BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 260
CURRENT ADP: ~278 overall
ANALYSIS: Eduardo Escobar was a player that was expected to regress from the big year he had in 2019. The juiced ball really assisted the power that year and it was a clear outlier. However, we saw Escobar regress a little too much in 2020. He hit just .212 and four home runs. The counting stats were lackluster and there just was not a lot going for him. However, he did get unlucky. The BABIP was a lowly .244. Escobar is not one for high BABIP but with a career .283 BABIP, he would’ve likely bounced back. The expected batting average (xBA) was .263. This is 51 points higher than the actual batting average and more in line with the career .257 hitter he is. The home runs should have been expected to regress as he was a 21 home run guy in 2017 and followed that up with 23 home runs in 2018 prior to the power explosion in 2019 where he posted the 35.
When looking deeper, some of the plate discipline and the power metrics were essentially in line with his 2019 production. The issue may have been the quality of contact as his barrel rate of 5.5% and Sweet Spot% of 34.8% were both the lowest marks since 2016. Escobar even improved on the contact rates across the board and in doing so cut down on the swing-and-miss. Escobar is not flashy, but he should be hitting towards the middle of the order and playing every day. There is no reason he cannot get back to the 20-to-25 home run production while hitting .250-to-.260 in the process with a healthy amount of R+RBI.
More Fantasy Baseball Values and Sleepers
2025 Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Draft Value Picks - Septembers To Remember
There aren't many things more frustrating in fantasy baseball than seeing one of your players have a big September after struggling for most of the season. Health, bad luck, and a bad situation are just some of the many reasons a player might struggle for so long only to get things together in the final […]
Rick Lucks' 2024 Fantasy Baseball Bold Predictions Revisited
Doesn't March feel like forever ago? Now that the 2024 fantasy baseball season is in the books, some of what we were thinking seems ridiculous in hindsight. I joined several of my Rotoballer colleagues in making bold predictions before the 2024 campaign, and now it's time to see how they panned out. Spoiler alert: there […]
Are You For Real? Surprising Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Starts From Luis L. Ortiz and Andre Pallante
Welcome back to the "Are You For Real?" series as we dive into Week 27 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season. This week, we're looking at two NL Central arms that transitioned from reliever to starter this season. First, we'll break down a strong start from Luis L. Ortiz in Pittsburgh. Then, we'll deep dive […]
Fantasy Baseball Hitter Streamers - Top Waiver Wire Pickups and Starts for Week 27 (Sept. 23 - Sept. 29)
We did it - we made it to the final week of the MLB regular season. If your team is still in the mix for a fantasy championship, then I bid you good luck and I'll do my best to point out some of the best bats you can add for the final week to […]
Fantasy Baseball Breakout Hitters Watch and Underachievers, Overachievers (Week 27)
Welcome back to my Week 27 edition of the Fantasy Baseball Breakout Hitters series for the 2024 MLB season! We're running out of time to make those moves that will get us to the fantasy championship, so perhaps there is someone in here who can help get you there. In today's edition, we'll take a […]
Download Our Free Draft App
Like what you see? You can download our free fantasy baseball mobile app for iPhone and Android which includes more draft sleepers at very position, 24x7 player news, notifications, injury alerts and daily articles... all free!
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!
Check out RotoBaller's entire fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and sleepers list, updated daily!