RADIO
The Oakland Athletics outfielder had a nice rookie season in 2015. He put up a .294/.334/.392 slash line with 26 stolen bases and 70 runs scored, showing surprising promise. The steals left a bit to be desired, especially after he swiped 74 bags in the minors back in 2013. However, Burns was a nice player to own in rotisserie leagues, especially during his multiple hot streaks.
A thing to keep an eye on in 2016 is how Burns handles pitcher adjustments to his aggressive approach at the plate. Burns was looking to make contact early in counts and actually hit .479 when he made contact with the first pitch. As a result, expect pitchers to start throwing more off-speed pitches to start off the at-bat, or throwing pitches out of the zone. If Burns can't display more plate discipline than he did last season, then he could struggle in 2016. As it is, his .339 BABIP in 2015 does suggest some regression.
Editor's note: Read about more draft values and sleepers with our daily updated list. Make sure to also bookmark our fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. Our rankings assistant tool consolidates all our staff ranks in one easy place. Filter, sort, and export various rankings for various leagues - mixed leagues, AL/NL only, top prospects, dynasty, keeper values, and more. And it's all 100% free!
2016 Fantasy Outlook
Getting on base more will be critical as well. Burns only walked 26 times and had an OBP of .334. As a leadoff man he will need to see more pitches and take some free passes in order to utilize his speed. If he can't do this, Burns could be moved down in the order at some point. It's essentially the same problem that Billy Hamilton has.
One of the positives for Burns though, is that with his speed he will never slump for too long. All it takes is a ground ball to the left side and Burns could potentially beat out the throw to first base. Also, despite the uber aggressive plate approach, Burns made a lot of progress as a hitter last season. Many thought Burns should abandon switch hitting for example, and yet he hit well from both sides of the plate in 2015. Against lefties Burns hit .315, and against righties he hit .285. This is worth mentioning because it will keep him in the lineup everyday.
Another improvement, albeit a small one, was his power. Burns went yard five times which actually more than doubled his career total in the minors. That's not a typo. So while you shouldn't expect anything close to double digit homers, the fact that he has some pop in his bat is a nice bonus. It keeps defenses honest against him and makes them respect the fact that he can hit some balls into the gaps.
Burns projects as a nice sleeper pick in 2016. Leadoff men have value in fantasy especially when they have speed like Burns does. The lineup behind him is not projected to be particularly strong so the A's will count on him to be a spark plug. This can be good and bad. On the one hand, Burns could have a strong season in terms of scoring runs and stealing if his offense brings him home. However, an offense potentially featuring "Country Breakfast" as the three-hole hitter is a bit troubling. The A's will have to play A-B-C baseball and be very fundamentally sound.
Conclusion
Target Burns later on in drafts, as he can provide good return value should he continue improving. There is definite upside here as he is capable of helping owners win stolen bases in H2H and Roto leagues.
MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat Room
[iflychat_embed id="c-12" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]
Check out RotoBaller's entire fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and sleepers list, updated daily!
