What It Means:

It was his first homer of the season. After hitting 20 total homers from 2013 to 2015, Yelich connected for 21 homers last season. He still hits a lot of ground balls, but it’s worth noting that his fly ball rate steadily increased as the year moved along in 2016. He could be capable of more this year.

Our models are a bit more muted on Yelich's power hopes this year, projecting him for 17 more shots in 626 plate appearances. Still, he'll contribute all over, with a .295 batting average and 14 steals to come by our projections.