, 3B, Chicago White Sox

After getting just two plate appearances in the big leagues since debuting in 2013 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, third baseman Matt Davidson took advantage of his opportunity this past year for the rebuilding Chicago White Sox.

In 443 trips to the plate, he slugged 26 home runs and collected 68 RBI off the strength of a 46.5% fly-ball rate, 42.1% pull rate, and 38.2% hard-hit rate. All that stuff is great, but he managed just an 83 wRC+ while producing -0.9 fWAR.

That's because the not-so-great stuff included just a 4.3% walk rate, an eye-popping (in the bad way) 37.2% strikeout rate that was supported by a 16.3% swinging-strike rate. Among hitters with at least 400 plate appearances in 2017, only Keon Broxton (38.2%) had a higher strikeout rate, while that swing-and-miss rate was the sixth-highest in baseball, tied with teammate Avisail Garcia.

Since he didn't exactly blow the world away with his defense -- he accumulated -4 Defensive Runs Saved with a -2.1 Ultimate Zone Rating -- it's imperative for him to prove his value at the plate. His batted-ball profile tells us there isn't a huge problem when he connects, but he needs to actually make contact more often.

Davidson's 66.5% swing rate on strikes was right at the league average (66.7%). However, where he dropped off was his contact rate in this situation -- his 78.0% contact rate on strikes and 66.3% overall contact rate were both significantly below the league average (85.5% and 77.5%, respectively).