MLB

Fantasy Baseball: 5 Top-Tier Hitters to Avoid

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Feb 11th, 2019
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Gary Sanchez, C, New York Yankees

NFBC ADP: 59th

Positional Rank: 2

Draft Round (12-team league): 5th

After a horrible 2018 that he'd soon like to forget, Gary Sanchez still managed to blast 18 home runs a season ago, and he's the second catcher off the board in drafts. Is that the right spot to secure some pop at the catcher spot?

It seems a bit early. While he's sure to rebound from that .186 batting average, a 33-point dip in his ISO (.253 to .220) and a decline in his hard-hit rate (36.9% to 35.5%) make that draft cost tough to absorb.

In addition, Sanchez has to solve right-handed pitching. While he obliterated lefties last year for a .373 wOBA, he posted a 25.9% strikeout rate and mediocre .279 wOBA against same-sided arms in 2018.

Sanchez does provide some interesting power at a hard-to-roster position, but his cost currently seems inflated given the warts we saw a year ago.

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