Fantasy Baseball: Outfielders are hot in first 10 days of MLB season

Some spectacular and somewhat surprising hitting by outfielders led the way through the first 10 days of the 2020 fantasy baseball season.

They were produced by players like Nick Castellanos of the Reds, Aaron Judge of the Yankees and JaCoby Jones of the TIgers.

Nick Castellanos, Cincinnati Reds

NIck Castellanos is the National League’s best-hitting rightfielder with a .378 batting average, .472 on base percentage and .871 slugging percentage.  In Sunday’s doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, he had 3 hits in 7 at bats, including 2 home runs, and drove in 3 runs.

Ironically, Castellanos is a former Tiger.  Though he played 3rd base as a minor leaguer, he debuted with Detroit in 2013 as an outiflelder.  He played both left and right field.

Last season the TIgers traded Castellanos to the Chicago Cubs for two pitching prospects just before the trade deadline.  The Cubs needed to add some offense to their outfield.  During the off-season, Castellanos signed a 4-year, $64 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds.

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Every DFS and fantasy baseball owner knew Aaron Judge of the Yankees could pound the baseball and that’s why he’d be an early round pick in the fantasy MLB draft, but 6 home runs in 8 games is quite a start for the 5th-year rightfielder.

The New York Yankees have a commanding 7-1 record in the American League East and much of it is due to the hitting of Judge, 2nd baseman D.J. LeMahieu, designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and 3rd baseman Gio Urshela.

It is all or nothing for Judge when he bats.  Seven  (7) of his 9 hits have been for extra bases, but he has also struck out 11 times.  Judge also lead the major leagues with 14 RBIs.  His batting average is .290, sports an OBP of .371, has a .903 SLG and a OPS of 1.275.

JaCoby Jones, Detroit Tigers

Centerfielder JaCoby Jones has been the most productive  player in the Detroit Tigers’ lineup.  He is the only Tiger with an OPS above 1.  (Jones’ OPS  is 1.212.)  His batting average is .379, OBP is .419 and SLG percentage  is .793.   Jones has 3 doubles, 3 home runs and 7 RBIs.

His greatest challenge in his 5th year as a Tiger is staying healthy.  Last year he played in 88 out of 162 games.  The last injury was a fractured left wrist, which he suffered when he was hit by a pitch in an August 20, 2019 game against the Kansas City Royals.

in addition to Castellanos, Judge and  Jones, the following outfielders  are among the top 10 hitters in baseball:

• Teoscar Hernandez, Toronto, CF
• Michael Brantley, Houston, LF
• Mike Yastrzemski, San Francisco, CF