2015 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Rankings: A Tiered Structure
Third Tier: The Best of the Rest
8. Jason Heyward, St. Louis Cardinals
| PA | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 627 | 87 | 21 | 75 | 16 | 0.280 | 0.833 |
The projections be thirsty for some Jason Heyward this year. Considering he's entering his age-25 season and is in his sixth major-league season, I can't blame them. He is projected to hit .280/.360/.473, which is a gorgeous combo platter of his high-slugging 2012 season and his increased on-base percentage of late. If he can do that, you may be able to find some sick value as he currently has an average draft position of 76 as the 22nd-ranked outfielder. If not, he should at least produce at his current draft slot, so he's probably worth the gamble.
9. Jacoby Ellsbury, New York Yankees
| PA | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 641 | 80 | 13 | 61 | 36 | 0.272 | 0.743 |
At some point, Jacoby Ellsbury is going to slow down his stolen-base binge, right? Maybe? Dude has swiped at least 39 bags in every big-league season in which he has recorded at least 350 plate appearances, including 39 last year. He's now entering his age-31 season, so the projections do see him slipping a bit to just 36 this year. He did see his wOBA dip to .327 last year from .343 in 2013, which is a concern. While he could see another slight down-turn this year, he's another guy that seems to have a pretty solid floor.
10. Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians
| PA | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 655 | 76 | 16 | 75 | 16 | 0.295 | 0.812 |
Here's a situation where you have to remember that you are drafting the 2015 version of Michael Brantley, not the 2014 version. Brantley exploded with a .506 slugging percentage last year. That's Gucci and all, but he had never been above .402 prior to that point. Expecting him to duplicate those numbers is unrealistic. Our projections see him retaining a large portion of that breakout with a slash of .295/.354/.458, but even that pales in comparison to his 2014 season. These aren't bad numbers by any means, but you have to go into the season with lowered expectations from last year's MVP-caliber run.
