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Fantasy Baseball ADP: Royals Adalberto Mondesi Offers Great Value

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Adalberto Mondesi’s 43 stolen bases in 2019 certainly jump off the stat sheet, but so does the fact he missed 60 games last season and missing time due to injury seems to be a trend throughout his career. 

Mondesi’s statistical upside makes him a value selection at his current Average Draft Position of 44th overall and the 10th shortstop but should fantasy baseball players look the other way when it comes to his injury history? Sports Illustrated’s fantasy baseball analyst Shawn Childs reveals if he would draft or pass on the Royals shortstop.

Read the transcript below for Childs’ analysis:

Corey Parson: Hey, what's up it's Corey Parson the fancy executive here for SI.com. Many fantasy baseball owners already have their rosters, but for those who are redrafting, my guy Shawn Childs, SI's fantasy and gambling analyst is going to help us break down the Kansas City Royals and particularly Adalberto Mondesi. Shawn, what's your outlook for Mondesi coming into the season?

Shawn Childs: He's an action guy. When that guy gets on base, he could steal a ton of bases. He can hit some home runs. Strikeouts are a little too high, you know, close to 30 percent for that skill set, which limits his upside in batting average. But he hit the ball hard in the majors the last two years. .385 when he made contact. His RBI rate was a little above his skill set last year. So his RBI total came in higher than expected, especially when you consider he probably missed 140 at bats with a groin injury, and he had a left shoulder issue later in the summer that required surgery. But he's going to hit the top of the lineup, he's a young guy, he's going to improve. He does it all. It's just a matter of, you know, where do you set the bar in his batting average? And I think that he's going to be neutral with upside, especially when his approach improves. So going into the June drafts his ADP is around 34. So he's very attractive, especially his speed, because he could easily get to 60 stolen bases in a full season. If you get half that this year with a half a season, he is going to set a nice foundation in that category with help in every other category except for batting average.

Corey Parson: I notice that you mention his average draft position, what do you think about where he's going right now and is that a place that you would take a shot on him?

Shawn Childs: It's all about what I have as a first piece. If I get a guy like a Mike Trout, with a high batting average, he's a good second piece of the puzzle. Probably get him on the second or third turn in the 15 team high stakes market. Probably a little different in the twelve teams, but it all depends on who you draft first. If you draft an ace pitcher out of the gate, he'd be a little more difficult for me because I would probably want to get a high average base in front of him. So to me it's all about putting those first three hitters together to get the right categories in and somehow coming up with the aces with your top two or three pitchers. 

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