Deep Fantasy Sleeper Fishing: Royals Jakob Junis

Jakob Junis showed flashes last season for the Kansas City Royals. Could he be in line to be a fantasy sleeper heading into 2018?

Now that the holidays have passed, fantasy owners can look closer and closer at the upcoming MLB season. The key to fantasy success is the ability to identify sleepers. One of the more intriguing sleepers heading into next season, is Royals’ righty, Jukob Junis.

‘Junis was the Royals’ 29th round pick out of high school in 2011. He entered Kansas City’s system as a 19-year old and rose the ranks methodically until reaching the majors last season. He posted a 4.30 ERA/1.28 WHIP/80 K line over 98 innings.

Those numbers do not move the needle much in terms of excitement, but Junis’ does not lack intrigue. He possesses excellent command and can control the strike zone.

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In terms of his arsenal, Junis’ fastball and sinker both sit in the low-90s, yet his bread and butter is certainly his slider. Junis does not blow anyone away but makes up for that by somehow throwing three different versions of his slider.

Junis made his debut in April, started one game in May, and then suffered some turbulence in May. He did not really come alive until Aug., where he took off until the end of the season for the Royals. Over 10 starts during the last two months of 2017, he posted a 3.53 ERA, 23 K, and only nine walks.

Jakob turned a corner late in the season in large part to him moving towards a sinker/slider combo. His fastball had nearly no margin of error, but the sinker allowed him to play at the bottom of the zone and offered his slider even more deception.

Digging deeper into his batted ball data, Junis notched solid 20% LD, 40% GB, and 40% FB rates. Junis’ used his high FB rate to his advantage thanks to calling Kauffman Stadium home.

At Kauffman, he posted 3.43 ERA/42 K, on the road his ERA jumped to 5.04. Fortunately, 11 of those runs came during his rocky May, but he only surrendered 15 runs over five starts on the road after July.

While those splits are concerning, his command and late season adjustments were encouraging. His slider is already a wipeout offering, and if he can continue to hone in his sinker, that will further the idea that he can continue to succeed.

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Jakob Junis will not require a huge investment on draft day, yet has the ratios that can help fantasy owners solidify the back end of rotations. He will continue to notch great WHIP numbers, and the decent K totals will come as well. He would be a tremendous SP4 or SP5 flier.

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