Zach Davies (SP, MIL) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~275

CURRENT ADP: 297

ANALYSIS: After enjoying a cup of tea in the majors in 2015, Zach Davies burst on the scene as a big fantasy surprise last season. He was able to improve his game in many areas, ending the year with a 3.97 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 28 starts. He doesn’t do his damage being a big strikeout guy, but rather he is a master of control. He was able to up his strikeout rate from 6.35 to 7.44 last season, but more impressively he lowered his walk rate from 3.97 to 2.09.

Davies doesn’t have overpowering stuff; his fastball tops out at 92.1 mph and sits at 89.3 on average (up from 88.7 in 2015). His best pitch is definitely his changeup, which generated a K% of 29.5 percent. Opposing hitters hit .214/.238/.384 against the pitch, with an outside swing rate (o-swing%) of 50.6 percent, the highest of any of his pitches. With his elite command, he doesn’t need to overpower hitters to be effective. He should be a nice innings eater for Milwaukee this season with an excellent K/BB ratio.