January 18, 2019

For years Eduardo Escobar was an unremarkable utility infielder. That changed in 2017 when he hit over 20 HR for the first time in his career, a feat which he repeated in 2018. Following a trade from Minnesota to Arizona, Escobar signed a three-year contract extension with Diamondbacks. He will likely serve as the Diamondbacks’ everyday 3B and hit second, in front of Peralta, Souza and Lamb. The Escobar of the past two years has reinvented himself from a groundball hitter into a flyball hitter with a four-degree change in Launch Angle (14.3 degrees in 2015-16 compared to 18.2 degrees in 2017-18). Escobar does not hit flyballs very hard (89.8 mph Exit Velocity on flyballs in 2018), so he does not have much margin for error. That is, with only modest regression in either his FB% or reduction in either Exit Velocity or Launch Angle, he could see his HR/FB drop back into the single digits. Since he is not a SB threat, such regression would threaten his fantasy relevance. Qualifying at both 3B and SS, Escobar represents a useful bench player in most formats; however, given the historically high depth at those two positions, he is only a starter in deeper leagues. As a player whose ADP projects outside the top 200, he does not need to be targeted before the very end of drafts in standard leagues.--Walter Cook