RADIO
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~250
CURRENT ADP: ~304 overall
ANALYSIS: Brett Gardner is trying to re-invent himself as his speed begins to dry up. He hit only 11 home runs in the entire first half of 2019, but it's clear that he made a conscious launch angle adjustment in the middle of the summer. On July 4, his average launch angle was under eight degrees, and he had spent much of the first half of the season under the MLB-average launch angle. Once he raised his launch angle above that league-average mark on August 5, he basically never fell beneath it again, spending most of the second half of the season between 13 and 17 degrees, which is optimal for home run production.
As a result, his doubles (10 in August with three home runs) turned into home runs (three doubles in September with 10 home runs). To me, that signals a clear philosophical change that allowed Gardner to take advantage of the short porch in right at Yankee Stadium.
Projection systems don't seem to buy it, but Gardner is clearly trying to make use of his field as he upped his Pull% over 8% to 46.4%. I don't see any reason why Gardner can't hit another 20 home runs this year while stealing 10+ bases and hitting near the top of a strong Yankees lineup. That's a crazy value at pick 304.
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