9 Bold Fantasy Baseball Predictions for 2019
Tommy Pham Will Be a Top-5 AL MVP Candidate
NFBC ADP: 62.08
Position Rank: 15
| Projections | PA | Runs | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | wOBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Season | 570 | 102 | 21 | 63 | 15 | .275 | .359 |
| THE BAT | 574 | 79 | 22 | 68 | 17 | .263 | .350 |
| Steamer | 611 | 77 | 21 | 74 | 16 | .256 | .341 |
| numberFire | 546 | 84 | 21 | 66 | 15 | .272 | -- |
Whenever a hitter breaks the 100-run plateau, you take notice. Only 19 players scored 100 or more runs in 2018, and in that group, only nine stole 15-plus bases, one of which was Tommy Pham.
Despite that solid season, the Tampa Bay Rays' outfielder performed noticeably different between the two halves of last year. In the first half, Pham struggled to a .243 batting average, .722 OPS, and 99 wRC+, but after making some adjustments with the Rays, he exploded for a .331 average, 1.013 OPS, and 177 wRC+.
Pham's Post All-Star break wRC+ ranked him third behind only NL MVP Christian Yelich and Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He remains an affordable draft day commodity, checking in only 15th at his position and going in the early sixth round of a 12-team draft. If Pham can continue that second-half success, he's going to have a monster 2019 and be a superb mid-round pick.
