Welcome back to the 2015 Last Word on Fantasy Baseball Guide. Over the next several months we will be releasing player profiles, projections, position rankings, and a number of other articles that will help you dominate your fantasy league this season. Whether you play rotisserie or head-to-head; whether you have a standard draft, a snake or an auction league, and whether its keeper league or a one-year deal; we have all the fantasy information you need.
For the rest of our fantasy baseball profiles and articles, please check out our Fantasy Baseball Guide Page.
Fantasy Profile: Alex Avila, C, Detroit Tigers
Pos Rank 24, Captains Value -$6.61
The Detroit Tigers exercised the 2015 option on Alex Avila’s contract and he will continue to be the full time catcher for Brad Ausmus and Co.
After limited time in 2009 and a mediocre year in 2010, Avila threw down the hammer in 2011 with 19 home runs and a .295/.389/.506 slash line (that .295 average was propped up by a .366 babip). He even managed to throw in a few stolen bases. Nagging injuries (including multiple concussions) have hampered Avila from 2012-2014 and his stats have displayed that. Never hitting more than 11 home runs and never slugging over .385 during that time, his only value has been his defense. Avila’s strikeout rate is increasing as well but as long he continues to produce an above average walk rate, it’s not too much of a concern.
If he can stay healthy all season I could see Avila as a possible bounce back candidate. He is only 27 (going on 28) and is entering the prime of his career. One thing to note, Avila had a 40.5% FB rate in 2011 but has never had it above 30.4% from 2012-2014. However, his HR/FB rate has stayed consistent averaging 14.3% from 2011-2014. Can he recapture the magic of his 2011 season?
| Year | Team | Pos | G | PA | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | SLG | OBP | OPS |
| 2011 | DET | C | 141 | 551 | 464 | 63 | 19 | 82 | 3 | 73 | 131 | 0.295 | 0.506 | 0.389 | 0.895 |
| 2012 | DET | C | 116 | 434 | 367 | 42 | 9 | 48 | 2 | 61 | 104 | 0.243 | 0.384 | 0.352 | 0.736 |
| 2013 | DET | C | 102 | 379 | 330 | 39 | 11 | 47 | 0 | 44 | 112 | 0.227 | 0.376 | 0.317 | 0.693 |
| 2014 | DET | C | 124 | 457 | 390 | 44 | 11 | 47 | 0 | 61 | 151 | 0.218 | 0.359 | 0.327 | 0.686 |
| 2015 Projection | DET | C | 450 | 386 | 43 | 11 | 47 | 1 | 59 | 135 | 0.228 | 0.332 | 0.375 | 0.707 |
For the rest of our fantasy baseball profiles and articles, please check out our Fantasy Baseball Guide Page.
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**All stats courtesy of Fangraphs
