4 hitters who should benefit from a delayed MLB season

We began with the pitchers yesterday, and today we examine some hitters. Most of these guys will benefit, but one may not.

This article will focus in on great hitters nursing injuries.

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Yordan Alvarez, OF, Houston Astros

2019 Stats: 58 runs, 78 RBIs, 0 SB, .313 BA

Synopsis: After suffering through a week of soreness, Dusty Baker shut down Yordan a week ago. While the team continues to downplay the seriousness, it seems as if every day the diagnosis is more severe and honestly this has me concerned. The other part to this is his size. At 6’5 he is among the taller players in the game and at 225 lbs he is above average on weight as well. Knee soreness in one (or both) is not good for a player of that size. When the season starts back up I would be cautious if this becomes a lingering issue all year. Clearly a delay helps him work towards full recovery, though.

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Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals

2019 Stats: 97 runs, 97 RBIs, 3 SB, .260 BA

Synopsis: Paul is working through elbow pain and was likely to start the season on the IL before the delay. I am guessing he is out until late April or early May at this point, but I’m not as concerned as most people about this. An MRI showed no ligament damage and the 32-year-old has been a pillar of health in his nine-year career. He has played less than 145 games just twice in nine years and has played over 155 games six times. Count me among the few who trust in his continued reliability from a player who has hit at least 80 RBIs with at least 90 runs each of the last five years. Last year was the first time he didn’t bat at least .290 in seven years, and I bet he can bounce back this year.

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Trey Mancini, 1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles

2019 Stats: 106 runs, 97 RBIs, 1 SB .291 BA

Synopsis: Trey had a malignant tumor removed from his colon and honestly I have no idea how long the recovery on this will take. But the delayed start can’t hurt.

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Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Cincinnati Reds

2019 Stats: 87 runs, 103 RBIs, 3 SB .271 BA

Synopsis: Eugenio hurt his shoulder by his pool in January and went through surgery for it. Coming off a 49-homer season after never having previously hit more than 35, I think many marked the 28-year-old for regression this year. I think the shoulder injury could provide a further regression to the likes of 30-35 HR and around 90 RBIs instead of the 100+ on a full season basis. I kept him somewhat high due to the considerable help that he will have in the rejuvenated Reds lineup this year that now includes Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas and Shogo Akiyama.