X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Poetry in Motion: The Discipline of Martin Prado

Martin Prado has the patience of Buddha. The only difference is that he carries around a big wooden stick and strikes things violently with it. A lot. Prado nearly has the highest Contact% in the majors at 91.4%. Can you guess who's first? Hint: you'll never guess. That's why I asked. Read every single last word of this article to find out.

Prado has long been known as the consummate professional in the dugout and locker room. His solid defense, exceptional batting eye and leadership have made him a well-known contributor to every team he has been a part of. The problem? Unless you found a way to incorporate veteran presence as a stat in your weird roto league, Prado's greatest assets may seem insignificant to fantasy owners. He seems to have lost a great deal of fantasy cred lately, with an ownership rate under 50% in Fleaflicker leagues. Is he overrated? Not so fast, my friend.

Editor's Note: RotoBaller has the best Premium MLB Subscription for only $1.99 per week. We have all the tools to help win your seasonal and daily leagues: Hitter & Pitcher Streamers, Matchup Ratings for every player, Sleeper Surgers for AVG, HR, Ks, PLUS Daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Lineup Picks, Expert Lineups, Stacks and Avoids. 

 

Breaking Down Martin Prado

As mentioned above, Prado's contact rate is above 91% and his averages reflect it. Entering the first weekend of August, he has a slash line of .319/.371/.426. His batting average places him in the top ten among all Major League hitters and the on-base percentage is top-20 in the National League. Prado's 7.5% walk rate isn't anything special, so he's reaching base the hard way the vast majority of the time.

"But what about his BABIP?" they say. "Isn't a .351 BABIP 36 points above his career average and 38 points above last season's average with the Marlins, suggesting regression for the remainder of the season?" They seem to have an oddly specific knowledge of advanced sabermetrics, don't they? While those facts are true, Prado has finished with a .300+ AVG in four other MLB seasons and is a career .293 hitter. Prado's average and OBP are his primary assets and should especially help fantasy owners in leagues that extend beyond the typical 5x5 category format.

Prado hit up middle

I'm in a league that uses 20 different categories in the standings, so I'll take all the help I can get. True story.

Just as impressive as what he does with the bat is what he doesn't do - strikeout. Prado is fifth in the NL with an 11.1% K%. But when I talk about discipline, there is no better indicator than a phenomenally low 3.5% SwStr% which is tops in the majors. His walk rate and 0.67 BB/K aren't much to brag about, but he won't hurt you in points leagues by racking up whiffs.

budda1cp

I thought real hard about how to show him not striking out but this is the best I could come up with.

The one area Prado could be doing better is scoring runs. Hitting in front of the potent outfield trio of Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna should result in more than the 47 runs he has put up so far this season. Since mid-April, Prado has consistently hit in the #2 spot and retains that choice position in the lineup, so there is still promise for the runs to increase. After a relatively slow start to the season, he scored 18 runs in June and, frankly, should have increased that total in July after hitting .357. The Marlins offense caught fire, finishing the month third in hits with 250. For some reason, that hasn't translated into a higher run total for the veteran.

Prado scoring

Prado's power may be dwindling, as he saw his streak of double-digit home runs snapped last season at nine. With just five dingers this year, it doesn't seem the power is coming back any time soon. I'll show you one anyway because who doesn't like a good home run gif?

Prado home run

and what a glorious gif it is...

To close our synopsis of counting stats, Prado has 43 RBI which is good for 47th in the NL. This won't win you any fantasy leagues obviously, but when you consider he's tied with Andrew McCutchen and Freddie Freeman, it doesn't sound so bad any more. Prado can help fantasy teams stretch their advantage in the AVG category quite a bit and he produces well enough in the R and RBI categories that he won't hurt you. The return of lead-off man and last season's batting champ Dee Gordon could actually help Prado in the RBI category, though, and lead to better pitch selection.

Prado RBI

Martin Prado is by no means a fantasy MVP or budding superstar. At 32, he's one of the older players I've featured in this series so far. Heck, he's so old that when he was in school, there was no history class! He's so old, his social security number is 1! He's... well, he's actually a decent hitter who may finish in the top ten for batting average with ~75 R and RBI on the season. He could give you a much needed boost in a couple of key categories down the stretch, rather than taking a chance on a recently call-up rookie still getting used to Major League pitching. Can't promise you more than that though. After all, he's no Jose Iglesias.

