Sunday, February 3, 2013

Fantasy Sleeper: Lonnie Chisenhall

Third base is brutal for trying to find consistent fantasy starters. They're either washed up (Young, Youkilis), the young guns with little MLB track record (Machado, Middlebrooks, Frazier) or awful (Dominguez, Donaldson, Francisco). Outside of a handful of consistent producers (Zimmerman, Longoria, Sandoval), third base is tough. Luckily, if you're in a small league, there's enough to go around, and plenty of good first basemen for corner IF. So, where to look? This year's breakout pick: Lonnie Chisenhall of the Cleveland Indians. Let's take a look at him....

Chisenhall has some brief MLB experience so far. This is the year which he should be the consistent starter at third base; hell, he has to beat out Jack Hannahan. Jack Hannahan!!! Considering Cleveland's acquisitions over the offseason, he should not have to be the pivotal focus in the offense. Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis will lead off with Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Swisher in 3-4. Carlos Santana and Mark Reynolds should be 5-6. Chisenhall will probably bat 7th, with Drew Stubbs and DH (Chris McGuiness?) after. He should follow some decent hitters and guys who are on-base machines in Swisher and Santana. Over a whole season (per Baseball Reference), Chisenhall would produce about .260/18 HR/56 RBI at his current rate with a .260/.295/.421 and a .716 OPS. Chisenhall has been able to work walks in the past/minors; a .295 OBP will not keep you ahead of Mike Aviles for playing time. He should be more consistent over time. A .270/20 HR/70 RBI season should not be out of reach with consistent playing time and tutoring under Terry Francona.

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