Fantasy Baseball: 10 Players Who Surprised Us in 2017
Eddie Rosario, OF, Minnesota Twins
Preseason ADP: 400.24
Since the Minnesota Twins made some history on their way to clinching one of the two AL Wild Card spots, it makes a lot of sense that they received production from unexpected places on their roster. We could've gone a number of different ways just by looking at this squad, but Eddie Rosario fits the bill.
After watching his power numbers -- and his numbers overall, for that matter -- take a dip in 2016 following a mostly solid rookie campaign, he bounced back with his best overall season in 2017. That included a .290/.328/.507 triple slash with 27 homers, 78 RBI, and 79 runs scored in 589 plate appearances.
There are still areas of his game that need improvement, but it's rather clear to see the progress he's made with regard to his plate discipline throughout his three years as a big leaguer. The below table shows how his chase rate (O-Swing%), swings inside the strike zone (Z-Swing%), and the corresponding contact rates have changed since 2015.
| Year | O-Swing% | Z-Swing% | O-Contact% | Z-Contact% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 45.6% | 76.4% | 63.5% | 84.3% |
| 2016 | 41.7% | 76.9% | 65.5% | 78.3% |
| 2017 | 37.6% | 76.1% | 72.0% | 82.1% |
This led to an overall contact rate of 77.7% that was a new single-season career high, as was his 31.7% hard-hit rate.
Most of his success came against righties (135 wRC+ and .906) while he struggled against lefties (75 wRC+ and .682), but this guy was likely a huge help to many fantasy baseball teams off the waiver wire. It's hard to deny that when considering he was getting taken off the board more than 80 picks after Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, whose 62 wRC+ was tied for the second-worst mark among qualified hitters this year.
