MLB
Fantasy Baseball: 7 Hitters Whose Strikeout-Rate Trends Should Have Your Attention
It's too early to panic, but it's not too early to adjust our expectations, for better or worse, based on strikeout-rate trends.

J.T. Realmuto, Miami Marlins

The hot hitting of Miami Marlins backstop J.T. Realmuto was a surprise narrative to the opening days of 2017, with the relatively low-profile Miami catcher boasting a robust 1.451 on base plus slugging (OPS) over his first five games.

Of course, Realmuto's bat has inevitably cooled, but his .986 OPS on the current season remains an impressive mark that suggests he may soon be establishing himself in the ranks of upper-tier fantasy backstops.

Buoying Realmuto's breakout is a minuscule 8.4-percent strikeout mark, tied for seventh-best across the majors. This trend is no aberration, as the 26-year-old has boasted a well-above-average contact profile throughout his quietly productive career.

The gains in contact rate (up to nearly 90 percent from the already strong 82.4 percent last year) and swinging-strike rate (all the way down below 5 percent, almost half of his lean 8.5-percent rate last year) indicate that even if some negative regression looms for Realmuto, he should be a stout multi-category contributor for the duration of the season.

Prev Next

Related News

MLB Betting Guide for Friday 8/11/23: The Wrong Team Is Favored at Fenway Park

Austin Swaim  --  Apr 19th, 2017

3 MLB Player Prop Bets to Target on Friday 8/11/23

Thomas Vecchio  --  Apr 19th, 2017

MLB Betting Guide for Thursday 8/10/23: 3 Unders on a Slate with Dodgy Weather

Austin Swaim  --  Apr 19th, 2017