RADIO
Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2019 Outlook: Too Light a Bat, Even as Base-Stealing Catcher
6 years agoIsiah Kiner-Falefa is a catcher who can steal a few bases, seven in his rookie year in 2018. He also has multi-positional eligibility, although he will mostly be catching in 2019. That all might make him sound tempting, but in 396 PA, Kiner-Falefa posted just a .261/.325/.357 line as a rookie, with four home runs. That made for an 81 wRC+ that ranked 18th out of 21 catchers with 350 or more PA last year. He also only barreled up two baseballs all year. Only Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon had more PA and two or fewer barrels. They are also the only two players who had more PA and a lower average exit velocity on balls in the air. IKF isn’t that much of a base stealer, and was caught five times in 2018. Perhaps he can improve as a hitter, but his minor league line in 1954 PA is .276/.346/.332 with only five home runs. He’s also just 51-of-77 stealing bases as a minor leaguer. With all of this in mind and a 326 ADP, Kiner-Falefa is a clear no-go as a fantasy option in one catcher leagues and standard two-catcher leagues, especially when you can get the more intriguing Willians Astudillo at 343 on average.
