Fantasy Baseball 2017: 100 Stats From the First Half

Happy, uh… hump week? Is that what we’re calling this?

Midway, the bump in the road, we actually made it. I never really know what to make of the All-Star break. It’s kinda like a mini holiday from a pretend job that probably takes precedence over our, actual y’know, real life job.

If you’re anything like me, you have a love/hate thing going on with the four-day break. We briefly have to face stupid reality again, but on the flip side, this fantasy baseball general manager stuff is taxing at times, especially when no one wants to be a good closer anymore, and no one wants to stay healthy for longer than 3.5 days.

But alas, if you’ve survived the past four months AND managed your roster day in and day out, good for you! For the rest of you slackers, I’ve got 100 stats that prove ole’ mother baseball is as unreliable and hormonal as ever, so before you give up, let these numbers (hopefully) provide you with some second half faith.

Drafting a catcher early doesn’t make much of a difference in the long-term.

Catcher

• Buster Posey‘s 35 RBIs are the lowest he’s hit in the first half of a season since 2011.
• Wilson Contreras’ 26.5% strikeout rate is the highest among all catchers. It’s also the 23rd highest in the Majors.
• Salvador Perez has hit 32 fly balls and 32 line drives while also maintaining a career low 0.58 GB/FB rate.
• Yadier Molina‘s 4.8% walk rate is a career low.
• Matt Wieters has hit as many HRs (7) as Trea Turner this season.
• Yasmani Grandal has a .326 AVG vs. four-seam fastballs – good for 6 HRs and 31 hits.
• Perez’s 94.7 MPH average exit velocity vs. lefties is a personal high.
• Stephen Vogt is making contact with 84.8% of pitches seen, the highest since his 2014 season.
• Alex Avila has 23 extra base hits and 60 strikeouts vs. right-handed pitching.
• Jonathan Lucroy has 0 HRs vs. fastballs this season – he hit 7 against them in 2016.

First basemen, especially the ones here, are hit or miss…no pun intended.

First Base

• Paul Goldschmidt has scored 131 runs over the past full season. That’s the highest fantasy total of any NL player.
• Yuli Gurriel has 23 multi-hit games so far this season. That’s 14 more than Joey Gallo.
• Mike Napoli has hit 18 HRs this season, that’s good news. Napoli has hit 23 singles this season, that’s bad news.
• Eric Hosmer‘s .348 BABIP is a career high.
• Cody Bellinger leads the league in strikeouts posted in the fewest amount of games: 83 in 68
• Albert Pujols has 1 SB vs. lefties. The last time that happened? 2014.
• Hanley Ramirez is batting .130 with just three hits and 18 whiffs vs. changeups this season.
• Yonder Alonso‘s fly balls have turned into HRs 21.6% of the time. Last season, that same number sat at 5.1%.
• Edwin Encarnacion has managed just two hits when faced with a 3-2 count.
• Brandon Belt was tied for eighth in the league in triples last season. He currently leads all first baseman with 3.

The lack of power from some of the top names in this position is disappointing.

Second Base

• Jonathan Villar has just 13 hits and 30 strikeouts vs. left-handed pitching.
• Brandon Drury is on pace for his first 20 HR season.
• Daniel Murphy has hit 6 HRs and 25 RBIs vs. the rest of the NL East.
• Jose Altuve ranks second in the league in BA (.338)
• Jed Lowrie has laid down just one successful bunt this season.
• Robinson Cano has more hits in away games (48) and a higher AVG (.308) than he does at Safeco Field.
• Dee Gordon has 0 HRs this season.
• Brian Dozier has just 1 HR in the first inning. He hit seven in that spot last year.
• Ian Kinsler has at least one hit in all 10 Major League ballparks he’s visited this season.
• Dustin Pedroia has as many HR’s as Alcides Escobar (2).

Third basemen are either crushing the ball or missing it completely, very little in between.

Third Base

• Adrian Beltre is just the 21st player to reach 5,000 total base hits.
• Nick Castellanos has barrelled 27 balls in play this season. That ties him on the year with future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera.
• Adrian Beltre has hit 2 HRs from ONE KNEE this season.
• Jose Ramirez‘s .407 wOBA ranks sixth in the league – one spot ahead of George Springer.
• Mike Moustakas has hit more HRs (5) than the Braves, Phillies, and Nationals this week.
• Jake Lamb is batting .153 with 33 strikeouts vs. lefties.
• Despite Miller Park’s hitter-friendly confines, Travis Shaw has hit more HRs on the road than at home this season (10).
• Manny Machado‘s 20% strikeout rate is the highest it’s been in his seven-year career.
• Ryon Healy has seen 116 cutters this season – he’s managed a .125 AVG and four hits against them.
• Kris Bryant‘s 16% walk rate is the fifth highest in the league.

Shortstop, where the stats are real but the draft position doesn’t matter.

