Fantasy Baseball: Early Mock Draft-Round 2, Pick 2

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 25, 2009 3:00 PM EST in Baseball

This was not an easy pick for me, as I considered Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Mark Teixeira and Mark Reynolds, but I couldn't get away from the upside of J-Up-Justin Upton.

Upton went 26-86-20-.300-..366-.532-.899 in 2009 while watching his K% drop from 34% in 2008 to 26% in 2009. His HR/FB% increased from 15.3% in 2008 to 18.8% in 2009 which coincided with a drop in his FB% from 41.9% in 2008 to 35.7% in 2009. Upton also increased his ISO, or isolated power, from .213 in 2008 to .232 in 2009. Should he be able to maintain his HR/FB% while increasing his FB%, he could easily hit 30 HRs in 2010. I think he can do better than that actually.

Upton not only provided fantasy owners with solid power, but he also contributed 20 SBs in 2009 after stealing only 1 bag in 2008. I think the speed is here to stay as the Diamondbacks struggled to score runs in 2009, and I think that trend continues in 2010. I expect Upton to steal between 20-25 bags in 2010.

Upton is capable of a 30-100-20-.300 season in 2010, and should be drafted accordingly.

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NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damnit. I was contemplating drafting Upton over Lincecum but figured I could wait for one more turn!

by Ian, yo on Nov 25, 2009 3:16 PM EST reply actions

J-Up!

Upton is one of 2 potential keepers I am deciding between, the other is Aaron Hill. I can only keep one, in lieu of my 6th rd draft pick. I am strongly leaning towards Upton b/c he is obviously on the way up with seemingly limitless potential, whereas Hill likely had a career year in ’09. Upton seems a pretty damn good value in the 6th round…

by slowbutspeeding on Dec 17, 2009 3:27 PM EST reply actions