BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues
ROSTERED IN: 35 Percent of Leagues
ANALYSIS: There hasn't been much for Pirates fans to cheer for lately, but Colin Moran has been a steady producer for the Bucs and could be buried treasure for fantasy managers hunting the waiver wire for infield help. Moran quietly had a solid 2020 season blasting 10 homers with a career-high .340 wOBA across 200 plate appearances. More importantly, Moran made huge gains in the quality of contact he was making. His 13.4 barrel rate was easily a career-high and led to strong batted ball metrics like a 47 percent hard-hit rate and a .432 xwOBA on contact.
He's carried that success over to 2021 and is forcing fantasy managers to take notice. Through 13 games, the 28-year-old is slashing .311/.404/.511 with a .400 wOBA. That's not a luck-fueled batting average either. Moran is scaling the ball this season with a 57 percent sweet-spot percentage, a 42.5 percent line-drive rate, and a hard-hit rate over 40 percent. He only has two homers thus far, but that should change soon. Moran is driving the ball to left field with three doubles and a homer to the opposite field already this year. Driving pitches the other way is a tried-and-true measure of a player being locked in so look for more power from Moran in the coming games.
Moran isn't in a lineup that scores a ton of runs, but he does occupy a prime spot in the batting order (4th) so he should see enough RBI chances. Moran should be added in 12-team leagues and larger or any league that utilizes corner and middle infield lineup slots.
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