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: JOSE ABREU, 1B, CHICAGO WHITE SOX
LWOS Ranking: 3, Captain’s Value: $16.89
No one really knew what to expect from Jose Abreu going into 2014. When the White Sox signed him in the fall of 2013, projections and expectations were all over the place concerning the Cuban slugger. Scouts all agreed that he had “80” raw power (as good as it gets), but thought that he didn’t have great bat speed so he’d have trouble with inside fastballs and high heaters, that he would have trouble against breaking balls, and that he would strike out often. They also weren’t very high on his defense or running speed. He put up monster numbers in Cuba, but, as is the case with most international players, it was difficult to project those to the MLB.
Abreu straight up vanquished those concerns in his rookie season. He was among the league leaders against fastballs, wasn’t great against breakers but hit .220 with 11 homers off of them, and finished with a 21.1 K% and 8.2 BB% that steadily improved throughout the season. Abreu went on to finish with a .317 average, 36 HRs, 107 RBI, 80 R, and even threw in 3 steals to go on top of a Rookie of the Year season that garnered some MVP talks.
The naysayers will point to an inflated .356 BABIP and say that his rookie year was fluky, and to be fair, they have a point. Abreu’s .317 batting average was helped very much by that high BABIP, so some regression in that aspect is reasonable to expect. However, all of his other peripherals suggest that the rest of his output in 2014 was legit. He hit pretty well to all fields, was among the league leaders in HR/FB %, hit a decent number of line drives, and, as I mentioned earlier, steadily improved his strikeout and walk percentages throughout the year. Other than the batting average, which will probably be in the 280-.290 range, expect Jose Abreu to put up similar numbers in 2015 to 2014. He’s a solid first rounder.
| Year | Age | Team | G | PA | HR | RBI | R | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2014 | 27 | CWS | 145 | 622 | 36 | 107 | 80 | 3 | .317 | .383 | .581 | .964 |
| Projected 2015 | 28 | CWS | 140 | 605 | 31 | 105 | 85 | 3 | .279 | .365 | .545 | .910 |
For the rest of our fantasy baseball profiles and articles, please check out our Fantasy Baseball Guide Page.
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