Denard Span: Player to Watch in Second Half
Denard Span is one of the more underrated fantasy baseball players out there. Here are some reasons he should be on your fantasy radar.
Denard Span, center fielder for the San Francisco Giants, is not your typical fantasy stud that will put up bolstering numbers. He will not accumulate overwhelming amounts of home runs or RBI for his team in any given season. Span likes to rack up the fantasy points in other ways. These tools can make him a valuable asset for your team in the second half.
With the playoffs looming around the corner, it’s time to start making the necessary moves for your squad.
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Span is not a player that will ever hurt your team, he can only benefit. He does not accumulate negative points too often with his ability to make contact with the ball on a consistent basis. Span does not strikeout often. He has an elite 15.5% strikeout rate this season. In his nine year MLB career, Span has never struck out more than 89 times in a given season; and that was back in 2009.
He likes to score a lot of his points through stolen bases and scoring runs for his team. These stats go by the way side sometimes for fantasy owners. Many of which tend to focus on home runs, RBI, and batting average alone. Use this to your advantage.
Span is starting on arguably the best team in the MLB this season with San Francisco. Span is the lead off man for the Giants. He will have many opportunities to score a multitude of runs for them as they seemed primed and ready to make another chase at a World Series this season.
Unfortunately for Denard Span, last season was cut short due to injury. Through 61 games however, the center fielder was very impressive for Washington last season; another great offensive team.
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He averaged nearly three fantasy points per game last year, which is above average. He also hit for five home runs, 22 RBI, while scoring 38 runs for the Nationals. He too stole 11 bases and had a strikeout rate a little over 10%.
San Francisco is ranked in the top 10 in the MLB in categories such as batting average, OBP, RBI, and runs scored. All of these factors coming into play, He will begin to heat up again after a slow June, and start putting up more fantasy numbers. So far this season, Span is batting .253 with four home runs and 30 RBI. He has also scored 38 runs and stolen eight bases this year.
Denard Span’s career batting average is .285, so look for him to begin accumulating more hits as the season rolls on. Span will have a great opportunity to get 150+hits this season. He hasn’t hit worse than .279 in any of his previous four seasons.
He is a great baseball player and can be used for teams in need of outfield help come the second half.
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In deeper leagues, Denard Span will be a great acquisition for your team especially. He is always a threat to get on base and put himself into a position to score. He is currently available in roughly 50 percent of ESPN leagues. Look for him on your waiver wire.