The Atlanta Braves placed Nick Markakis on the 10-day IL with a fractured wrist on July 27th. With the outfielder out approximately six to eight weeks, the Braves called up veteran outfielder and first baseman Adam Duvall from the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. Due to his career and current season statistics, fantasy players need to take notice of Duvall.
Fantasy Baseball Players Need to Notice Adam Duvall
Adam Duvall Career Stats
Duvall was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants back in 2011. He would make his Major League Baseball debut three years later in June of 2014. Duvall would play just 28 games that year and slash .192/.234/.342 with three homers and five RBI. Since then, he has played part of the 2015 season with the Giants, three full seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, and a portion of last season with the Braves. His career slash line has improved to .234/.293/.463 with 91 home runs and 283 RBI. His best season came in 2016 when he was an All-Star outfielder and slugged .498 with 33 homers and 103 RBI.
He rarely makes errors and is an above-average outfielder. He hits for power, but lacks contact and running ability.
Adam Duvall in 2019
Duvall has not been exactly killing it for the Stripers this season. He is slashing .259/.349/.582 in 94 games but does have an impressive 29 home runs and 84 RBI. He also has 81 strikeouts and 41 walks.
In the six games since being called up to the Braves, Duvall is 13-for-31 with five homers and eight RBI. He has struck out 11 times.
Adam Duvall outlook
With Markakis out for several weeks, Duvall is the starting left fielder and is batting either fifth or sixth for the Braves. He is currently getting the start over rookie Austin Riley and could relieve Freddie Freeman at first base if needed. Riley came into the league with his hair on fire earlier this year but has cooled off considerably since then, hitting just .168 in the past 30 games. And what about Cristian Pache? Well, the high ranked prospect is powering through the Double-A ranks right now. According to Matthew Browning, “Pache has a slash line of .291/.348/.506 with nine home runs and 36 RBI. He has struck out 63 times and walked 21 times in 271 plate appearances. But what Pache hangs his hat on is his defense, which is ready for the majors right now. He has played 39 games in center field, 22 in right field, two in left field, and has committed only three errors while recording 261 putouts.” However, the young outfielder is only 21 years old and is not expected to be in the Majors until next year at the earliest. The Braves will need to move Ender Inciarte or Markakis to make room.
Duvall should continue to get plenty of playing time and should have plenty of opportunities for production hitting behind the likes of Freddie Freeman, Brian McCann, and Josh Donaldson. The upcoming schedule is favorable for Duvall with seven against the Marlins, two games against the Blue Jays and White Sox, and a game in Colorado. But fantasy team owners should watch out for the games against the Mets and Dodgers. Matchups against Walker Buehler, Jacob deGrom and Clayton Kershaw are not favorable. Who does have favorable matchups against these three though, really? Duvall is currently owned in less than half of Yahoo! and less than a 1/4 of ESPN leagues. If you are playing in a deeper league or NL-only league, Adam Duvall is worth a long, hard look.
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