3 years agoA longtime Statcast darling, Teoscar Hernandez possesses the physical tools that make scouts and fantasy players drool, but Hernandez took his production to the next level in 2021. Hernandez clobbered 32 HR and drove in 116 RBI and a .296 BA, making him one of the best values of the 2021 season. A hyper-aggressive swinger at the plate, Hernandez was previously held back by egregious strikeout rates north of 30%, but finally made tangible improvements last season, trimming his K rate to a much more manageable 24.9%. The funny thing is, he made these strikeout gains by taking an even more aggressive approach, increasing his swing rate to a career-high 51.9%. Hernandez seems to have made improvements in pitch recognition, especially against breaking balls. Even in his monster 2020 mini-breakout, he hit just .121 off breaking balls, but crushed the bender for a .286 BA and .503 SLG in 2021. Hernandez is now recognizing and hitting the breaking balls he previously swung through. He has always feasted on fastballs, but if he's able to sustain these gains against breaking balls he becomes extremely hard to challenge for opposing pitchers. Hernandez likely over-performed a smidge in the batting average department, as his .352 BABIP would be hard to maintain for another full season despite strong quality of contact. He also has the luxury of batting cleanup for a loaded Toronto lineup, meaning he could top 100 RBI again should he stay healthy. Even if he regresses to a .275-ish average, Hernandez' potential as a five-category contributor make him an easy top-40 selection that managers can feel comfortable drafting, even with his spotty numbers prior to 2020.--Elliott Baas - RotoBaller