Iglesias celebration

For maximum effect, cue "Pony" by Ginuwine while viewing.

 

Live Expert Q&A Chats - Every Weekday @ 1 PM and 6 PM EST (DFS)

Fantasy Baseball Chat Room

[iflychat_embed id="c-55" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]

 


Check out RotoBaller's entire fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and sleepers list, updated daily!




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Dorian Finney-Smith3 hours ago

Questionable With A Shoulder Issue
Gabe Vincent3 hours ago

In Danger Of Missing Third Consecutive Game
Rui Hachimura4 hours ago

Probable For Thursday
Jerami Grant4 hours ago

Carries A Questionable Tag Thursday
Bogdan Bogdanovic4 hours ago

Remains Out Thursday
Clint Capela4 hours ago

Will Not Play On Thursday
Zaccharie Risacher4 hours ago

Available Thursday
Trae Young4 hours ago

Probable For Meeting With Cavaliers
Jalen Suggs4 hours ago

Questionable For Thursday's Game
LeBron James4 hours ago

Questionable Thursday
Dylan Cease4 hours ago

Mets Showing Interest In Dylan Cease, Michael King
Filip Gustavsson5 hours ago

Sharp In Victory Over Toronto
Sidney Crosby5 hours ago

Lifts Penguins To Victory
Quinn Hughes5 hours ago

Extends Point Streak On Wednesday
Matthew Tkachuk5 hours ago

Scores Goal, Adds Two Assists On Wednesday
Jake Allen5 hours ago

Shuts The Door On Wednesday
Owen Tippett5 hours ago

Exits Early On Wednesday
Alperen Sengün14 hours ago

Alperen Sengun Questionable Versus Memphis
Walker Kessler15 hours ago

Could Miss Thursday's Game
John Collins15 hours ago

Tagged As Questionable For Thursday
Jordan Clarkson16 hours ago

To Play On Thursday
Lauri Markkanen16 hours ago

Ready To Return On Thursday
Stephen Curry16 hours ago

Cleared To Play On Wednesday
Kevin Durant16 hours ago

Available On Wednesday
Isaiah Stewart16 hours ago

Ejected On Wednesday
Ja'Marr Chase16 hours ago

Extension A Priority For Bengals This Offseason
Ryan Dunn16 hours ago

Upgraded To Available Wednesday
Rob Dillingham16 hours ago

Active Against Suns
Matthew Stafford17 hours ago

Plans To Play In 2025
Naz Reid17 hours ago

Out On Wednesday
Dallas Goedert17 hours ago

Sits Out With Ankle Injury
DeVonta Smith17 hours ago

Dealing With Hamstring Injury
Carlos Estévez17 hours ago

Carlos Estevez Signing With Kansas City
Dakota Joshua18 hours ago

Rejoins Canucks Lineup Wednesday
Dylan Guenther18 hours ago

Upgraded To Day-To-Day
Kevin Bahl19 hours ago

Week-To-Week
Kaiden Guhle19 hours ago

Out Indefinitely Following Surgery
Sean Couturier19 hours ago

Expected Back On Wednesday
Max Pacioretty19 hours ago

Returns From Three-Game Absence
Drew Doughty19 hours ago

Set For Season Debut Wednesday
Max Scherzer20 hours ago

Blue Jays The Favorites To Land Max Scherzer
Ha-Seong Kim22 hours ago

Agrees With Rays, Expected To Return In May
Ryan Pressly22 hours ago

To Compete For Ninth-Inning Role In Chicago
Kevin Fiala23 hours ago

A Game-Time Call On Wednesday
Patrick Kane23 hours ago

Not Expected To Play On Thursday
Valeri Nichushkin23 hours ago

Expected To Remain Sidelined Through International Break
Matthew Knies23 hours ago

