Fantasy Profile: Kole Calhoun, OF, Los Angeles Angels

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 it’s keeper league or a one-year deal; we have all the fantasy information you need.

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Fantasy Profile: Kole Calhoun, OF, Los Angeles Angels

LWOS Ranking 26, Captain’s Value: $9.20

Age 27: Check, Power: Check, Contact: Check, Speed: Check, Job: Check – Kole Calhoun is one of the more under-appreciated players in the game and can give you a nice cross sections of stats as your 2^nd or 3^rd OF this year. Bursting onto the scene in 2011 with a .324-94-22-99-20 season in his first full year in the minors, Calhoun jumped two full levels to AAA in 2012 and handled it splendidly with a .298-79-14-73-12 season in only 105 games before getting his first action with the big club in September. A return trip to AAA in 2013 provided the Angels with all they needed to see out of him as he hit .354 with 12 HR, 10 SB, 48 R and 49 RBI in only 59 games before getting the call up for good in July.

Holding his own in his first extended MLB experience in 2013 was a spring board to his mini-breakout in 2014 where he hit 17 HR and scored 90 Runs in 127 games. Calhoun will be batting leadoff for the Angels this season ahead of Erick Aybar, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols; this is a formula that could produce Run-scoring figures among the American League leaders. He only hit .272 last season, but I expect a drop in his K% which will correspond with a bump in Batting Average and a likely jump in Stolen Base attempts, as he has proved he can be a double digit stolen base guy from his track record in the minors.

There is a lot to like in the profile he owns and the situation Calhoun is entering this year. He is a player I will have good exposure to in my leagues and I expect a line in the neighborhood of .285 with 20 HR, 105 Runs, 65 RBI and 10+ SB, which will pay off his current ADP of 96.7 very nicely.

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