Shortstop

• Carlos Correa leads all shortstops in HRs (17) and RBIs (58).
• Dansby Swanson has a 92% contact rate on pitches thrown towards the outside part of the strike zone.
• Elvis Andrus is one of just twelve players to post double digits in both HRs and SBs.
• Zack Cozart‘s .383 AVG with men in scoring position is good for 10th best in the league.
• Orlando Arcia’s .435 AVG over the last 14 days is the highest among all qualified hitters.
• Amed Rosario has 11 hits and 3 RBIs during the month of July in AAA.
• Trevor Story holds the league’s worst strikeout rate vs. lefties – 36.5%.
• Didi Gregorius has three more RBIs than Chase Headley in the Yankees lineup.
• Francisco Lindor hasn’t discriminated on his HRs – he’s hit five to left field and nine to right.
• Tim Beckham, owned in all of 16.7% of leagues, has the highest BABIP among all shortstops (.378).

Suspensions, demotions, poor performances and this is just the first half.

Outfield

• Mookie Betts has had three multi-strikeout games this season.
• Aaron Altherr has a higher SLG than Mookie Betts (.517).
• Starling Marte has a three-run HR and a stolen base to his name in his Minor League prelude upon return from suspension.
• Yoenis Cespedes is one of four Mets hitters currently hitting above .250.
• Jay Bruce is the other.
• Charlie Blackmon ranks inside the Top 10 in four offensive scoring categories: RBIs, AVG, runs, and hits.
• Khris Davis leads all outfielders with 115 strikeouts – 23 against lefties, 92 against righties.
• Jose Bautista has seen 697 balls already this year. He saw only 954 all of last season.
• League leader Aaron Judge is just 20 OBP points ahead of Bryce Harper with a .449 OBP.
• Owned in just 2.8% of leagues, Robbie Grossman’s 0.98  BB/K ratio is the second highest among qualifiers.
• Kyle Schwarber‘s 26 wRC is fourth worst in the league, above only Carlos Gonzalez, Alex Gordon and Byron Buxton.
• Andrew McCutchen has hit 10 of his 16 HRs on the road this season.
• Byron Buxton has taken seven walks in 10 plate appearances when faced with a 3-2 count.
• George Springer is on pace for 48 HRs, 105 RBIs, 133 runs and 63 walks.
• Chris Taylor has hit a HR against 10 of the 15 teams he’s faced this season.
• Raimel Tapia has 30 hits in 35 games.
• Aaron Judge’s 5.2 WAR ranks first in the league among position players this season.
• Ian Happ has hit a HR in all but one inning this season: the 8th.
• Nomar Mazara has struck out 35 times when ahead 1-0 in the count.

The most injured position of the season, pitchers have been the downfall for a lot of fantasy owners this year. If you are in first place, or close to it, you either have Clayton Kershaw or were really lucky in the draft and on the waiver wire.

Pitchers

• Kevin Gausman‘s ERA vs. Blue Jays: 1.99. Kevin Gausman’s ERA vs. everyone else: 7.53.
• Over the past calendar year, Max Scherzer is the only pitcher with 20 wins.
• Corey Kluber ranks in the Top 15 in all four starting pitching scoring categories.
• Alex Wood has allowed just one or zero runs in eight of his last eleven starts.
• Lance Lynn has thrown his league-leading fastball 78.7% of the time.
• John Lackey’s curveball clocked in at 75 MPH vs. the Rays last week. That’s the lowest it’s been since July last year.
• Masahiro Tanaka leads the league in contact made on pitches thrown outside of the strike zone (37.8%).
• Dylan Bundy had allowed a HR in 11 straight games prior to his start against the Twins on Wednesday.
• Jake Arrieta has allowed 15 runs in the first innings this season. He allowed only seven last year.
• Robbie Ray‘s fastball is generating an 18.84 swing rate this month. That’s the highest monthly total of his three-year career.
• Clayton Kershaw is stranding runners on base 89.3% of the time.
• Johnny Cueto has given up more HRs in the first half this season than he had during the entire 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 season.
• Dellin Betances‘ 8.56 BB/9 is the highest among all qualified relievers.
• Tommy Kahnle is generating a 78% swing rate on pitches thrown in the heart of the strike zone.
• Jon Jay threw one inning of one-hit ball for the Cubs on Thursday afternoon.
• Sam Dyson has recorded at least one strike in eight of his last ten games.
• Craig Kimbrel‘s 50.8% strikeout rate is the highest among relievers this season.
• Carlos Carrasco has allowed just 36 hits and 3 HRs to the rest of the AL Central.
• Chris Sale‘s 178 strikeouts are the most by a pitcher before the All Star break since the 2002 version of Curt Schilling.
• Max Scherzer has struck out 49% of the hitters he’s faced with his slider.

There we go, 100 Fantasy Baseball stats. Trust someone who’s spent way too long researching all of this when I say, none of it means a single thing once the second half of the season comes round. You can make the stats say anything you want.

But hey, just try and remember, that’s baseball Suzyn.

Next: Quintana or Gray to Milwaukee?