Blue Jays: Teoscar Hernandez shaping up to be a fantasy sleeper in 2018?

Teoscar Hernandez is already impressing during his limited time with the Blue Jays. Could he already be positioning himself as a fantasy sleeper in 2018?

The Blue Jays are in a weird spot. Once considered a fantasy juggernaut, the Blue Jays have looked a shell of themselves this season as they sit 10 games below .500 and in a need of desperate change of direction heading into 2018. One potential building block that the team could look to build around is, Teoscar Hernandez.

Teoscar Hernandez came over from the Astros  in the Francisco Liriano trade this season.  Hernandez was a surprisingly good haul for Liriano as he ranked amongst the top ten prospects in the Astros’ system. The Dominican native signed with the Astros as an 18-year-old and has seemingly produced at every minor level along the way.

He has notched seven straight seasons of at least 10 HR/10 SB, with his career high in HR being 23, and in steals, 39.  The talent both offensively and defensively is certainly there, but he did face some adversity during the 2015 season in which he posted only a .224 AVG. Instead of that derailing his progress, Hernandez made the right adjustments to bounce back in 2016.

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The Blue Jays promoted him in Sep. and he has held his own at the MLB level. It is his second promotion to the bigs, he had a 41 game cameo with Houston in 2016, but so far over 59 at-bats with the Jays, he has a .268/3 HR/10 RBI/.806 OPS line.

That small of a sample size does not offer a solid indicator of his AVG potential, yet five of his 15 hits have been for XBH and the 10 RBI are impressive considering he has only played in 18 games. He is quiet on the basepaths so far, he has attempted only one steal and was caught, an issue he had in the minors and that he needs to correct before given the green light at will.

Hernandez showed a solid eye in the minors, he walked over 11% of the time but is still an aggressive hitter which could cap his AVG to around the .270 mark. The reason for Hernandez to already be on fantasy owners radar is the 20 HR/20 SB potential he offers already.

His batted profile shows that he likes to pull the ball, which plays well at the Rogers Centre, and the Blue Jays should still have a solid core in which Hernandez can build his counting stats. Toronto also lacks any true SB threats, opening the door for him to step in and give the team a much-needed new dynamic.

There is still a ton of player movement to be done between now and next season, and Hernandez has to secure the job. Yet, the Blue Jays are going to be more than willing to give him an extended look at as the team’s starting right fielder. Jose Bautista is as good as gone, and to put it simply, even if Hernandez performed at a league average rate in 2018, he would be better than what Bautista has offered.

Next: White Sox: Yoan Moncada a fantasy sleeper in 2018?

Teoscar Hernandez is a name that fantasy owners should already be filing away. He offers 20/20 potential, will play in a great home ballpark and a solid lineup and has shown that he can make adjustments while struggling. It is not outside of the realm of possibilities to see him post a .265/15-20 HR/70 RBI/20 SB/.800 OPS line in 2016.