MLB
Fantasy Baseball: 5 Hitters Due for Positive Home Run Regression in 2019
These five players posted underwhelming home run totals in 2018. Can we expect them to raise the bar in 2019?

Max Kepler, OF, Minnesota Twins

2018 - Home Runs: 20 (T-70th), FB: 46.2%, HR/FB: 9.9%

Popping 20 jacks a season ago, Max Kepler possesses an intriguing profile -- he walks a ton (11.6%), he doesn't strike out a lot (15.7%, 32nd-best among qualified hitters), and he plays a lot (550+ plate appearances in back-to-back seasons). But only 20 homers?

2019 could be the season he makes the leap forward. He added nearly five percentage points to his hard-hit rate (37.1%), and his .224 batting average seems to only have been held back by a poor BABIP (.236).

With a very strong fly-ball rate, and a premium spot (fifth) in a revamped Twins order in a poor AL Central, Kepler could make for an intriguing sleeper in 2019.

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