As requested, here is another player evaluation. Today I want to take a look at Chris B. Young of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Entering the season, the 493rd overall pick in the 2001 draft was considered to be a solid fantasy option. Most experts thought that he would provide multi-category production, but hurt your batting average in the process. In fact, that low batting average is what suppressed his draft value going into this season. Here are his stats for this season:

43 runs, 12 HR, 32 RBI, 4 SB, .239 AVE

He is on pace to hit 36 HR and steal 12 bases, and it is that imbalance that has owners wondering what is going on. It is not the power that is surprising, but rather the lack of speed. Most prognosticators had Young stealing over 20 bases this year. Ironically, his on base percentage (.323) is 19 points higher than his career average. What also complicates the issue is that 204 of his 247 at bats are from the lead-off position in the batting lineup. The only thing that could possibly be affecting his steal attempts is his power. Twenty-eight of his 59 hits have been for extra base hits, and he is posting a solid .215 ISO. However, even that is not any different than the .230 ISO he posted last year. Last season, Young only had 6 stolen bases after the first two months of the season, but posted 14 steals in a two month period as well. So I am not sure why he is not running as much, however, I expect that he may be lucky to get 20 the rest of the season.

The .239 batting average is a definite drawback to his overall value, but it is not unexpected. Young never posted a batting average above .290 at any level in the minor leagues. In fact, he posted a .237 batting average last year, and an equally as bad .243 average in 2006. His BABIP (.273) and strikeout rate (25.5%) are at his career norms, and so the batting average is most likely not going to increase over the rest of the season.

One of the major draw backs about Chris Young is his contact rate. So far this year he has posted a good walk rate of 11.0%, but also an obnoxious 25.6% strikeout rate. For example let’s just say that he struck out only 34 times this year instead of the 64 that he actually has. His contact rate grows from 74% to 86% and his batting average climbs to a very tolerable .274. Whatever you do, do not expect his strikeout rates to drop below 20%.

So basically what you are seeing with Chris Young is what you are going to get. I personally thing that Chris Young will hit 20-25 homeruns the rest of the year, and steal maybe 15 bags in that same time period. However, expect those numbers to occur in 2-3 week stretches. Young’s type of inconsistency is what makes him a better rotisserie player than a head-to-head player. If you own him in H2H leagues, wait for a week when he destroys the ball, and trade him.