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: DUSTIN PEDROIA, 2B, BOSTON RED SOX
LWOS Ranking 8, Captain’s Value: $13.14
Dustin Pedroia was hampered by thumb and wrist injuries during the 2013 and 2014 seasons and that affected a lot of his power. Between 2008 and 2012, Pedroia’s ISO averaged a cool .170. You could pretty much count on 15-20+ HR (even in 2010, when he only had 351 plate appearances because he broke his left foot and had to get surgery, he still hit 12 HR). In 2013, his ISO dropped down to .114 (9 HR in 724 plate appearances but still chipped in 91 R, 84 RBI, and 17 SB) and then in 2014 it dropped even further to 0.98 (7 HR in 609 plate appearances), easily the lowest of his career.
A slight spike in his K% in 2014 led to his lowest average since 2006 (.278) but even that was still above league average. His Six SB was also a career low in 2014 (he averaged 18 SB between 2008 and 2013) but I think that was more due to not wanting to aggravate his wrist injury. Expect both of these totals to increase in 2015.
The good news is that Pedroia did receive thumb and wrist surgery in 2014. He has reported the surgery to be 100% successful and is fully ready for Spring Training. Jeff Sullivan writes that not only did the injuries affect his swing, but he could not properly lift weights as well. Having his health back to 100% gives a lot of hope that Pedroia can get back to that 15-20+ HR plateau. He is 31, a definite bounce back candidate, and will be a mid round pick that could end up being a top 5 2B in fantasy production.
| Year | Team | Pos | G | PA | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2011 | BOS | 2B | 159 | 729 | 635 | 102 | 21 | 91 | 26 | 86 | 85 | 0.307 | 0.387 | 0.474 | 0.861 |
| 2012 | BOS | 2B | 141 | 622 | 563 | 81 | 15 | 65 | 20 | 48 | 60 | 0.290 | 0.347 | 0.449 | 0.796 |
| 2013 | BOS | 2B | 160 | 724 | 641 | 91 | 9 | 84 | 17 | 73 | 75 | 0.301 | 0.372 | 0.415 | 0.787 |
| 2014 | BOS | 2B | 135 | 609 | 551 | 72 | 7 | 53 | 6 | 51 | 75 | 0.278 | 0.337 | 0.376 | 0.713 |
| 2015Proj | BOS | 2B | 675 | 606 | 94 | 9 | 76 | 11 | 59 | 74 | 0.291 | 0.354 | 0.407 | 0.761 |
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**All stats courtesy of Fangraphs
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