Fantasy Baseball: 7 Hitters Whose Strikeout-Rate Trends Should Have Your Attention

Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers

Despite mashing a career-high 27 homers in 2016, Justin Turner got no respect in 2017 drafts, going off the board as the 13th third baseman in standard leagues behind far less proven assets like Alex Bregman and Anthony Rendon.

Drafters who passed on Los Angeles Dodgers infielder might be kicking themselves, as the late-blooming veteran has picked up right where he left off last year, boasting a strong .968 OPS over his first 58 plate appearances while cutting his strikeout rate down to 8.6 percent, a major improvement on his already solid 15.4-percent career mark.

Certainly Turner's .400 BABIP will sound some calls for pending regression, particularly as the 32-year-old shows a notable spike on out-of-zone swing rate along with a slight crater in out-of-zone contact. However, his swinging-strike percentage of 7.2 percent sits almost exactly in line with his recent career trends, while a major decline in zone percentage (all the way down to 35.8 percent compared to last year's 48.1) suggests that opposing pitchers are coming to respect Turner as a dangerous bat. Fantasy owners might want to do the same.