Targeting Saturday Return
Nico Hischier23 hours ago

Labeled As Week-To-Week With Injury
Linus Ullmark23 hours ago

Nearing Return
Michael King1 day ago

Cubs Have Shown Interest In Michael King
Logan Thompson1 day ago

Stands Tall On Tuesday
Andrei Svechnikov1 day ago

Tallies Three Points In Victory
Andrew Novak1 day ago

A Value Play At Pebble Beach
Stephan Jaeger1 day ago

A Risky Option At Pebble Beach
Adam Scott1 day ago

A Boom-Or-Bust Play At Pebble Beach
Sahith Theegala1 day ago

Looking For Bounce-Back At Pebble Beach
Russell Henley1 day ago

In Great Form Heading Into Pebble Beach
Tony Finau1 day ago

Struggles Continue Ahead Of Pebble Beach
Will Zalatoris1 day ago

Back In Action At Pebble Beach
Jason Day1 day ago

A Course Horse At Pebble Beach
Sam Burns2 days ago

In Great Form Ahead Of Pebble Beach
Hideki Matsuyama2 days ago

Looks To Stay Hot At Pebble Beach
NFL2 days ago

Mike McCarthy Won't Coach In The NFL In 2025
New Orleans Saints2 days ago

Kellen Moore In "Strong Position" To Become Saints Head Coach
Marcelo Mayer2 days ago

Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer Invited To Spring Training
Jazz Chisholm Jr.2 days ago

Expected To Play Second Base In 2025
Justin Thomas2 days ago

Eyeing Victory At Pebble Beach
Detroit Lions2 days ago

Lions Hire John Morton As New Offensive Coordinator
Washington Commanders2 days ago

Kliff Kingsbury To Stay With Commanders
Cleveland Browns2 days ago

Browns Not Interested In Trading Myles Garrett
Collin Morikawa2 days ago

A Reliable Pick At AT&T Pro-Am
Scottie Scheffler2 days ago

Making Season Debut At Pebble Beach
Davis Thompson2 days ago

Treading Water Heading Into Pebble Beach
Nick Taylor2 days ago

Trending Way Up For Pebble Beach
Justin Rose2 days ago

Cannot Be Counted Out At Pebble Beach
Taylor Moore2 days ago

Attempts To Put Torrey Pines Behind Him
Shane Lowry2 days ago

Tries To Rebound After Torrey Pines
PGA2 days ago

Sungjae Im Can Contend Again At Pebble Beach
Ben Griffin2 days ago

A Bit Of An Unknown For Pebble Beach
Josiah Gray2 days ago

Begins Throwing Program, Targeting Late-Season Return
Matt Fitzpatrick2 days ago

An Intriguing Option For Pebble Beach
Russell Wilson3 days ago

Steelers Unlikely To Re-Sign Both Russell Wilson, Justin Fields
Josh Allen3 days ago

Picks Up Wrist Injury In AFC Championship Loss
A.J. Brown3 days ago

Finds The End Zone In Strong Outing
Saquon Barkley3 days ago

Posts Three-Touchdown Performance
Jalen Hurts3 days ago

Leads Explosive Offense To Super Bowl Berth
Ben Joyce3 days ago

Expected To Open Season In Closer Role
James Cook3 days ago

Scores Two Touchdowns In Loss To Chiefs
Xavier Worthy4 days ago

Leads Receivers In AFC Championship Win
Chicago Bears4 days ago

Bears Hire Dennis Allen, Declan Doyle For Coordinator Roles
Jose Altuve4 days ago

Willing To Move To Outfield
Ryan Pressly4 days ago

Traded To Cubs After Waiving No-Trade Clause
Seattle Seahawks4 days ago

Seahawks Hiring Klint Kubiak As Offensive Coordinator
Zach Ertz4 days ago

Eclipses 100 Yards In NFC Title Game
Tennesse Titans4 days ago

Titans Hire Dave Ziegler As Assistant GM
Dallas Cowboys4 days ago

Mike Zimmer Likely Retiring From NFL
Carlos Correa4 days ago

Fully Healthy Entering Spring Training
Cristian Javier4 days ago

Targeting Return After All-Star Break
Alex Bregman5 days ago

A "Long Shot" To Return To Houston
Brandon Nimmo5 days ago

Still Dealing With Plantar Fasciitis
Lance McCullers Jr.5 days ago

Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers Jr. Will Not Be Ready For Opening Day
Noah Schultz5 days ago

Invited To Spring Training
Max Scherzer5 days ago

Mets Have Interest In Reunion With Max Scherzer
Pete Alonso5 days ago

Meets With The Angels
Drew Thorpe6 days ago

Likely To Miss Start Of Spring Training

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP