Fantasy Profile: Will Middlebrooks, 3B, San Diego Padres

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: Will Middlebrooks, 3B, San Diego Padres

LWOS Ranking 28, Captain’s Value: -$0.60

There are a lot of reasons to be scared off by new Padres 3B Will Middlebrooks this year. Unless you’re interested in chasing his rookie year production that has shown little to no signs of ever coming back, Middlebrooks is a safe pass this year.

As Ric Flair likes to say, “To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man.” For Middlebrooks, that means beating out career minor leaguer Yangervis Solarte for a starting spot and steady plate appearances. The fact that this might be a difficult task is an indication of just how greatly Middlebrooks has struggled as of late.

For two consecutive years, his strikeout rate has increased to its present location, resting at nearly 30% and threatening to climb even higher. Also, there is the troubling trend that Middlebrooks contributes meaningfully in no other categories except for power totals and you have yourself a free-swinging one-dimensional righty playing in a park whose reputation is sapping the power of right-handed hitters.

Talented though he may be, Middlebrooks is very much behind the eight-ball and will have to overcome a myriad obstacles to be relevant in fantasy leagues in 2015.

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