Indians Lonnie Chisenhall: Fantasy baseball sleeper outfielder

Indians outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall was the team’s best hitter at a point before an injury derailed him. Now healthy, he’s a sleeper pick in drafts this year.

The Cleveland Indians had one of the best offenses in the American League. They suffered some setbacks with poor performances and injuries. The team looks to be 100 percent healthy heading into this season. Lonnie Chisenhall, with a clean bill of health, is a sleeper outfielder in drafts.

Chisenhall has been an average hitter throughout his seven-year career. He has a career .266 average with 15 home runs and 71 RBI per 162 games. Last year, things were going in the right direction before he landed on the DL.

For the first three and a half seasons, Chisenhall hit .305 with 12 home runs, 51 RBI and 29 runs scored. He then missed about two months with a calf injury. He returned on Sept. 1 and hit just .224 with 11 hits, two RBI and five runs scored in his final 18 games.

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With the shortened season, Chisenhall finished 101st among outfielders on the ESPN Player Rater. If he would have played a full season, he would have broken 20 home runs and 100 RBI for the first time in his career. As an undrafted player, his owners would have gotten more than what they expected out of him.

Chisenhall saw increases in both his groundball and flyball rates while his line drive rate took a dip. He pushed his hard-hit rate over 30 percent for the first time in his career as he was yet another hitter to join the home-run bonanza. Chisenhall became more patient at the plate with a seven-percent in his swing rate between 2016 and 2017.

The Indians added power-hitting first baseman Yonder Alonso to their lineup. They still have Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion. Chisenhall will be hitting behind all of them, giving him plenty of chances to drive in 100 runs and get on base.

The only thing fantasy owners have to worry about his the depth of outfielders the Indians have. Brandon Guyer could take away some plate appearances as well as Melvin Upton and the returning Rajai Davis. But, if Chisenhall can start this season the way he did last year, then he will be the Indians starting right fielder.

Both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs project a part-time season for Chisenhall this season, anywhere between 340 and 380 at-bats. They project low double-digit home runs and a .265 batting average, something we’ve seen before with Chisenhall. As a late-round draft pick, those are serviceable numbers.

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As long as he gets the playing time, Chisenhall is worth drafting as a starting outfielder. He isn’t someone to draft before pick 400 but you can stash him on your bench as a sleeper. If he doesn’t play, you can easily cut him without losing any value. With the lineup in front of him, he has the potential to post an even better 2018 season.

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