James McCann (C, DET) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~250

CURRENT ADP: 318

ANALYSIS: James McCann had a nice year for the Tigers in 2015, slashing .264/.297/.387 as a rookie, but last year he appeared to take a step back, as his OPS was down (.629) while strikeouts were up (109). The one thing he did to generate some optimism in the Motor City was hit 12 bombs in 373 plate appearances. It’s too bad that had to come at the cost of more strikeouts and a dismal .221 average and .272 OBP. However, a closer look at the power surge shows he hit the ball in the air way more than he did the year prior (40 percent fly balls in 2016 versus 27 percent in 2015), and the homer rate on fly balls was up to 12.6 percent from 8.4 percent. His hard contact rate was up as well, from 26.6 percent to 33.9 percent.

Does that mean McCann has taken his power game up a level now at age 26? It’s possible, and he’ll get the chance as Detroit’s starting catcher in 2017 to try to continue to put it all together. Many fantasy owners may stay clear of McCann at one look of that batting average and strikeout total from last year. But he’s worth taking as a backup catcher in deep leagues on the chance that power surge turns out to be sustainable.