February 16, 2020

Andrelton Simmons may be known more for his glove than his bat, but that is no reason to ignore him in fantasy baseball. First, his gold glove secures his spot in the lineup. Second, he continues to be an underrated asset for fantasy baseball purposes. Simmons may never hit 20 homers, but he makes up for it by providing a safe batting average and stolen bases, while not hurting your runs and RBI totals. Currently, Steamer projects him for a .277 average, which is well above league average (.252). Plus, he hit .292 in 2018, his last healthy season. Simmons has also provided 10+ stolen bases in four-straight seasons. He is projected for 11, but know that he got 10 in just 103 games last year and had 19 in 2017. Add in that he is projected for 71 runs and 73 RBI, and you see that he will not hurt you anywhere expect power. Simmons is no superstar, but with an ADP of 362.09, he is a late-round MI option that can help in multiple categories. Simmons is most valuable in points leagues, as he hardly strikes out — less than 10 percent of the time in four of his last five seasons. His three percent Batter K-BB rate was the 19th best in baseball in 2019. Strikeouts lose you points in this format, so you can see why having a hitter in the Top 20 in batter K-BB is appealing. Additionally, he will hit between 25-30 doubles, which are vastly underrated in points. If you play in a deeper points league where you have an MI spot, he is certainly a name to eye in the later rounds.--Michael Florio - RotoBaller