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: KENDRYS MORALES, 1B, KANSAS CITY ROYALS
LWOS Ranking 22, Captain’s Value $4.35
2014 was a disappointing season for Kendrys Morales. His season started late as he did not sign with the Minnesota Twins until June 8 and when he finally got onto the field his production was extremely low. After 39 games the Twins cut their losses and traded him to the Seattle Mariners where he hit .207 but at least hit for some power. Even with those numbers, he still managed get a 2 year, $17 million deal from the Kansas City Royals.
The question to ask with Morales was whether 2014 was a product of bad luck and/or starting the season late or is he done as a productive hitter? The answer appears to be leaning closer to bad luck. Coming into 2014, Morales was coming off of two consecutive 20+ HR seasons. In both seasons, he complemented that power with batting averages in the .270s. In examining his 2014 totals, it is very possible that Morales was the victim of bad luck and could be a sleeper. His BABIP (.244) was 53 points below his career total and his HR/FB rate (7.9%) was significantly lower than his 15.2% career total.
Some of his underlying metrics from 2014 would not have predicted such a sharp fall out in production. His Walk & Strikeout rates were both very close to his career totals. While his Line Drive rate has decreased the last few seasons, his total from last year (17.8%) was still very close to his career total. While a repeat of his 2009 season where he hit .306 with 34 HR is well beyond what can be expected going into this season, it would be very shocking if he hit as poorly as he did last year. At the very least, he should give you 15-20 HR power and get his batting average closer to where it was in 2012 & 2013.
| Year | Team | Pos | G | PA | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2012 | LAA | 1B | 134 | 522 | 484 | 61 | 22 | 73 | 0 | 31 | 116 | 0.273 | 0.320 | 0.467 | 0.787 |
| 2013 | SEA | 1B | 156 | 657 | 602 | 64 | 23 | 80 | 0 | 49 | 114 | 0.277 | 0.336 | 0.449 | 0.785 |
| 2014 | MIN | 1B | 39 | 162 | 154 | 12 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 27 | 0.234 | 0.259 | 0.325 | 0.584 |
| 2014 | SEA | 1B | 59 | 239 | 213 | 16 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 21 | 41 | 0.207 | 0.285 | 0.347 | 0.632 |
| 2014 | TOT | 1B | 98 | 401 | 367 | 28 | 8 | 42 | 0 | 27 | 68 | 0.218 | 0.274 | 0.338 | 0.612 |
| 2015 Proj | KCR | 1B | 535 | 492 | 63 | 17 | 76 | 0 | 36 | 92 | 0.267 | 0.321 | 0.425 | 0.746 |
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