Fantasy Baseball: Rangers Shin soo Choo should be owned more?
By Brad Kelly
Shin-Soo Choo is currently on a roll at the plate for the Rangers, but should there be more fantasy interest?
The Rangers are without a doubt, one of the most disappointing teams in MLB so far this season. Even though they continue to fight with the .500 mark, that is no fault of Shin-Soo Choo. But, should Choo be owned more in fantasy leagues?
Choo is in his thirteenth major league season, and outside of injuries, he has etched a nice career stateside. After parlaying his success with the Indians and Reds into a long-term deal with the Rangers, his tenure in Texas has been marred by nagging injuries. In 2016, he only played in 48 games, seemingly falling off the fantasy radar overnight.
With his injury track record and the Rangers having a lot of moving parts in the outfield, fantasy owners were better off not targeting Choo in drafts this spring. Yet, 59 games into this season, he sits with a solid .261/10 HR/32 RBI/.6 SB/.812 OPS line. He got off to a great start, .274/3 HR/11 RBI in April, slowed down some in May, .244/4 HR/15 RBI, but has now picked things up again in June.
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Looking further into his batted ball data, Choo is squaring the ball up and walking at a better pace right now than nearly any point in his career. He currently holds a 15% BB, which ties a career best rate that he had in 2013 with the Reds. He also has a 23% LD and a 52% Med contact rate, which both would be the highest rates of his career if the season ended today.
Choo is still being slotted atop the Rangers order, which of course provides plenty of counting stat opportunities and playing in Arlington is still a lefty power haven. He has 10 HR on the season already, putting him right on pace to eclipse the 20 HR mark once again if he stays on the field.
In terms of injury, no one can predict if he will go down again, but the extra time he sees at DH is obviously saving his legs. He still struggles versus LHP, .217 AVG, but there is still enough good at-bats and opportunity for him to continue his roll.
Next: White Sox: Is James Shields a fantasy target again?
Shin-Soo Choo has been around a long time and has provided fantasy owners with more solid production that not during his career. Yet, even with his vintage start, he is owned in less than 20% of fantasy leagues. Give him a closer look.