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: IAN KINSLER, 2B, DETROIT TIGERS
LWOS 2B RANKING: 4, CAPTAIN’S VALUE: $14.42
Ian Kinsler is about as steady as they come. At age 32, he’s lost some of the power and speed from that 30/30 skillset, but he is still a virtual lock for 15/15 and a .250-.275 average nearly every year. Despite that consistency though, a few parts of his 2014 appeared out of the norm for Kinsler in his first year with the Detroit Tigers. Most of his averages and percentages were right in line with his career marks, but his walk rate was the lowest of his career by nearly fifty percent. He’s always had an average walk rate, in the 8-9% range, but his 2014 walk rate was just 4%, which was the main reason his OBP also dropped from .344 to .307 between 2013-2014. He also swung at more pitches outside of the strikezone, and more pitches overall, so it appears that Kinsler either became more aggressive in 2014, or he doesn’t have as good of an eye as he used to.
Another cause for concern is that it appears he may have lost some of his power. His 2014 HR total of 17 is about on par with what he’s done over the past few seasons, but his fly ball distance dropped from about 276 feet to 269 feet. That may not seem like much at first glance, but it shows that he is in fact aging, despite his consistency over the years. Perhaps the Tigers would be wise to give him a few extra days off here and there? Still, Kinsler should put up top-5 production at second base at a much cheaper price than the consensus top-3 of Canó, Altuve, and Rendon.
| Year | Age | Team | G | PA | HR | RBI | R | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2012 | 30 | TEX | 157 | 731 | 19 | 72 | 105 | 21 | .256 | .326 | .423 | .749 |
| 2013 | 31 | TEX | 136 | 614 | 13 | 72 | 85 | 15 | .277 | .344 | .413 | .757 |
| 2014 | 32 | DET | 161 | 726 | 17 | 92 | 100 | 15 | .275 | .307 | .420 | .727 |
| Projected 2015 | 33 | DET | 150 | 690 | 16 | 83 | 97 | 13 | .276 | .322 | .410 | .732 |
FOR THE REST OF OUR FANTASY BASEBALL PROFILES AND ARTICLES, PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR FANTASY BASEBALL GUIDE PAGE.
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