Fantasy Baseball 2020 Player Outlook: Yasiel Puig
By Bill Pivetz
Yasiel Puig will play with the Braves this season after players opted out. How will he fare this fantasy baseball season?
The Atlanta Braves have one of the best offenses in the league. Even with Nick Markakis opting out, they had enough depth to fill his spot. However, ownership thought differently as they signed veteran outfielder Yasiel Puig to a one-year deal on Tuesday. With Opening Day just a week away, how much will Puig help fantasy baseball owners this season?
Puig spent the majority of 2019 with the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to Cleveland. In 149 combined games, he hit .267 with 24 home runs, 84 RBIs and 19 steals. While Great American Ballpark is a hitter-friendly park, Progressive Field was middle of the road at 13th in home runs. Truist Park finished 15th in home runs last year.
However, Puig will spend most of the 2020 season playing in a lot of hitter-friendly parks in both the National and American Leagues. Nationals Park, Oriole Park and Citizens Bank Park all finished in the top-10 last year. Citi Field and Tropicana Field weren’t too far behind.
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Looking at his career splits, Puig favors well in these parks. In 14 games at CBP, he hit .291 with a home run, five RBI and two steals. In five games in Atlanta, he hit .357 with a home run and three RBI.
He hit .318 with a home run and three RBI at Rogers Centre. There are some bad stat lines as well; .190 at Citi Field, .228 in Washington and .212 in Miami.
Puig as never been a high batting average hitter. He has a .277 average, but his power is where he earns his fantasy baseball value. Puig as a career .475 slugging with 132 home runs.
Puig also brings speed to the table with three straight seasons of at least 23 steals. While he won’t reach those numbers over 60 games, he can still perform.
As I mentioned at the top, the Braves have a deep roster. Ronald Acuna, Marcell Ozuna and Ender Inciarte are the likely starting outfielders. Puig does have a great arm which will give him playing time in the outfield but I expect him to be the primary DH. Adam Duvall will also sneak into the lineup every once in a while.
I wrote about Austin Riley‘s rise in fantasy baseball value just a week ago because of Markakis opting out. He now goes back to the bench to split time with Johan Camargo and Freddie Freeman (when healthy) at the corner infield positions.
dark. Next. How to prepare for the shortened season
If he’s available, I recommend adding Puig in all leagues. His bat is too good to keep out of the lineup and most of the parks he’ll be playing in give him a boost in fantasy baseball value. I’m surprised it took this long for a team to sign him but Atlanta was the perfect spot for him.