Mike Zunino (C, TB) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 225

CURRENT ADP: ~245 overall

ANALYSIS: Acquired by Tampa Bay in the offseason, Mike Zunino could exceed his draft value more than anyone at his position. More so than prospects unproven in the majors, such as Willians Astudillo and Francisco Mejia, who are going ahead of him. With catcher being as weak as it is, fantasy owners should be bold and draft the biggest boom or bust player at the position.

Zunino was by no means a sleeper last year, coming off a 2017 season hitting .251/.331/.509 with 25 bombs and a .840 OPS. Due to his disappointing 2018, he will be sneaking under a lot of owner’s radars entering this season. Even in a year where Zunino only hit .201/.259/.410, he still mashed his way to 20 homers, tied for fifth among catchers. The discrepancy between the two seasons was almost exclusively down to a drop of BABIP from .355 to .268. His batted ball profile was essentially identical, giving hope that he can recapture some of his 2017 form this season.

If the definition of a sleeper is someone an owner can draft late who far exceeds his value, then look no further than Mike Zunino. The worst case scenario is that he struggles and still finishes near the top of the home run leaderboard at catcher. However, if he can beat up on AL East pitching, and make more contact with the baseball, he could provide owners with a lot of production from a position where little is expected.