Chris Carter (1B, HOU) - 2015 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft In the Early-to-Middle Rounds in All Leagues

ANALYSIS: Chris Carter’s stock is on the rise! Spring training numbers never amount to much, but let’s note that Carter homered for the second straight day this past Sunday, finishing 3-for-3. Carter put himself on the map last year with 37 home runs in only 145 games; the caveat was that he struck out nearly 32% of the time – an absolutely atrocious mark. But, it’s rare for one player to produce those kinds of power numbers and there have been a number of successful fantasy seasons despite crazy strikeout rates. Carter is especially valuable in Roto leagues where owners won’t get dinged for his strikeouts.

With Carter’s hot spring and a full year of George Springer offering protection in the lineup, Carter could be poised for a big year. Carter was notoriously streaky last year, posting a .631 OPS in June before putting up a staggering 1.005 and .940 OPS in July and August. If you can grab Carter in the draft and he has a hot April, you could deal him for solid, more consistent value early in 2015. Latest rankings have him around #68 overall, which is 16 spots behind David Ortiz and 9 spots behind Prince Fielder. Fielder and Ortiz will give you more average, but don’t be surprised if Carter surpasses both by September because of his rare power.